A Quiz to Determine How Creative and/or Human You Are
A friend of mine says she’s not creative. I tell her of course she is. She puts Cheetos in her tomato soup and French fries in her chocolate shakes. If that’s not creative I don’t know what is.
But she’s not the only one I’ve heard deny having what I think is an inescapable characteristic of being imperfect humans. We’re all creative in our own way. But creativity takes many forms, and some are a lot more fun than others. To find out how creative you are, take the quiz below.
Creativity Quiz
1. Do you ever imagine in exquisite detail how your life would be different if you lived somewhere else or had a different (circle all that apply) job/house/car/spouse/family/waist circumference?
a) No, my life is perfect and so is my waistline.
b) Yes, I imagine the grass is not only greener on the other side of the fence, it’s easier to mow too.
c) Yes. Just today I got an overdraft, had an argument with my (circle all that apply) spouse/child/boss/Uber driver and discovered I could no longer zip my favorite jeans. I immediately visualized myself slim and trim, independently wealthy and living in a palatial and clutter-free home on a coast somewhere.
2. Do you ever daydream that your life would be better if you’d done things differently?
a) No. I’m happy with every decision I’ve ever made.
b) Yes. And I comfort myself by telling everyone I know colorful stories of how close I came to incredible success and why I didn’t quite make it. They enjoy them almost as much as I do.
c) Yes. I’m convinced that if I’d gotten (circle all that apply) a different degree/spouse/job/tattoo, I would have been gloriously happy/gotten rich/won the Nobel Peace Prize, an Oscar or both.
3. Do you ever worry?
a) Never. What do I have to worry about?
b) No. I do, however, envision in vivid detail every little thing that could possibly go wrong.
c) Yes. I’ve worried about some horrifying things over the years, none of which have happened to me and probably no one else either.
4. Do you ever lie?
a) Absolutely not.
b) Lie is such an ugly word.
c) My accountant says she won’t do my taxes anymore.
Now give yourself zero points for each “a” answer, one point for each “b” and two points for each “c.” Then tally your score.
0 points: You’re either perfect, completely uncreative or lying. If you’re lying, change your answer on question number 4.
1-9 points: Depending on your total, you’re somewhere between exceptionally creative and creative genius. You’re probably the kind of person who, thanks to your ingenuity, could one day actually find yourself in the green grass on the other side of that mythical fence. Of course once you get there, you’ll discover that the crabgrass is just as bad. I could lecture you on how we can’t run from our crabgrass, that we must work on the crabgrass within.
But this is a column about creativity, so instead let me point out how creative you have to be to imagine that lush world over there with it’s perfectly mowed cross hatch. Oh, and that gazebo in the middle of it where you while away the afternoon as members of your household staff mow, wash your Lexus in the driveway and top off your lemonade.
Unfortunately depending on your level of creativity you may also spend many nights lying awake dreaming up all sorts of terrifying things that will never happen. Think back on the worries you’ve had over the years. Could a non-creative person have come up with all that? This kind of creative outlet is a leading cause of daytime sleepiness so I recommend looking for other uses for your extraordinary creativity. For example, you could take up painting or write a novel. And then come mow my lawn.
(Dorothy Rosby will not be disclosing how creative she is.)