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