A Creative Mind is Rarely Tidy

The more and more I read about creativity the more meaningful this quote becomes to me. I really like this quote because the problem I had at the art museum was coming up with 3 questions about creativity. After redoing the same exercise at the end, I realized something... I thought too hard about being creative and original that it was actually a mental block. I was too worried about if others would find it creative that I didn't just write it down. So while I think creativity is important, I think we need to focus more on building relationships and atmospheres that foster confidence and courage to say and do whatever it is that is on the mind. I listened to Tim Browns Ted Talk on Creativity and Play and I just want to point out a few quotes from the talk.

(to give background info, if you dont watch the talk, Tim does an exercise in the audience where he asks everyone to draw a picture of the person sitting next to them in 30 seconds, after 30 seconds is up, multiple "sorrys" are said, and a lot of people embarrassed to show their drawing). 

 "we fear the judgment of our peers, and that we’re embarrassed about showing our ideas to people we think of as our peers, to those around us. And this fear is what causes us to be conservative in our thinking. So we might have a wild idea, but we’re afraid to share it with anybody else." 

"OK, so if you try the same exercise with kids, they have no embarrassment at all. They just quite happily show their masterpiece to whoever wants to look at it. But as they learn to become adults,they become much more sensitive to the opinions of others, and they lose that freedom and they do start to become embarrassed. And in studies of kids playing, it’s been shown time after time that kids who feel secure, who are in a kind of trusted environment -- they’re the ones that feel most free to play."

This reiterates my point that a trusted and secure environment is needed. For BLF I see us getting there, while we are one intimidating group of people; such intelligent, involved, already successful people, I hope we can create this type of environment to allow ideas to freely flow without the worry of embarrassment and sensitivity.

But one question I do have is - how do we build this type of environment? We all see play and friendship differently. I challenge us to figure out what it is that can make our group of diverse, and special personalities feel as though we are in an environment of play and to let loose and be the creative person we all can be.

Moving on in the prompt.

PLAY: Engage in activity for enjoyment and recreation rather than a serious or practical purpose.

Last time I played?- Hmmm, besides being out with my friends over the weekend, I'm going to say the last time I play was in a Major Campus Events Committee Meeting I had awhile ago. All 12 of us were 'playing' a game and we were all just having a blast, ideas were flowing, people were laughing and I truly enjoyed it. I wish everything could be like that!

Fridays workshop: 
First of all I'd like to say thank you to the CMA because I really enjoyed that. Its so nice to break up work with fun. I think it was a great way to get to know each other and how we work in an environment other than sitting around a large table trying to come up to thoughtful responses to Eddie and Sarah's questions. Mind you, I do enjoy those [:


Creativity Before- I really think I believed that to be creative you had to be artistic.
Creativity After- EVERYONE is creative. I just think about it too hard. Let the ideas flow.
   

I have taken a lot away from this workshop, mainly as I have said in here a couple times already..

DON'T THINK TOO HARD ABOUT THINKING CREATIVELY.

The chapter of my autobiography will come in a second post. I want to think about this one. 

 “Creativity comes from trust. Trust your instincts. And never hope more than you 

work.” -Rita Mae Brown

Life = Risk

STRENGTHS

ADAPTABILITY

      EMPATHY 

                INCLUDER

   RESTORATIVE

SIGNIFICANCE 

    
something I plan to do more of is reflect on them and make sure I am using them to the fullest.

A strength that I thought I used exceptionally well during the previous challenge was my restorative strength. According to Gallup Strengths Finder the Restorative strength means: 

"People especially talented in the Restorative theme are adept at dealing with problems. They are good at figuring out what is wrong and resolving it"

Although, our team was perfect and there wasn't much to restore ..... (I'm not sure, perhaps I am the only one who feels this way?).

Just kidding, BiggerThanTheGame definitely had our fair share of problems. From communication, to fundraising I had a few moments where I just wanted to rip my hair out and quit. But, since a strength of mine is Restorative, I knew I needed to fix these problems. I took a step back, looked at the problem at hand and (not always in the best of ways) resolved it. For instance, we obtained only a few corporate sponsors... nearing the end of the challenge I had no idea what to do.. WE NEEDED MONEY! I thought and thought about ways to go about it rather than just asking for money on the corner, and absolutely did not want to let my team down so I was going to get that money. After realizing all the resources here on campus I figured fundraising nights would be the best. Although it didn't work out as planned.. we raised maybe $300... but it was still a solution, and I felt proud and I  think my teammates were happy I didn't just give up. Although this resolved the problem for not having a ton of money, I think it did something much bigger, I think it also restored the excitement and confidence that BiggerThanTheGame had in the beginning on the challenge.

SKiLlz 

Yeah, its alright Napoleon, I don't computer hacking skills or nun chuck skills bow hunting skills either... 

but I think I could think of a few I do have. Lets see...(making list on paper) 

Okay, so my top 3

Organizational, Creative Thinking, Influencing Others... oh one more I'm actually really good at Vignettes.

  

Even though I gave 4 skills there is one that I can truly say I want to use to the fullest during the planning of this conference and that is my creative thinking skill. Like I have said in earlier posts I know that I have great ideas but I dont like throwing a rough draft of ideas out there. I rather take a week to come up with just one great idea. I know this poses a huge problem because time is valuable in this planning, so since I know I have this skill, I am going to for once, just throw my ideas out there. Im sure some will work and some will be completely stupid, but its the fact that I am not wasting a skill that will be only extremely beneficial to the planning process.

FEEDBACK

Okay so I tried really hard to make this video relate in a creative way to the way I like feedback, but the more I think about it... I don't think its gonna work. sorry.

I look at feedback and something positive, and I  think so many people see it as something negative. Honestly, if someone tells me something on ways I can improve I am very grateful that they are taking the time our of their day just to make me a better person. Yeah, sometimes it can be hurtful and things I don't necessarily want to hear, but, what I have learned is that hearing those things that I don't want to hear, is the feedback that has made the most impact in my life. So honestly, I welcome feedback of all kinds- I truly do not have a preference of how to receive it. I will say though, that if someone were to give me feedback and the way they went about it offended me.. I would simply tell them and maybe ask that next time they went about giving me feedback that they would do it in a way that wasn't so offensive. But I would not make a big deal out of it at all.     The feedback that I love the most is recognition. A strength of mine is significance, and while I still am completely confused on how "wanting to be important in the eyes of others" is a strength, and I can't help it but I really do appreciate recognition. To be honest, I think it has to do with being a middle child (they never get the credit or recognition for anything)! As much as I love being recognized I also love giving recognition when people deserve it; so that is some feedback you all can most definitely expect from me! In short, please just provide me feedback in the way you feel comfortable with and I will simply let you know if it bothers me! 

Before I leave I want to share this motivational video that I watched today in a meeting. I think it really relates to BLF. 

Thats all my fellows, 

          -Jessica 

I LOVE BEING A BUCKEYE! 

(This video never gets old)

Truly though, I really do love being a buckeye. Being a transfer student it is so easy for me to see how great of a university Ohio State is. There is an endless amount of opportunity. I truly wish I could take advantage of all of it. Ohio State has so much diversity, tradition, resources and the list goes on and on of all the obvious great things, but there is something about being a student here that provides an overwhelming feeling. I love the sense of community and pride. Although I don't even know a fraction of the people here, the ones I have had the opportunity to meet I am so grateful for. They each provide their own unique perspective on anything and everything. My two years at Ohio State have truly shaped the person I am and more importantly the person I want to be once I leave college (ew I really hate that thought).
   

If you can't tell I am in a grateful mood.. I read this article  on expressing gratitude and how it can lead to a happier life.... ( I just like to read weird things like that), and so I figured no better time to start than now!


Anyways here is my prompt 1, We'll see how this goes.....






Initial Reactions 

• YAY!. 
• I was so excited. I mean event planning is what I'm going to school for,  how could I not be excited?
• Uh Oh 
• I knew right away that people were going to expect a lot from me. Especially the ones that know I want to go into Event Planning. As soon as the challenge was stated I got texts and looks about how this is "so me", although this is was an "uh oh" it also made me super excited and motivated. A chance to stand out with something I am extremely interested in. 
• Another Uh Oh 
• After being presented our challenge, I looked around the room and realized how hard this was going to be with these completely different personalities. As an optimistic person, I tried to think positively - after all we are Juniors in college, we can go about things in a mature manner. 

Biggest Fears 

• Me?.... An introvert?
• My whole life I have been an extrovert, but as early as the first conversation talking about our challenge as a group I backed down. I think this happened because I feel like a lot of personalities in our group pick apart what people say and analyze it, but I just want people to take what I say for how it is, so I almost was afraid to say anything. Also, I'm not much of a brainstromer, or even a rough drafter, I think long and hard about something and then I'll put the idea out there. But until then, I really don't want anyone critiquing it. I know this is something I need to work on, mainly because I don't want a great idea I have to miss an opportunity to be heard. I guess I'll stop worrying about what others think and shout my ideas out there. 
• Hostile Environment
• And to think I thought that last quarter working in teams created a bad environment for the group, I'm afraid this could make it even worse. As someone whose 4/5 strengths are relationship strengths it really bothers me to see that people already have problems with each other. In my ideal world everyone would get along... I know, beauty pageant answer, but so true. From here on out I really would like to see everyone express their feelings openly. Keeping them bottled up will result in an ugly explosion.. and one that I really don't wanna be apart of. 

Largest Hope

• Equality 
• This definitely goes back to my request for everyone getting a long. But for this challenge, I HOPE that we will all see eye to eye and realize we are all on the same level. No one is better than anyone, we are all different and have different strengths.. Lets welcome everyone  to use all their strengths to the fullest, and even if they don't necessarily coincide with our own, still be respectful. 
• Sorry it is not my intention to come off like a counselor. I am at fault for making all of these mistakes too! 

Expectations 

• Myself 
• I have high expectations for myself. Like I said earlier, I could tell people were going to expect a lot out of me, and they should. I would expect a lot from someone else if our challenged was based around the sciences or something I have no knowledge with. But I really want to shine through with this challenge and impress myself. Working with a team is hard, and I expect myself to be open to all ideas and think about what is for the good of the group and not just something I would like to see. 
• The Group
• I can tell there are mixed expectations. Some want an extravagant convention- some really aren't that into it at all. Both are totally fine. But like I expect of myself, I also expect of the group... to think about the good of the group and the good of this convention and not just themselves. (I don't see this being that huge of an issue). 

Core Competencies 

• Teamwork 
• This will be HUGE. In my opinion, teamwork will make or break this challenge. 
• The Other 13
• All will play a huge role in how this conference turns out. I plan to keep all of them in mind while going through this next year and working on this challenge.

Well so now you know where I stand on this challenge, cant wait to read all of your blogs and get a better understanding for where each of you stand as well.


Adios,
-Jess

In Just 10 Weeks...

Words can not properly explain how grateful I am to be a Fellow in BLF. I have already noticed a major improvement in many aspects of my life; from the way I see/think about things, to the way I communicate with people, the way I manage my time, and the way I challenge myself to do things out of my comfort zone. I know that this program will put me a step above my competition when my time ends at Ohio State.

Even though I already feel like I have learned a ton about myself, and other things, I still have a lot that I would like to get out of BLF. I have many goals in my life but I realize I need to first accomplish the small ones to get to the bigger ones. I have 3 main goals that I have for myself in the BLF program:

1. Build Confidence. I don't think this is a trait that I necessarily lack but I know it is something that I will always need to work on. There are multiple times where I doubt myself, such as knowing an answer to a question that my teacher asks, but then I second guess myself and someone beats me to answering when I knew it all along. Or when doing an impromptu speech, I'm sometimes afraid I'll sound ridiculous and then I psych my self out and actually do end up sounding ridiculous. I just know that if I was able to be way more confidant in myself and realize that I can do it/ do know it, then that confidence would show in multiple aspects of my life. I want to go about building my confidence by doing things out of my comfort zone and while I may doubt myself at first, after I realize I can do these things I wont have to hesitate anymore. Although, this is easier said than done, so it is something I will have to continually work at; and I am very willing.

2. Networking Skills. While I thought I already knew a lot about networking from my businesses classes in high school and college, there is a lot that I didn't know. I really enjoyed the networking event that we got to go to and I realized I still have a long way to go. I can be professional in that kind of setting, but I noticed I need to work on my business card trading, my follow-up emails, and just making a connection and keeping that connection. Through the BLF program we are going to have the opportunity to meet so many accomplished people and I want to have them in my network while in BLF and long after. So, while I know the basics, I am going to do my best to go above and beyond.

3. Time Management. In almost every single one of my evaluations the past quarter I talked about how my time management skills have improved or still need improving. Last quarter I realized just how important this skill is, I've never been as involved as I am this year, and while I absolutely love every second of what I do, it gets extremely stressful at times, and that's why perfecting this skill would be ideal.


While I am on the topic of goals, I'm going to jump into talking about my teams (BiggerThanTheGame) goals.I remember at the first meeting together we were so excited and we set our goals so high because we truly believed that is what we could obtain. We talked about how we would achieve these goals and everything seemed perfect. Once we got into the grind, we realized we didn't really have enough time to go about getting the money and reaching out to Michigan the way we wanted to. We didn't a plan B lined up so I the 'Director of Corporate Relations' just kind of gave up for awhile. I was overwhelmed because I didn't know what to do to get this money. I wasn't hearing back from companies and I didn't reach out to my teammates like I should have because I didn't want to disappoint them (even though I know they would have been more than willing to help out). After giving up and realizing we had just about $0.00 I knew I had to do something. That's when I decided to go the old fashioned route of fundraising. Just putting on events at bars and restaurants and pretty much just standing there and asking people to donate. While it was really upsetting to come no where near our original goal it was eye opening to see what we could have done to prevent this. We should have set more realistic goals for the time we had and for the way we wanted to go about it, and we also should have had a backup plan in case our original did not work. I am actually really thankful for failing because I'm not sure if I would have learned as much as I did.

I not only failed in reaching our teams goals, but I failed miserably at the presentation in NYC. Wow, I don't even know what to say about that. It was quite the experience. I am not a bad public speaker nor am I a shy person, that is why I was so disappointed in myself for being like that. Although I do know exactly what I did wrong. As I said earlier I have ZERO confidence when it comes to impromptu speeches, and while our presentation wasn't necessarily impromptu, we never rehearsed it. And that's where I am different from my teammates. I am someone who needs to pretty much know what I am going to say and feel confidant about it or else I freak out and mix up all my thoughts and they come out like they did --- like jibberish. I am not blaming my teammates for this because it is solely my fault. I should have stepped up and told them that that is how I am and they would have had no problem going over it with me but instead I knew none of them needed it like me so I just didn't say anything because I didn't want to sound needy or pushy.
     I know this is a major weakness of mine because I am not always going know beforehand what I will have to say so this is something I need to work on but I also need to work on speaking up for myself and knowing that this is how I am and other people will more than likely be understanding. This was definitely my biggest learning experience from the whole quarter because it was so unlike me, but I REALLY never want it to happen again, and I will make sure it doesn't!

But anyways, I enjoyed this challenge so much. I hope you all were able to get as much out of it as I did. I can't wait to see what this quarter brings and what I can learn about myself and others in just another 10 weeks!

Until next time,
- Jessica