March 12th, 2009 at 01:13pm
Under Creativity
Imagine what you call reality as being the images of a movie on a screen, the source being a realistic scenario inside the projector you are.
Without this SHIFT we continue to be the slaves of an illusion of reality and the victims of our cultural overlays. To illustrate how those overlays shape the energy around us I will take the example of a very deep evidence we all share : the fact that we have to work to get money…
When I started to work with storytelling I was still accepting a percentage of reality as being independent of my creative power. So when I wanted something, I was building a story where I had to go through the idea of WORKING to produce the result I was looking for.
One day, as I was looking at the flowing landscape through the window of a train, this illusion melted like the trees I was watching. I realized then that this apparent causal link between WORK and MONEY was a collective overlay that some people translate by the idea that MONEY DO NOT FALL FROM THE SKY…
Why not allow money fall from the sky be a realistic option?
Personally I am not very interested in a story in which money fall from the sky because I do not feel money as the ultimate bliss in my storyteller experience and I know much more fun processes to realize my dreams. What I accessed during my illumination in the train was a wider perspective : I did not have to think first about work to bring my heart desires to reality, what I had to do was just to focus directly on my real target.
Here is an illustration of the way this is working. Last summer, I felt the strong urge to attend two spiritual workshops in the US, one was in July and the other in August. I did not question nor bargained this inspiration, I immediately booked my air flights and the hotels without any consideration of the costs from Japan being quite expensive. As planed I went to the States and had a very good time, I choose a fun car at the Airport and stayed in hotels that looked attractive to me. Day by day I kept building my story on my worthiness as an embodied being. It’s just a logic application of the belief I have that I choose to be in this 3D world to do whatever gives me fun.
Back to Japan, I got a phone call asking me to be the model in an advertising campaign and the retribution for the WORK covered amply the expenses of my two trips! I use the word WORK but the only thing I had to do was to wear fun clothes, stand in front of a very good cameraman and smile…That was my first experience of modeling.
The objective of this article is not to give techniques for building a new reality, it is about awakening the awareness of the overlays that keep energy trapped in what people call reality.
All religions and all spiritual techniques go through baptisms or initiation processes symbolic of death and rebirth…Those rituals are designed to break the overlays constituting the old man to allow the unlimited power of the spirit to express in total freedom. If we keep even an once of the old overlay, the whole pattern will rebuild automatically , and the rebirth process will even work against our freedom, reinforcing the whole overlays system.
This danger is perfectly described in this parable from the Bible (Matt. 9): No one patches an old cloak with a piece of unshrunken cloth,for its fullness pulls away from the cloak and the tear gets worse. People do not put new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise the skins burst, the wine spills out, and the skins are ruined. Rather, they pour new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.
It looks so simple, so easy, so close to us, why do not more of us remember our total freedom?
Because we are afraid. We are so accustomed to rely on the world around us for the feeling of safety it gives us. We used to rely on our parents and family for love, on our teachers for qualification, on our country for identity, on our religions and beliefs for power, on culture for a feeling of humanity and solidarity. We feel that if we disconnect from it we will go crazy.
This is the big fear of the storyteller. We feel that the disconnection from the global overlay will make us loose control on ourselves. And it is one of the the reason why even religions and spiritual movements become enslaving overlays perpetuating the vicious circle. Even spiritual leaders are victims of the overlays.
The most difficult step for all incarnated spirits is not to know how to build new stories it’s to be able to disconnect from this overlays system creating the illusion of a solid reality…
Are we ready to awaken from the dream?
Are we ready to accept the fear it brings to walk alone?
Are we ready to accept our uniqueness?
Are we ready to accept to be fully in charge?
To answer YES to this question is a radical shift, a choice to swim in open sea with no buoy, an act of full confidence in the benevolent nature of life.
It is the ending of the belief in the need for CONTROL, the beginning of a new way of life I call THE CREATIVE FLOW.
Patrice Julien is a Lifestyle designer living in Tokyo. In his books, conferences and talk shows he teaches an empowerment process based on storytelling practical techniques inspired from semantic theories and zen practice. Patrice considers his practice as a contribution to the creation of the NEW EARTH, a level of reality parallel to the OLD EARTH but ruled by a new paradigm actually in a state of emergence. Patrice’s official website is http://patricejulien.com. He also develops more in details the ideas presented in this article in his blog Art of Life Caf at http://allcreators.blogspot.com. To book Patrice Julien for a workshop or to get informations about his work contact his office at info@patricejulien.com.
Author: Patrice Julien
Keywords: art of life, alchemy, awakening, Buddha, creation,empowerment, God, Ilumination, magic, storytelling
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March 12th, 2009 at 01:13pm
Under Creativity
In solving problems, I often recall a valuable lesson I learned while traveling the subway in Washington D.C. Some years back, a friend and I attended a large gathering of people from all over the country. The event had thousands of people packing the Washington mall. When it ended, my friend and I headed for the subway system to catch a ride back to the parking lot where our transportation home was waiting for us. As we entered the station, we followed the crowd toward the platform where hundreds of people were waiting for the next train to arrive at the station. People were packing into the area, milling around, and pushing to get down to the platform and toward the front. As we stood on the upper level, it was obvious that it would be a long while before we could make our way down to get where we wanted to go.
As my friend and I looked at the crowd, I noticed the platform on the opposite side of the tracks was practically empty. I grabbed my friends arm, told him to come with me, and headed toward the east bound platform.
Hey, where are we going? my friend asked, We need to get on the train going west.
I know, I replied, Just come with me, I have an idea.
We quickly made our way down to the east bound platform, and soon got on a train headed east. As the doors closed, I told my friend why we had taken the wrong train. Since the crowds of people were all going west, I had a hunch we might have a better chance to board the train a few stops further down the line. As we got off the train at the next station, we discovered the hunch had been correct. At this station, there was almost nobody standing at the west bound platform. When the next west bound train arrived at the station, it was almost completely empty, and we got our pick of the seats. By the time we got back to where we had started, we were comfortably settled in, and prepared to complete the trip to our destination. As the doors opened where we had originally started, people packed in with standing room only until there was no more space in the car. As it turned out, we reached our stop long before others who had left at the same time we did.
This experience taught me how to look for ways around obstacles in other areas of my creative and working life. When others are completely focused on fighting for a place in the crowd, it is sometimes better to look for alternatives that might not seem like the right direction at the time, but ultimately leads to arriving at the intended destination with far less trouble and effort. Competing with others for a place on a crowded platform is not always the best way to go. The same holds true in business. If competitors are fighting to best each other with increasingly complex solutions, it might be time to look at simplicity as a way to stand out in the crowd. When other companies are competing to provide solutions from the top down, it might be time to look for approaches from the bottom up. Though this approach is not always successful, it is one way to be first in line for starting something new.
John Dir Director of Software Concepts BHO Technologists - LittleTek Center Teaching computers to work with people. We make software more fun for everyone. Stop by for a visit to our web site, and see what a difference ITL technology makes! HTTP://home.earthlink.net/~jdir
Author: John Dir
Keywords: creativity, perspective, competition, problem solving
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March 12th, 2009 at 01:13pm
Under Creativity
Haven’t there been times when you’ve received presents that have been wrapped so beautifully that you’ve let them remain unwrapped simply to admire their beautiful state? Now you too can wrap gifts to perfection and know that people will admire and remember them for a long time to come. Here’s how…
Remember, the way a gift is presented is far more important than what the gift really is. This harks back to an old belief: First impressions are last impressions. Gifts speak beautiful thoughts. While people believe that the calibre of a gift tells of a person’s importance in their lives, a gift, actually, only speaks volumes of you. You will be known for giving lovely gifts. So, no matter who the recipient is, always ensure your gifts possess that personal touch!
Begin with the box or container you are placing the gift in. While sometimes, this may not be in your control as shops sell gifts in boxes specially made for products, you can always purchase a box separately and place the gift in that
Next comes the wrapping paper. Never settle for anything less, even if it means paying little extra bucks. Then again, you will be able to find great wrapping paper in the most unexpected places. Shiny wrapping paper doesn’t always look good and when used, there is a way to make it look good. See through glazed paper is used when wrapping baskets, hampers and even chocolates. Matching the colour of the wrapping paper to the colour of the gift would be interesting but not necessary.
Accessories come next. Ribbons, flowers, confetti, tissue, stickers and even small toys can be used to enhance the wrapping. Use your discretion when decorating the wrapping paper once you’ve wrapped it around the gift. Ensure colours of ribbons and flowers match and don’t clash. Try to keep paper texture in mind when choosing ribbons and other accessories.
Confetti is sprinkled in the gifts and at times, confetti balls are stuck on gifts as well. Fresh, crackling tissue paper adds a touch of class to gifts. Ensure flowers are fresh. Now that you have successfully wrapped the gift only two things are left.
Firstly, the card. Keep in mind the colours of the wrap, ribbons, flowers when choosing the card and envelope. While fancy cards are good, a personal note, even on office stationary is more appreciated and will go a long way than any purchased card with stock wordings in it. Secondly, a hint of your perfume. Just enough so the person you are sending the gift to is reminded of you…
The overall wrap must reflect your personality. Finally, it is the pleasure of watching someone untying ribbons, taking off the flowers, smelling and reading the card, enjoying the words, pulling off paper, unwrapping crackling tissue, and finally seeing the gift that makes all your effort worthwhile.
Related Resources
Perfect Gift Ideas for Men & Women
How to Buy a Gift for Your Lady
How to Find the Perfect Gift for Your Best Friend
Author: Michael Douglas
Keywords: perfect gift wrap wrapping ideas master the art wrapping wrapped gifts presentation beautifully
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March 12th, 2009 at 01:13pm
Under Creativity
Well, it depends on what you mean by fly doesnt it?
Let me explain. If you want to fly in business, or in your social or creative life, to fly means to be able to fulfill your potential, to allow your creativity to flower, to exploit your own uniqueness as an individual, to enjoy the freedom of feeling fulfilled and successful.
On the other hand if you want to go up onto the roof, spread your arms and leap into the sky well you would plummet and die or would you? Well of course you would, unless you do it virtually with a video game in which case you would feel nothing and experience nothing of the experience of flying. But there is another way that you can fully experience the feeling of flying alone through the air, with the wind in your face, the ground clearly visible below and no machinery between you and the elements I will tell you more about that later!
What holds you back from taking that leap off the roof is belief, the belief that you would fall,. And it is a pretty good belief to have. Imagination is a very powerful thing. If I asked you to walk along a 9 inch by 20 foot plank on the ground you would have no problem walking along it would you. But picture that same plank securely between the roofs of two buildings, say 200 feet in the air, with you at one end, a very big drop in the middle and safety at the other would you still feel so good about crossing it? Maybe you would imagine yourself slipping, plummeting to the hard earth below. What if I placed a stack of banknotes at the far end, would that help to overcome your imaginary limitations?
Your Imagination Can Really Hold You Back
Your imagination may well be creating a barrier to your success in your every day life too. Because of the way we were brought up, the lives we lead, we are all subject to working in the same old ways, thinking along the same old paths and struggling with similar problems. We are all the product of our environment and our upbringing, all unique and individual but all constrained by our ingrained habits. Such habits can seriously hold you back.
I often work with people who have phobias, addictive behaviours, or problems with anger or drugs. All of these behaviours are related to fear in some way, usually a fear of failure. It is often said that in order to really change your life you have to take risks and these behaviours are all habitual ways of thinking that prevent failure because they prevent people from taking risks - from trying to make changes they might fail at.
People create their own barriers to success, the things that hold you back and prevent your from accessing and using your confidence, your inner strength. Because these barriers are created in the imagination, they can be dissolved using the imagination too yes I am talking about self-hypnosis. Just five minutes a day, over about two weeks will have you thinking, creating and behaving like you have never done before.
And what about that leap from the rooftop, arms outstretched into the sky, the feeling of wind across your face, the ability to skim the rooftops, dive bomb the pedestrians and even peek in through peoples windows? Well you can do that too, using the powerful imagination that will be unlocked by self-hypnosis.
Using Your Imagination To Fly!
Try this. Sit in a comfortable chair, feet flat on the floor and hands in your lap, eyes open. Now close them and using your imagination, pretend that you cant open them. Pretend that they are really heavy or glued closed. Pretend that the more you try to open them, the more you struggle the more stuck they get. You can convince your imagination that they are completely stuck. Of course another more logical part of your mind knows that you are just pretending but we are not interested in that part for now. So stick with the pretence and ignore the logical part of your mind for now.
Okay, so stop struggling to open them because there is no point struggling, your imagination is too powerful, so relax. Allow this relaxation to flow down through your body and allow it to feel heavier and heavier with each breath that you breathe out. Image all the tension flowing down through your body and out through your feet, as you feel heavier with each breath that you breathe out.
Now pretend that you can feel the sun shining on your face. Pretend that your face is getting warmer as with each breath that your breath out you feel heavier and heavier. Feel the warmth of the sun on your face. A slight breeze wafting about you. Picture the sun in your minds eye, warming you. Feel the warmth. You feel heavy and calm and relaxed.
Give it about ten minutes, then remember that you can open your eyes because it is just your imagination. Open your eyes. You will probably feel nice and relaxed.
This is a little taste of hypnosis and it is a short step from there to imagining yourself flying through the air and feeling the breeze, the stomach churning drops and cold air of the stratosphere. Or, to standing in front of an audience giving a speech without fear, or making that crucial sale. This exercise will work for most people but it is beyond the scope of this article to go further and look at other techniques of which there are plenty.
So whats the use of imagining making the sale, or of not being afraid of heights if you are not actually doing it? Well when we access this illogical side of our wholeness we are begin to make some wonderful changes. We start to change our programming, putting positive and solution focussed ideas in our imagination instead of self-limiting and self-defeating ones. We feed our imagination so that it grows and becomes more creative and stronger. We are rehearsing for success instead of failure and allowing our creative juices to flow unfettered. When we do this we come to believe that possibilities are endless and we become unlimited by our illogical fears of failure.
Disclaimer. Webmasters are free to reprint this article provided that it is not edited, the authors information is included and the links are included as live links.
Mark Hamer is a professional therapist, writer and illustrator (BA (hons, DipsSW, MA, RSW). with a number of published social work books to his name. His website http://www.free-hypnosis.co.uk contains free lessons on how hypnotise and use hypnosis.
His other websites include http://www.another-way.co.uk which is a website aimed at social workers and gives details of his publications. Mark also trained as an artist and his website http://www.markhamer.co.uk is a gallery of illustrations he has made for publishers.
Author: Mark Hamer
Keywords: Hypnosis, Business, Phobia, Imagination
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March 12th, 2009 at 01:13pm
Under Creativity
Drawing fantasy creatures takes some skills that go beyond the normal realm of drawing because you cant find a subject to pose for you unless you live in an enchanted forest! So you are faced with not only the task of learning how to draw you are also faced with the challenge of tapping into your imagination and then putting this down on paper. Here are some solid tips that will help you imagine and draw better fantasy creatures.
How to Tap into your Imagination
Doodling and drawing with a free style is the best way to get your creativity and imagination flowing. The process to follow is to simply draw quick sketches and then modify them as things start to appear. It goes something like this: Draw a roughly human shaped head then start to add a body to it but dont consciously make it a human body, vary your lines and see where it goes. You will be surprised by what happens. Your eye will start to see things in a different way and you will create some fantastic creatures. These should only be quick sketches and you should draw lots of them fill the sheet of paper and see where the drawings go. This is a great way to come up with the initial idea for a new fantasy creature.
Changing the shape of existing creatures and animals Many of the most familiar fantasy creatures are variations of familiar animals. A Unicorn is a variation of a horse and a Dragon is a variation of a Dinosaur. Think of other creatures and doodle their rough shape while thinking up variations. What would a cat look like if it had scales instead of fur? Or how about a Giraffe with short legs?
The Power of Combining Animals this is a very powerful way to create new fantasy creatures and Greek Mythology is loaded with this kind of beast. A Centaur is half man and half horse; and a mermaid is half woman and half fish. The possibilities are endless and when you are doodling out ideas dont limit yourself to just upper and lower body combinations. Try combining limbs, torsos, heads, hands, feet or anything else that strikes you.
The creative power of distortion Often times fantasy creatures are distortions of humans or other animals. Think of your drawing as a lump of clay that you can mold into any shape. Distort the arms, legs, torso, head or anything else. This will reap some great results. If you draw a human that is very skinny with an oversized head you are heading toward something goblin-like. And if you draw a human that is very thick and stocky you might be heading toward a Troll or Ogre.
Here are a couple of unusual ways to tap into your imagination and create unusual fantasy creatures. Try making an unusual sound then try to draw the creature or beast that would make that sound. Or write out a description in words for your beast then try to draw it. These two techniques bring other parts of your brain into the process not just your hand-eye coordination.
The Mechanics of How to Draw Better Fantasy Creatures
Everything relates to human anatomy If you practice drawing people you will get much better at drawing fantasy creatures. The same basic rules of musculature and skeletal understructure apply to all biological creatures even made up ones. Remember: Skin or fur is something that covers muscles and bones but dont completely hide it. The bones and muscles show through. So draw more people and your fantasy creatures will improve.
Draw more existing creatures - Fantasy creatures are almost always variations of creatures and animals that already exist. If you want to draw a dragon you should think about and look at pictures of dinosaurs and large lizards. If you want to draw a unicorn you should use a horse as your model. And there are many variations on the human form. If you want to draw a dwarf, an elf or a goblin you can use the human form as a perfect starting point. The important thing to remember is that the more horses you draw the better your unicorns will be and the more dinosaurs you draw the better your dragons will be. And the best thing about this is that you can easily find pictures of horses and dinosaurs to look at while you draw.
Use your drawing tools for more expression When drawing a creature you have to think of its disposition. Is it a gentle creature or a mean creature? Use your pencil in a way that expresses this. Dark, bold and sharp lines are usually better when drawing angry or scary creatures and soft lines are usually better for gentle, mythical creatures. This is something that is often overlooked but it is very important. You are using your pencil in a way that goes beyond just drawing lines. And this applies to a whole spectrum of techniques including short lines, long lines, choppy lines and even shading.
Dont hesitate to look at and copy other peoples work. Carefully looking at other fantasy work will improve your work dramatically. When doing a copy you are forced to see things you wouldnt normally see and this is a great way to learn how to do it yourself. Just dont claim the creature as your own.
Keep a sketch and doodle book and work in it often. This is something that works real well for me because looking over many pages of doodles you have done in the past will often inspire new ideas for drawings of creatures.
Drawing fantasy creatures is a challenging yet rewarding hobby. It has the dual benefit of improving your ability to draw while cultivating your creativity and imagination. With a bit of practice and an understanding of these basic tips you will be drawing some amazing fantasy creatures in no time at all.
Will Kalif is a writer and artist of fantasy. If you would like to learn more about drawing fantasy and medieval creations check out his free fantasy art school at:The Fantasy Art School
Or you can visit his site devoted to fantasy, creativity, and all things medieval on the web at: Storm The Castle.com
Author: Will Kalif
Keywords: drawing,art,fantasy,how to draw,creatures
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March 12th, 2009 at 01:13pm
Under Creativity
Painting is my new passion. Who knew?
A few days ago, I was talking to my mother on the phone. I told her that our apartment here in Buenos Aires is great, but there is absolutely nothing on the walls. I mentioned that I had considered buying art, but decided instead to just get a bunch of paint and canvases and make my own.
But you’re not a painter, she said, confused.
I know. But I’m not doing portraits or anything too detailed. I’m just doing abstracts, I explained.
But you’ve never done abstracts, she pointed out.
Yes, I know. But it can’t be that difficult, and the only person I have to please is myself, so as long as I pick the colors I like and play around, it should turn out just fine, I said.
But painters study for years to learn their techniques, she continued.
Yes, yes. But I don’t care about that. I’m in it for the fun of it and to paint something colorful for my walls, I explained, getting a tiny bit exasperated.
But you don’t paint, she said. I could almost hear her shaking her head.
And that is how I ended up with a stack of canvases, piles of paint cans and tubes, a handful of brushes, and sheets of clear plastic draped all over my dining room. I’ve barely come up for air since. I feel like a little kid who has just discovered the joy of finger painting.
I can’t get enough of it. But let me stress that this has all happened in one week. My husband went on a week-long trip, and I thought it was a perfect opportunity to make a complete mess while he was gone.
I did a little research online before I got started. I especially liked one site on which a painter offers tips for those who’ve never picked up a brush. You can’t mess up, he announces. Just have fun and play with it!
Now, that’s the kind of advice I love! That’s how I started gardening.
And just like when I was a passionate gardener, it’s not about the final product. I had played in the dirt happily for years to transform our property, and when we put up the For Sale sign in the front yard, my neighbors asked, But how will you ever leave this garden?
Oh, easy. You see, it was never about the garden. It was about the gardening. I wasn’t attached to the garden per se–I just loved the process of digging, planning, planting, and even weeding. As it turned out, I didn’t have any problem leaving behind the gardening either, eventually. (It took a few more gardens before I got to that point.)
What excites us at one time in our lives doesn’t necessarily make us want to leap out of bed at 5 am to get started years later. The trick is to keep playing, keep seeing it as playing, and when it starts to feel like work, consider tweaking it or doing something completely different.
For those of the stick-to-one-thing persuasion, I have to ask, Which thing? How can we know what we will love until we try it?
As we get older, it gets harder to try new things. We’re used to being good at what we do. But the more we embrace being a novice, the easier it becomes and the more likely we are to try MORE new things.
I was an absolute novice at painting last week. I still am, but I’m learning more each day, and I’m having a blast. What else matters?
And my walls? They’re covered with paintings in brilliant hues. I smile every time I look at them.
I’ll send photos to my mother.
Maya Talisman Frost has taught thousands of people how to pay attention. Through her company, Real-World Mindfulness Training, she offers playful, eyes-wide-open alternatives to meditation. To read her free tips and tricks for practical awareness, visit http://www.Real-WorldMindfulness.com
Author: Maya Talisman Frost
Keywords: mindfulness, meditation, painting, art therapy, creativity, awareness, motivation
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March 12th, 2009 at 01:13pm
Under Creativity
Brian Wilson, after creating what many consider the finest pop album of its time Pet Sounds - famously went through a period of composing the follow up album Smile sitting at his piano in a sandbox in his living room. He claimed it aided his creativity because it replicated the feel of being at the beach and created a mood that was magic.
He also gave some of his musicians vegetables to play, recorded songs in an empty swimming pool and instructed the symphony orchestra to wear toy firefighters helmets. But those are all ideas for another article!
Back to the sandbox then. By creating a set of surroundings we find inspiring and comforting - a few metaphorical walls around us, edges that define a safe boundary for us, and familiar objects - we feel able to be more free, and experiment more with our creativity.
There are at least two elements at work in this kind of situation:
First Element: The Safety and Security to Relax
Imagine taking out a new possible love interest for the first time. Then trying to enjoy a steak meal sat in the middle of a pit of hungry lions.
How relaxing would that be? You and your companion attempting to enjoy your meal and get to know each other with a pack of snarling and starving carnivores circling you, saliva dripping from their razor sharp teeth? Probably not the greatest option for a romantic dinner date
Its the same for our creativity. By creating an environment thats comfortable and safe and eliminates some of the external threats and obstacles to our creativity, somewhere where were out of the public gaze and wont be critically shot down with every movement we make, we give ourselves a much greater chance and opportunity to produce interesting and rewarding work.
As well as somewhere safe, adjusting the small details of our surroundings for example, creating a mood by altering the lighting, having motivating and inspiring words and images on the walls, sitting in a favourite comfortable chair all just by their presence are conducive to greater creativity.
So by doing some of the above, we give our romantic date (in this case a date with our own creative projects) the best chance of being as enjoyable and fruitful as possible.
Second Element: Reducing Options Increases Focus
The second powerful Sandbox element is that by reducing our options, we actually become more focused and give our ingenuity and creative invention the green light to work overtime.
For example, imagine you were given the opportunity to be a classical composer for a day. The 100+ players of the London Symphony Orchestra are at your command, ready and willing to put your most amazing musical creation to life. Its now up to you to simply create a piece of music and tell them what to play.
Where would you start?! Would you first consider the theme of the piece, the story and emotion behind the music? Or would you start by defining the length and structure of the piece, its sections, phrases and movements?
Maybe youd begin with a melody or note sequence and build outwards from there? Or would you start with the string section of the orchestra, compose the part theyll be playing and then add the woodwind, brass, percussion and other sections layer by layer?
The options are mind boggling, and the majority of us in this situation would be completely overwhelmed and most likely end up creating nothing at all. Yet this is often exactly the same situation we put ourselves in with our own creative work.
By working in our Sandbox and defining parameters edges and limits within which well work - we can eliminate dead ends, exercise our creative muscles and begin to focus on more specific ideas and solutions.
In the orchestra example, this is the equivalent of making the choice, say, to compose a 5 minute movement based on our feelings after the end of long love affair of our youth, starting with a simple 5 note melody and using the 8 lead players of the string section only.
Already these defining parameters give our creativity something to focus on, get its teeth into, and begin generating ideas around.
Without this framework, our possible options are huge and so too therefore becomes the pressure to choose where to begin and how to progress.
How can you create your own Sandbox?
The benefits of this idea are obvious, so much so that we can often easily overlook them.
So think right now about how you can apply the benefits of the sandbox in your creative life.
How can you incorporate the two elements described above a safe, secure environment and a vastly reduced and focused set of options - to help you increase YOUR creativity?
Copyright 2006 Dan Goodwin
Creativity Coach Dan Goodwin is the author of Create Create!, a FREE twice monthly ezine for people who want simple and powerful articles, tips and exercises to help them unleash their creative talents. Sign up right now and get your FREE Explode Your Creativity! Action Workbook, at www.CoachCreative.com
Author: Dan Goodwin
Keywords: creativity coaching, creativity, creative, increase creativity, greater creativity, artist, artists
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March 12th, 2009 at 01:13pm
Under Creativity
According to Nobel prize-winning chemist Linus Pauling, the best way to get a good idea is to get a lot of ideas. Unfortunately, school teaches us to find the right answer, when actually there is usually more than one right answer for a problem.
When an adult is challenged to come up ideas, he or she typically generates three to six possible solutions. The average child generates 60. We need to be more child-like in our approach to ideas. Let’s try some exercises to help us generate ideas or to look at things from a different - and perhaps, childlike - perspective.
Change the question
Sometimes just by changing a word or two in a question, you can come up with radically different ideas. Centuries ago a plague spread across Europe which was almost always fatal. In one town, a person thought to be dead was buried alive. Townspeople wanted to make sure this didn’t happen again. One group proposed putting food and water in every casket and an air hole up to the surface. Their question: what if we bury someone alive? Another group suggested placing a 12-inch spike in the coffin lid and aligning it with the victim’s heart. Their question: how do we make sure everyone we bury is dead?
Ignore The Rules
Now, I’m not suggesting that you should break laws. Rather, I am saying you need to look for approaches that fall outside the norm. Ancient prophecy said that whoever could untie the Gordian Knot would be king of Asia. Everyone, including Alexander the Great, failed when they tried to unravel it. Frustrated, Alexander took out his sword and sliced the knot in half. Mission accomplished.
Reframing The Problem
You can look at problems from different perspectives using what is called the Reframing Matrix. Take a piece of paper and write down your question in the middle of the paper. Draw a grid around it. In one grid you might ask, how would a doctor approach this problem? In another, how would an engineer solve this?
Group Think
Brainstorming in a group often does not work because people are afraid of speaking their ideas out loud. This is a way around that fear. Assemble a group. Write down three ideas on a piece of paper and pass it to the person on your right. That person reads the ideas and adds three more ideas triggered by the previous ideas. This continues until it gets back to the beginning.
Random Input
A random piece of information often can take your problem-solving process into hyperdrive. Once you have your question or problem clearly stated, open up a dictionary or a thesaurus to any page and select a word. Now, think about how this random item applies to your problem. There is some connection and your job is to find it.
OK, now you have some new tools to pump up your brain. Do some heavy lifting.
Harry Hoover is managing principal of Hoover ink PR. He has 30 years of experience in crafting and delivering bottom line messages that ensure success for serious businesses like Bank of Commerce, Brent Dees Financial Planning, Focus Four, Levolor, New World Mortgage, North Carolina Tourism, TeamHeidi, Ty Boyd Executive Learning Systems, VELUX, and Verbatim.
Author: Harry Hoover
Keywords: products at Amazon.com’>creativity, products at Amazon.com’>brainstorming, ad agency, PR, products at Amazon.com’>marketing
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March 12th, 2009 at 01:13pm
Under Creativity
Every human is creative. There, I’ve said it. However, you must understand that creativity and artistic ability are not one and the same. Once you get past that hurdle, it’s easier to find your creative muse.
Roger von Oech, in his book A Whack On The Side Of The Head, says that there are 10 mental locks that may keep us from freeing our minds to be creative.
One of the biggest locks in my view is the fear of appearing foolish. Not all of your ideas are going to be great. You should grade yourself on the quantity of ideas you come up with, not the quality of each idea. You are not going to hit every idea out of the park.
Baseball provides a good analogy for ideas. Ty Cobb has the best lifetime batting average of anyone at .366, or about 36 percent of his at bats. That means he did not get a hit 64 percent of the time. Would you call him a failure?
How about Thomas Edison? He admits that he learned thousands of ways not to make a light bulb before hitting on one right way.
How do we avoid the mental locks? You need to forget what you know. Otherwise, your brain will be cluttered with answers from everyday life. Consider Johann Gutenberg. The wine press and the coin punch were in existence during Gutenberg’s time. But he was the first to forget that one was used only to smash grapes and the other only to leave an image on a coin. By combining the two devices he invented the printing press.
How do we manage to forget what we know? You need to shake up your brain with exercises that challenge your assumptions - a virtual whack on the side of the head.
If you want to be creative, then you must pump a little mental iron to get more ideas flowing. Because nothing is more dangerous than an idea when it’s the only one you have.
Harry Hoover is managing principal of Hoover ink PR. He has 30 years of experience in crafting and delivering bottom line messages that ensure success for serious businesses like Bank of Commerce, Brent Dees Financial Planning, Focus Four, Levolor, New World Mortgage, North Carolina Tourism, TeamHeidi, Ty Boyd Executive Learning Systems, VELUX, and Verbatim.
Author: Harry Hoover
Keywords: creativity, brainstorm, advertising, marketing
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March 12th, 2009 at 01:13pm
Under Creativity
I recently gave a presentation at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design on a topic entitled Is creativity management an oxymoron?
The essential confusion to people resistant to the idea of creativity management was the word management. Replace it with the word optimization and the resistance disappears; all we’re really trying to do is optimize the quality of the idea pool and optimize the implementation process.
Then you can suggest that most people already implicitly accept the idea of creativity management: if you ask them to solve a problem or engage in a particular endeavour, one of the things they’re likely to do is herd people into a room with a flip chart and conduct some sort of brainstorming session and implicit in that action is the acceptance that certain methods, processes and procedures enhance creative output.
Then you can begin discussing how to improve the enormous amount of creative output people generate, from problem solving in everyday business life right up to the level or art. Which leads to a large number of concepts that diverge significantly from the common misconceptions and mythology that surrounds creativity and innovation.
Collaboration NOT Competition
Whilst competition is a driver of idea generation, collaboration is more productive for a number of reasons, including:
a)Collaboration enhances intellectual cross-pollination whilst competition restricts it.
b)Collaboration does not cause people to shut down as much as competition.
c) Competition increases evaluation apprehension.
d)Collaboration is more inducive to a culture of psychological safety and freedom, which encourages people to express their cognitive activity.
Learn more
WRITE THAT SCREENPLAY!
The Complete 188 stage Heros Journey and other story structure templates can be found at http://www.clickok.co.uk/
The Managing Creativity and Innovation MBA dissertation, DIY creativity Audit, Powerpoint presentation and Good Idea generator software can be found at http://www.managing-creativity.com/
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Kal Bishop, MBA
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Author: Kal Bishop
Keywords: Creativity, Management, Managing, Manager, Innovation
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