A number of years ago I started pondering the idea of cycles and patterns that overlay everything. Are there patterns and processes that weave their magic into the world around us? Into our lives, our jobs, even who we are? What elements comprise these patterns and frameworks? Not being quite sure what to make of this permeating thought, I wrote it with indelible ink on the back burner of my brain.
It wasn’t long after beginning the creative studies graduate program at Buffalo State College that I quickly realized it might satisfy more then just quantifiable professional requirements - creative problem solving, facilitating, creative change leadership. This idea of a framework, of a pattern was quickly moved from the back burner right up front. During my first week of class the dawn of understanding began to break. This was not coursework to be applied to a strict profession. These skills were not to be slotted into a file folder and pulled out in the boardroom or in business meetings. Yes, these skills are applicable to my profession and yet they are not confined just to my profession (in case you were wondering, I hold the delightfully ambiguous title of Senior Technical Specialist….kudos to anyone that can offer a succinct description that fits!). The study of the elements of creativity fits perfectly with who I am, not just at work but at play – morning, noon and night. Creative thinking transcends your job, my job, any job – it can and should become part of who we are. It is fast becoming one of the most powerful tools at my disposal. Creativity, creative thinking, creative studies – might just be this framework, this stratospheric layer that encompasses everything that I had pondered years before.
A colleague recently shared this link - 29 ways to stay creative. Take the 2 minutes to watch it. Write down the list and post it anywhere and everywhere you sit and think, work, eat or relax. Keep it close as a reminder to you - creativity is not beyond your grasp, it is within reach every day. It is not something attained only by artists and singers and dancers. The elements of creativity – the process you follow, the unique person that you are, the products that you have and will continue to create, the environment you live, play and work in – these elements encompass every part of every day we experience. Just remember - practice makes perfect. You don’t become good at something until you spend time practicing, repeating and learning – forever learning. The things in this list aren’t rocket science (but I’m sure can be applied to rocket science) and yet they do require an open mind, an open heart and a willingness to modify, push through, change or discard your own self-imposed restraints. There’s that definition of creativity again from Ackoft and Vergara, the ability to modify self-imposed restraints.
Let’s pull out a few points from the list of 29 -
#1 Making lists – not hard, but helps you remember ideas and thoughts as you have them otherwise you risk them blowing away with the next swift breeze.
#9 Listen to new music – consider this an excursion of sorts, listening to something you might not normally listen to can spawn new ideas, thoughts or perspective on something…a key element of creative thinking.
#18 Count your blessings – I’m not a religious individual at all and yet this phrase strikes home for me. I interpret it as follows - don’t forsake your successes, celebrate them! Cultivate positive thinking by appreciating things that are going well for you, no matter how small or big.
#25 Stop being someone else’s perfect – who are you trying to please? Whose passion are you trying to follow? If it is your own passion then don’t worry about other people judging you. Remove the screen of judgement, positive and negative and see what impact that has on you. Challenging? You bet. Attainable? Sure thing…just take it one day, one task at a time.
The more content I consume around creativity, the more conversations I have, the more articles I read, the more my peers share with me - the more I come to see creativity and creative studies not as just a series courses to satisfy a Masters of Science degree. The point of these courses is not to successfully complete the courses. The point is in what is learned every time the page is turned. Each and every lesson learned can be valuable as long as I’m open to it. If the result of this new path I’m walking is a graduate degree, that’s awesome, but in actuality that degree will be a bonus to the lessons I am learning about myself and about how creativity seems to be the glue that cements together many aspects to become what I see as the bigger picture.
I’ve taken the simmering pot off the back burner, the one with the theory of a process or framework that is all encompassing, and brought forward in my consciousness. - front and centre. As I digest this creative material, evaluate and analyze it, understand and apply it to creations of my own, I am realizing that this creative material supports what has been consciously and subconsciously developed in the deep recesses of my brain. The pot now contains a roiling boil of ideas in my frontal cortex. As Gordon MacKenzie, author of Orbiting the Giant Hairball, says - we all have a masterpiece inside, unlike one that has ever been created, or ever will be. It’s time for to let this creative concoction bubble over.
“Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart. Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens."- Carl Jung
