Filed under: Creative Process, Creativity | Tags: Creativity, Inspiration, Scent, Tools for Creativity
by Lisa A. Riley
During a walk on an early spring morning, remnants of a chill from the night before, the day warmed by a slowly rising sun. Random thoughts sifted through a list of chores, calls to return and emails to answer. My mind no longer present, instinctively I reached towards one of the many lavender bushes I passed along the way. The persuasive aroma escaped the velvet leaves as I rubbed them between my palms. Before I could digest the fragrance, it cultivated a collage of vivid images, memories and scenarios. Suddenly, I was propelled to another time and place, enveloped with familiar sentiments. An array of ideas began to bounce back and forth in my imagination and I was struck by an impetus to create.
The sense of smell is one of two senses that are hotwired as a direct highway to the brain. Scent instantaneously activates memory recall and a flow of interconnected thoughts wrapped in feelings and emotions. This is why suddenly an entire scene from our past can manifest on the screen of our mind; thrusting us in the midst of an experience as if it were occurring at that very moment. All by a single whiff of an aroma. Our sense of smell is a pathway in which we take in the world as well as imagine a world internally.
This can be a powerful tool used to awaken a muse and ignite our creativity. Perhaps it’s the spicy aroma of coffee, the tang of citrus, or your favorite essential oil that stirs up inspiration. Customizing your palette of carefully selective scents and allowing your imagination to take flight can be a suitable complement to your creativity routine.
Content © 2008/2009 by Lisa A. Riley, The Art of Mind’s Blog. All Rights Reserved.
Filed under: Creative Process, Flow | Tags: creating software, software development, Software programming, writing code
by Robert Werner
I’ve been involved in creating software for thirty years, twenty of those professionally. It never fails to occur that I’ll be at a party, someone will learn what I do for a living, and something similar to the following will be said: “Oh I could never be a software engineer. I’m too creative a person to do something like that.” I used to get angry hearing this but now I’m just amused at the complete ignorance of such a statement.
In every profession there are those who do the basics to earn the money they need. But there are also those who love what they do. For them, work no longer seems like “work”, but more like play. These are the artists, the creative souls that inhabit every facet of society on earth. They are the ones you should almost always seek out if you’re looking for something brilliant rather than something just satisfactory.
There clearly is great creativity involved in writing a book. While there are generally a limited number of ways to construct a sentence and while punctuation and grammar rules must be followed, the final work of a Hemingway or a Shakespeare is clearly different than that of the average college student. That’s not random chance. It’s creativity at work.
Software development is no different. Specific rules of syntax have to be followed. But beyond that there are virtually an infinite number of ways to construct a software program. A senior developer, much like a senior artisan, will know specific methods to build a module in less time than an inexperienced junior developer. And once completed, the senior developer’s code should have less bugs and run more efficiently as well. But beyond the learned skills, there is another important element as well. Those software developers who really love their work will get themselves into a creative zone, with their minds completely focused on the task at hand. When this happens, ingenuity reigns supreme and new innovative code starts evolving. It’s actually quite a magical, beautiful thing to behold!
In 1996/97, when the Internet was still in its infancy, two Stanford University students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, believed that there was a better approach to providing Search results than what had been done previously. Many dismissed their work as irrelevant theoretical academia. But some saw the creative brilliance in the minds of these young men and invested in them. Together, they formed Google, which is now one of the wealthiest companies in the world. Did this happen randomly? Absolutely not. Creativity, intelligence, and hard work are key ingredients for success in every facet of our lives. Software development is no exception.
Robert Werner, P.Eng. is a technology entrepreneur based out of Vancouver, B.C. His major professional focus these days is with a mobile software application called Pocket Pollster. But he’s still heavily involved with the not-for-profit BC Digital Divide organization that he founded two years ago. He can be reached at: robertw@pocketpollster.com
Filed under: Creative Personality, Creativity, Creativty & Wellbeing | Tags: children's creativity, education and creativity
“All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.”– Picasso
Sir Ken Robinson spoke at the TED Conference in 2006. In a talk titled “Do Schools Kill Creativity?” he questions how our educational system might be killing our children’s innate creativity. He goes on to mention that, “We are educating people out of their creativity.” Robinson believes by conditioning our children to focus on the “Right” answer verses the “Wrong” answer, they become fearful of being wrong and slowly lose the skill to try something new. He also goes on to explain how the work place reinforces this idea by placing too much focus on employee’s mistakes.
Perhaps Robinson’s talk will get educators and parents thinking about how to better support children’s creativity, as well as get companies to rethink creativity in the work place. Maybe we might just promote more innovative thinking and problem solving in society.
Filed under: Creative Block, Creative Process, Writing | Tags: Creative Process, Just Write, Writing, Writing Process
by Scott Benton
A long time ago I decided I wanted to write. When I sat down to put my thoughts on paper, I quickly realized I didn’t have the slightest idea how to begin.
So I took classes on writing. I sat in lecture halls for hours listening to experts talk endlessly about writing. I read books on writing, I listened to bootlegged audiotapes of Robert McKee who talked about writing—and this is a man who knows about writing.
But after all that work, I still didn’t know how to write.
So I read those books again. I figured I missed something—somehow I managed to overlook the one primary rule I needed before I could begin. But after reading those books a second time, I still didn’t have the key. I didn’t know what I was missing.
All I knew is that I wasn’t writing.
The writers I knew had already made an important discovery, but I had not caught wind of it. They could have easily told me their discovery, but I wouldn’t have listened. It’s something I had to arrive at myself, as you will arrive at for yourself. They knew the code, as I’m telling you now, and it won’t sink in right away for you either. But at some point, and trust me on this, it will make sense. It will become your mantra, your elixir, the answer you seek.
SHUT UP AND WRITE.
That’s all there is. I know it sounds crazy. I know it goes against everything you’re feeling in your chest right now. I know you have the excuses worked out. They’re lined up nicely like a page of Robert Frost, as I had them lined up in my own mind.
SHUT UP AND WRITE.
The truth is you’re scared. The truth is I was scared. The minute you sit down in front of the blank page you realize what every other writer before you has realized: there’s something terrifying about writing. The fear stands in front of us like an impenetrable fortress; like an impossible barrier cutting off all forward progress. We wrack our brain for an answer. How do we move ahead? How do we go straight through?
SHUT UP AND WRITE.
I learned that shut up and write is nothing you can tell another person. I learned it was something I had to tell myself, and once I did, I wrote with abandon. I had gotten myself bogged down in process and theories and lectures and instruction. What I hadn’t considered is that writing is something you learn slowly. Bit-by-bit. A little at a time, and it’s something you learn by doing.
Writing is a craft. Writing is an art. Writing is sweat. Writing is toil. Writing is work. You can get from Los Angeles to New York in a new Ferrari or in a beat up Honda, but either way, you’ve got to leave the garage first and get on the road.
SHUT UP AND WRITE.
I didn’t find this in a book or lecture. I didn’t hear it from friends (even though they probably said it many times). It wasn’t until I said it to myself that I was able to start, and I found the more I wrote, the more I stopped distracting myself. Eventually, I saw how much I could do. Good or bad has never mattered to me, nor has it mattered to many writers when they sit down to work.
But the first step is to admit that no matter what, you are already a writer—a good one. Stop trying to learn the craft. You’re already there. You have something to say. You have enough life experience. You can sit in front of a blank page and write something—anything you like. You’re a writer this minute. Not next year, not in the distant future.
Right now.
If you want to do yourself a favor, then sit down and have a conversation. And in that conversation, make sure to tell yourself that above all else, you must first
SHUT UP AND WRITE.
Filed under: Creative Block | Tags: comparing to others, envy & creativity, jealous of other's creativity
by Lisa A. Riley
“Envy comes from people’s ignorance of, or lack of belief in, their own gifts.” – Jean Vanier
Envy can catch us by surprise. It can rear it’s head at a collogues art exhibit; reading an article featuring a local writer we went to school with, or during an interview with a celebrity on TV. Feelings of jealousy reawaken our own fears, insecurities and self-doubt. Those dormant skeletons of unfulfilled desires, we tried to bury under excuses. You know the ones, not enough time, not enough money and the voice that recites that familiar mantra, “you’ll never be successful.” Those unforgotten, but faint passions that hadn’t quite left us alone, come to focus. It seems that in the green veil of envy, resentment, projected at another, keeps us paralyzed. Preventing us from facing our own road blocks and pursuit of our dreams. We interpret someone else’s accomplishments as further proof that it has already been done and why we ought not to bother.
Jealousy easily enables us to avoid possible success and instead breeds inaction. When we focus on the wishful misfortunes of those who have gone before us and thrived, we avoid looking authentically at our own dissatisfaction and self-doubt. In spite of that, envy isn’t all that dreadful, but can in fact be a catalyst. If used as a mirror it can serve as a means to shake up those dusty dreams, hopes and artistic pursuits. Instead, gifts us with another chance to revisit them. By choosing to harness the energy in jealousy, which compels us to negate and judge, we stimulate renewed inspiration. Envy is a plea for action, utilize it to take the first steps or pick up where you left off.
Jealousy demands acknowledgment and appreciation of our own talents. If we listen closely to the true message of envy, once again we are aroused and prompted to manifesting our creative calling.
Content © 2008/2009 by Lisa A. Riley, The Art of Mind’s Blog. All Rights Reserved.
