4/25/07
Whack Yourself: Creativity Part Duex
In beginning my next essay on Creativity, I wanted to talk about some ways we can increase it in ourselves. Whether it’s nature or nurture, whether you have one talent you are unburying, or several already multiplying, or even if you say you have no Creativity, you can find ways to strengthen what you have or search for what you aren’t sure you have.
Maybe it’s just the word itself that people have trouble with. Wikipedia says that Creativity “is a mental process involving the generation of new ideas or consepts, or new associations between existing ideas or concepts.” Let’s not think of the “C” word for a moment, let’s not think specifically of "Creativity", and see if we can get past the word. Can you come up with an original thought? Can you use something for a use other than what it was intended for? Can you whistle? Then you have Creative Thought. And you can excercise it like a muscle and make it stronger.
There are all sorts of things around on the web to boost your creativity. 10 Steps for Boosting Creativity, Creativity Tools, Creativity at Work, Creativity Basics, Obstacles to Creativity, Creativity for LIfe, and a crafty Newsletter I get, just to name a few. (And by the way, everything out there I found said that you do have Creativity inside you!) There are also some great games and toys to stretch your creativity, but that's a 'thing' for another day.
I was searching around for some links for my favorite Creative tool, the Creative Whack Pack, or as I like to call it, the Whacky Pack. This is a deck of cards based on a book, each with an idea on it to help jump start your creative battery. I purchased my deck back in the '80s and have enjoyed using them ever since. There are several ways to use the cards, I like to shuffle and draw one at random and see what ideas pop up from it. The cards work great for already Creative sorts, as well as in business.
As I was searching for links, I discovered that the creator of the cards (and writer of the book they were based on), Roger von Oech has started his own blog! Because I was trying to finish up this post, I only glanced around, but reading every single post on this blog is my next task! He has written several posts based on some of the cards, expanding on the ideas. Loosen Up. Set a Deadline. Discover Your Own Creative Style. So even if you don't have your own cards, you can check out some great Creativity Stimulators that can help you in what ever you do. There's even a page that every time you hit refresh, you see a new card. WHACK! Check out some of them!
So now what do you see?
4/24/07
Creativity
Cross Post
What do you see?
Today I want to begin to address the topic of Creativity.
I have personally always been of the opinion that we all have Creativity within us, and have annoyed several friends over the years trying to convince them that they have Creativity inside them.
I remember a parable I learned as a child about the three men and their 'talents'. The word talents in this story meant a certain type of old-time money. The story as I remember it, was that a wealthy guy gave three of his sons or servants each a talent, when he left on a trip, instructing them to keep it safe or something like that. One of the three invested his talent and made several more talents, another also invested but not as boldly, and only gained one extra talent, and the last buried his talent so no one would steal it. Upon the wealthy guys return, he praised the two who had made more of their one talent, more praise to the one who had gained more extra talents, and berated the guy who had hidden his talent.
I never bought into this story as actually talking about money. That would be too scary! If you didn't invest your money correctly you could get caught in a get-rich-quick scam and lose it all! But using or burying our creative talents, that were given to us as a gift, was a lesson I eagerly learned as a child. Later in my life, when people told me that they weren't Creative, I sometimes thought they had just buried it when they were young, and didn't remember exactly where it was buried. But the more I explore Creativity and how different people's minds work, I think there are just different types of Creativity, and different types of thought processes to our different brains.
Out to lunch reciently with a couple of friends, we were talking about the design of the place we were eating. (It was very well designed at all levels.) I commented that I love design and archetecture. I love to have tours of homes or apartments. I would read the ‘Home’ section of the paper every Sunday as a kid, to see the new house design, and think seriously on how much I liked or disliked it. I designed homes and rooms as a kid, and still do, often designing a dream home or room in bed. (I have learned it helps to preoccupy my brain to more easily fall asleep.) Both my friends said they didn’t have the same design sight as I was talking about. One saying she doesn’t ‘see’ how colors would work together, as in painting a wall or a room, the other saying she doesn’t ‘see’ a house in an architectural drawing. She had trouble with parts of geometry, even though she’s one of the smartest people I know, because she couln’t draw the 3D shapes, she just couldn’t see them in her mind.
That’s just baffling to me. I can see lots of things that aren’t there with my Creative mind. I can see the project I’m working on, or the layout of the web page I want to make, I’m always thinking through the problem solving on some or another project. Perhaps it’s just part of how we are wired, how our individual brain works, how we ‘see’ things that are not necessarily there. Or maybe it can be taught.
Nature or Nurture?
What do you see? Where are your talents buried? Where is your Creativity?
What do you see?
Today I want to begin to address the topic of Creativity.
I have personally always been of the opinion that we all have Creativity within us, and have annoyed several friends over the years trying to convince them that they have Creativity inside them.
I remember a parable I learned as a child about the three men and their 'talents'. The word talents in this story meant a certain type of old-time money. The story as I remember it, was that a wealthy guy gave three of his sons or servants each a talent, when he left on a trip, instructing them to keep it safe or something like that. One of the three invested his talent and made several more talents, another also invested but not as boldly, and only gained one extra talent, and the last buried his talent so no one would steal it. Upon the wealthy guys return, he praised the two who had made more of their one talent, more praise to the one who had gained more extra talents, and berated the guy who had hidden his talent.
I never bought into this story as actually talking about money. That would be too scary! If you didn't invest your money correctly you could get caught in a get-rich-quick scam and lose it all! But using or burying our creative talents, that were given to us as a gift, was a lesson I eagerly learned as a child. Later in my life, when people told me that they weren't Creative, I sometimes thought they had just buried it when they were young, and didn't remember exactly where it was buried. But the more I explore Creativity and how different people's minds work, I think there are just different types of Creativity, and different types of thought processes to our different brains.
Out to lunch reciently with a couple of friends, we were talking about the design of the place we were eating. (It was very well designed at all levels.) I commented that I love design and archetecture. I love to have tours of homes or apartments. I would read the ‘Home’ section of the paper every Sunday as a kid, to see the new house design, and think seriously on how much I liked or disliked it. I designed homes and rooms as a kid, and still do, often designing a dream home or room in bed. (I have learned it helps to preoccupy my brain to more easily fall asleep.) Both my friends said they didn’t have the same design sight as I was talking about. One saying she doesn’t ‘see’ how colors would work together, as in painting a wall or a room, the other saying she doesn’t ‘see’ a house in an architectural drawing. She had trouble with parts of geometry, even though she’s one of the smartest people I know, because she couln’t draw the 3D shapes, she just couldn’t see them in her mind.
That’s just baffling to me. I can see lots of things that aren’t there with my Creative mind. I can see the project I’m working on, or the layout of the web page I want to make, I’m always thinking through the problem solving on some or another project. Perhaps it’s just part of how we are wired, how our individual brain works, how we ‘see’ things that are not necessarily there. Or maybe it can be taught.
Nature or Nurture?
What do you see? Where are your talents buried? Where is your Creativity?
4/6/07
Review: Crafty Pod
Let me start this review with a confession: Crafty Pod is my absolute favorite pod cast. There I said it.
First of all, our Pod host, Sister Diane has a wonderful voice, very calming to listen to, and professional sounding. She creates a biweekly podcast, that is usually right around 15-20 minutes, a perfect length to be able to listen in one break at work, and listen to over again anytime for an extra pick-me-up. They may be short but they are packed with so much information, interview bits, links, projects, ideas, that you can hardly believe it was that short. There are always bonuses on the site, and she's recently added a regular blog, so there are great posts of extra things that didn't make it onto the podcast. She's covered everything from buttons to felt, and has great podcasts of things to make for your cubicle, when you're sick, or on vacation.
Go LISTEN
P.S. The extra added bonus of the podcast? The adorible music. Zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom!
First of all, our Pod host, Sister Diane has a wonderful voice, very calming to listen to, and professional sounding. She creates a biweekly podcast, that is usually right around 15-20 minutes, a perfect length to be able to listen in one break at work, and listen to over again anytime for an extra pick-me-up. They may be short but they are packed with so much information, interview bits, links, projects, ideas, that you can hardly believe it was that short. There are always bonuses on the site, and she's recently added a regular blog, so there are great posts of extra things that didn't make it onto the podcast. She's covered everything from buttons to felt, and has great podcasts of things to make for your cubicle, when you're sick, or on vacation.
Go LISTEN
P.S. The extra added bonus of the podcast? The adorible music. Zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom!
The New Site
One of the things I made this week. It seems like it's been a long week, of making things, and it's only the first week. I'm still working out, in my head, how all the pieces will fit together, but I'm thinking that this blog will be where I tell more of the story. Don't you love those shell beads? I think I got them as a necklace at a garage sale, but I don't remember. If I bought them today, I'd take a picture before I took apart the necklace. I also wish I could see how the beads went together before, they are so irrigular because they are natural, they were hard to get to go together. That's how I ended up putting the green beads in. The "sea green" beads, in case you didn't get the connection. I actually had to bend the head pin somewhat to get the green beads down inside the shells. The earrings are a bit heavy, but just about right. I don't like it when I make earrings that are so light that they want to clip out of my ear. I have a bunch of these beads left, I'm thinking a nice bracelet. No, a necklace, with the green beads. Probably don't have enough beads for both. But I'll be on the lookout for more, that's for sure!
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