5 posts tagged “creativity”
The best thing that happens to one when they become a parent is an opportunity to stop, observe, unlearn and learn again, an opportunity to break patterns, an opportunity to ask 'Why' again and many many more wonderful things
I was out and about at the Monterey Bay Aquarium today with my 3 year old and family. At one excellent exhibit, I was showing her how to etch with crayons only to realize about an hour later, that I had been sucked in. If you have read Orbiting The Giant Hairball or The Creative Habit, you will 'see' what I 'see' - we grow up but along with it grows many limitations, brought about by us on each other, that comes with the territory - of being an adult.
Maybe its a coincidence that all carvings available were along with a 'child of their own' but then if you believe in coincidence, are you paying attention?
Here is what I produced in an hour today .... as a kid:
I have talked about caterpillars Stripe and Yellow, then the fish Swimmy so I thought a horse would be a nice addition.Here is a great Sufi legend about a Horse I picked up from Paulo Coelho's (If you have not read The Alchemist - drop everything and read that first) blog:
"Many years ago in a poor Chinese village, there lived a peasant with his son. His only material possession, apart from some land and a small straw hut, was a horse he had inherited from his father.
One day, the horse ran off, leaving the man with no animal with which to till the land. His neighbors - who respected him greatly for his honesty and diligence - came to his house to say how much they regretted what had happened. He thanked them for their visit, but asked:
- How can you know that what has happened has been a misfortune in my life?
Someone mumbled to a friend: “he can’t accept reality, let him think what he wants, as long as he isn’t saddened by what happened.”
And the neighbors went off, pretending to agree with what they had heard.
A week later, the horse returned to the stable, but it was not alone; it brought with it a fine mare for company. Upon hearing this, the villagers - who were flustered since they now understood the answer the man had given them - returned to the peasant’s house, in order to congratulate him on his good fortune.
- Before you had only one horse, and now you have two. Congratulations! - they said.
- Many thanks for your visit and for all your concern - answered the peasant. - But how can you know that what has happened has been a blessing in my life?
Disconcerted, and thinking he must be going mad, the neighbors went off, and on the way commented: “does he really not understand that God has sent him a gift?”
A month later, the peasant’s son decided to tame the mare. But the animal unexpectedly reared up and the boy fell and broke his leg.
The neighbors returned to the peasant’s house - bringing gifts for the wounded boy. The mayor of the village offered his condolences to the father, saying that all were very sad at what had happened.
The man thanked them for their visit and their concern, but asked:
- How can you know that what has happened has been a misfortune in my life?
They were all astonished to hear this, since no one could be in any doubt that the accident of a son was a real tragedy. As they left the peasant’s house, some said to others: “he really has gone mad; his only son might limp forever, and he is still in doubt about whether what happened is a misfortune.”
Some months passed, and Japan declared war on China. The Emperor’s envoys traveled throughout the land in search for healthy young men to be sent to the battle front. Upon arrival in the village, they recruited all the young men except the peasant’s son, whose leg was broken.
None of the young men returned alive. The son recovered, the two animals bred and their offspring were sold at a good price. The peasant began visiting his neighbors to console and help them, - since they had at all times been so caring. Whenever one of them complained, the peasant said: “how do you know it is a misfortune?” If anyone become overjoyed, he asked: “how do you know it is a blessing?” And the men in that village understood that beyond appearances, life has other meanings."
Imagine: Conventional Wisdom
It is really amazing how really simple things communicate the best. I have three books that use that extremely effectively and they all have one thing in common - they use presentation formats that appeal to children, not boring adults.
They all are:
- Simple
- Tell One Story and
- VERY importantly, Fuuuuuun!
1. Hope for the Flowers by
Trina Paulus recommended to me by my colleague, Tom Rolander here at CrossLoop.
Two caterpillars, Stripes and Yellow are the main characters, who go on to explore the 'more' in life
2. Orbitting the Giant Hairball by Gordon McKenzie recommended to me by a mentor of mine.
The Hairball is a reference to all the policies and rules that grow and thrive at corporations. You can see many of those in personal lives through patterns and a daily rut
3. Swimmy by Leo Lionni . My most recent favorite that I picked up is from Robert Kalin, The Founder and CEO of Etsy. It is extremely applicable to startups but can be applied to the power of relationships - professional and/or family.
Watch Robert reading it below and you get the distinction of being one of those few who have read at least one book this year:
Imagine: Being FUNomenal
- It allows one to break conventional wisdom - some also call that wisdom of the crowds or herd mentality
- It enables one to easily differentiate
- It can have a revolutionary (creation) or evolutionary (improvement) outcome
- It enables one to explore the unknown and embrace failure, not fear it. If you fail fast, you get faster to your goal and eliminate more steps to your goal
- It magnifies discovery
With the above in mind and the following observation by Cathie Black (that I picked up - Yes - in The Wall Street Journal), I just ordered The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp, a choreographer.
"My favorite lines are about the importance of naïveté, which she sees as a great advantage. Tharp renames it "forever the child" or "the ability to not know." She writes: "You do not know that failure can hurt, or even that you can fail." Not a bad state of mind, in work and in life."
Being a relatively new father and watching my daughter grow closely, I could not agree more.
Furthermore, one of my all time favorite books is Orbiting The Giant Hairball - A Corporate Fool's Guide to Surviving with Grace by Gordon MacKenzie - another artist. He brings out the significance of naivete and all the advantages of being a child. At what age, did you stop raising your hand?
Imagine: A blog about all things you DO NOT know
The review starts like this:
"Most people would feel they'd been dealt a fair hand by life if they could spend it doing something they enjoyed. If, that is, there were no divide between what they did to earn a living and . . . living. Even better would be managing this feat with stunning success and without the need for a major personal transformation -- to be the same person, 40 years and millions of dollars later, that you were when you first started thinking: "Hey, I could make a few bucks doing this and have some fun, too. Groovy."
I have always called the above collateral success on my earlier blog posts on Bloglines here and another one with a similar theme here - the one entitled " If Passionate, the Successful else Mediocrity" [Most of the permalinks on Bloglines don't seem to work]. I believe fun is one of the best things you contribute to your environment, especially in the corporate world. Here are my earlier posts on that - called "Fun - the Southwest Way" and "Fun-Da-Mental"
Starting a little company myself with a neat team, this line was very exciting:
"The JanSport team was just "three hippies . . . no business plan . . . even less money. . . . All we had was Murray's innovative design, Jan's skill, my creative instincts and a shared affinity for Dylan music and beer."
And yes, enthusiasm makes a big difference to anything one does:
"One message is clear: Enthusiasm matters. We never really learn, from reading the book, just how much money Mr. Yowell has made or how big his company is. (Answers: a lot and very.) But we do learn about how he took dealers on climbs of Mount Rainier, joined an Everest expedition and got involved in goofy promotions like the "Bak-A-Yak" fundraiser for a Himalayan excursion."
Read the full review here and you know where to pick one up. I am on "Tuesdays with Morrie" and 'Pouring Your Heart Into It". This one hopefully comes right after that.
Imagine - Getting paid to do what you love!
My Groups
-
now you know. Updated: 4 hours ago
-
Voxaholic Updated: Yesterday
-
The Vox Meetup Group Updated: Yesterday
Neighborhood
Explore friends, family, friends & family, or entire neighborhood.
