It was unfortunately more recently in my life than I would have liked that I fully began to grasp the power that creativity holds. We all have a relative intelligence, but it is what we do with it that determines our cognitive and emotional efficiency in the long run. Now of course there are people in the world who are born with extremely high mental capacities partially due to genetics. In fact, one might conclude that the inherited traits from a family gene pool can more specifically code for a particularly unique way of thinking, encoding, processing, retaining, and reasoning. However, it doesn’t end there. Humans are the most intellectually superior species on the earth and as a result of our dominating cognitive prowess, we are constantly changing and progressing. Throughout your lifetime, you may acquire an efficiency that you didn’t know you were capable of. It is important that we hone our creativity in all of its glory since it is how you work your intelligence that determines your intellectual capabilities in all areas. As Einstein said, “Knowledge is limited, but imagination encircles the world.”

When I contemplate and further try to understand the prism of creativity, I often think of left-handed people. Every left-handed person that I have ever encountered displayed a unique way of thinking in one area or another. This is likely because during their entire life, they have experienced closer connections with the functions of their right brain, the area of the brain that is in control of the left side of the body. This side of the brain is widely known to code for creative and abstract thinking. In contrast, the left side of the brain, the area in control of the right side of the body (right-handed people) is known to correlate with with logic and more methodical thinking. All people utilize both hemispheres of the brain, but there is definitely a dominant side that each of us have more of a connection with and this is can be virtually determined by how much we utilize either side of the body. Now this isn’t always the case since every individual is different and can overly express associations to either hemisphere despite their whatever their dominant hand might be.

In relevance, left-handed people account for approximately 12% of the human population and still account for a higher estimated ratio of members in MENSA than with right-handed people, who make up the majority. Many “geniuses” are often left-handed and this points to an interesting distinction between logic and creativity, how they might interact, and which could prove to be more effective in the long run. Regardless, everyone is creative in their own way. Nobody is completely identical and therefore, every individual will always have something to bring to the table. I am right-handed, traumatic, diagnosed with anxiety and ADHD, am distinctively unimaginative, and got left back in the first grade. However, after finding an outlet, learning new instruments and languages, cutting contact with pharmaceuticals, directly working to expand and broaden my horizons, and manifesting serenity, I have essentially created a base. I have created a way to work with what I have in a way that is inclusive to me. I went from being delayed academically, to top 6% of my senior class in high school and now enrolled at Penn State University in the Paterno’s Fellowship Program as an aspiring neuropsychologist. It is absolutely no secret that I am not predisposed to special talents, but I have my discipline and dedication to account for it. I will continue to hone and embrace my creativity in new ways, so that I can create a higher affinity for creative thinking and thus, an even higher caliber of cognitive efficiency. Do not believe that intelligence is crystalline. Instead, it is important to realize your potential. Creativity is the basis of intelligence. It is in everyone, but you must find it and embrace it. Keep on being great and keep reaching.