If you’ve landed here at Diamond-Cut Life, the chances are good that you’re a cultural creative. I learned not long ago that I am one. This outside-the-box group is almost 25% of the U.S. population, according to extensive research done by Sherry Ruth Anderson and Paul H. Ray. Here are the main characteristics of cultural creatives:

• love of nature
• emphasis on relationships
• not materialistic, money-driven,  or likely to be in debt
• artistic inclinations
• interest in spirituality and personal growth
• desire for equality of women / feminist bent
• habit of volunteering / helping
• lively interest in other cultures, countries and customs
• concern for planet-wide issues like global warming and poverty
• willingness to pay higher taxes if it benefits society
• concerned about the high costs of large corporate profits

Some cultural creatives may identify, with ironic humor, as hippies. Or, other people may call them hippies (I had fun dealing with the hippie monicker last spring). The point of identifying cultural creatives as a group, though, is that we’re a large and growing segment of society — yet we don’t tend to know how widespread our values are. Mainstream culture is loud and commands the airways. We need to find and gather our voices, and own our  power to create positive change. Diamond-Cut Life is devoted to doing that. The book I just now posted at the top of Books I Love is a novel about a society crafted by cultural creatives. It’s a great read. And, my novel that is coming out this summer, Revelle, is also about a cultural creative.

Are you a cultural creative, too?