September 11, 2015

Just Three Little Letters: Y.E.S.

Today, I'm still going to rave to you about how great Creative Thinkering is by talking about an important concept mentioned in the book:

The power of thinking "YES!"

I don't know how many of you remember much of your time as a wee child, but if you can get your mind to go back that far, you may remember that, in those days, nothing seemed impossible!
Needed to fit those blocks into the appropriate holes? We wouldn't stop working on that till they were finally all in!
Needed to get on top of our parents' bed? We kept climbing up those covers until we finally found ourselves nestled between them!
Wanted to get those cookies? We kept finding ways to climb the furniture to get to them (or figure the easiest way to get someone else to bring them to you...like crying your lungs out)!

And that optimism lasted until adults started beating it into our heads that we couldn't do it, that we'd never would make it (whatever it might have been). As Michalko put it: Children, before they become educated, speak a different language, a language of inclusion, a language of "what is" and "what can be." That's very different from what many of us adults automatically say, such as  "I never would have thought of that," or "Not a bad insight."

However, should we choose to relinquish our defeatist or unenthusiastic attitude and revert to that happy outlook you had when a child, all you have to do is change your vocabulary into a positive one! Because "all language, feelings, and thoughts interact with each other, and the entire accumulation of those influences creates your output and behavior," so by changing the way you speak, "your thoughts and feelings will be changed as well" and you'll generally feel better and more upbeat :)

September 8, 2015

All Talk And No Action

Artist: Ann Blockley
Ever since I wrote that post on Creative Geniuses, I itched to get my hands on the actual book that inspired the interview and, a few days later, I was avidly reading through Creative Thinkering. It's an absolutely fabulous book, and I highly recommend it to anyone interested at all in the creative process and wanting to improve upon his/her imagination and creative problem-solving capacities.

Anyway, here's a small passage which talks about those who love to talk and think and devise plans for something they'd like to do/create/discover, but when it comes down to it, never actually do the doing/creating/discovering. To illustrate the point, Michael Michalko transcribes a parable by Søren Aabye Kierkegaard (1813-1855):

September 1, 2015

Personal Calling

Art by Cornejo-Sanchez



"I've come to believe that each of us has a personal calling that's as unique as a fingerprint--and that the best way to succeed is to discover what you love and then find a way to offer it to others in the form of service, working hard, and also allowing the energy of the universe to lead you."


Oprah Winfrey