Your beautiful, creative brain!
“Creativity is for us all – it’s about you, me, and about everyday life. It is
about the abundant originality we manifest, and our flexible improvisations,
whether teaching a class, raising our kids, fixing the car, helping
a client, landscaping the yard, planning a benefit, or
trying to figure out why we’re on this earth.”
Ruth Richards, M.D., PhD, originator of the term ‘everyday creativity’
Imagine this…you are in a large auditorium and the speaker asks everyone in the audience who thinks he or she is creative to raise their hand. Would your hand go up or stay down? Truthfully! Do you ‘own’ your creativity? This blog has an important mission and that is to inspire you to enlighten anyone you ever hear declaring they are ‘not creative.’ In fact, ”Are you creative?” is the ultimate ‘trick question.’ If you are alive and have a functioning brain, the only correct answer is “yes.” Need more evidence? Spend ten minutes taking our new HOW ARE YOU CREATIVE? Quiz. Then explore the latest creative brain science explored in this blog.
Shelley Carson, PhD, a Harvard researcher whose new book is titled Your Creative Brain, has this to say on the subject: “We are all creative. Creativity is the hallmark of human capacity that has allowed us to survive thus far. Our brains are wired to be creative, and the only thing stopping you from expressing the creativity that is your birthright is your belief that there are creative people and uncreative people and that you fall in that second category.” Once and for all we need to erase the old myth that creativity is something doled out to “the select few”. It is not just for artists, composers, rocket scientists, and other geniuses. Our entire beautiful brain pulses with creativity. You can create anything you can imagine – no matter who you are. The key is playing with ideas, being curious, and building up mastery the subject area(s) you find most intesting. Doing what you love is important to unlocking your creative potential, but simply learning new things, moving new ways, and stretching your creative muscles on a regular basis will deliver amazing results.
“You are in possession of one of the world’s most powerful supercomputers, one that has virtually unlimited potential not only to change your life, but also to change your world.”
Shelley Carson
April 15th is Leonardo da Vinci’s birthday and the kick-off of World Creativity and Innovation Week . In honor of creativity week, a committee of creative change leaders (including me) attending the International Center for Studies in Creativity are launching an international HOW ARE YOU CREATIVE? campaign aimed at increasing every person on the planet’s awareness of their brain’s creative power. Will you join us? Simply ask 5 people “How are you creative?” – have a creative conversation about the reality of everyday creativity – and then ask them to pass the information on the same way. Encourage people to watch this wonderful video my friends Juliana, Erika, and Meagan created for our Current Issues class. It’s all about ‘regular’ people talking about the importance of claiming their creativity.
Albert Einstein
Co-founder of Creativity Week & graduate of ICSC
“Helping people to connect with their personal creative capacities is the surest way to release the best they have to offer.”
Sir Ken Robinson
Creative Prompt #1: Here’s the HOW ARE YOU CREATIVE? word and idea cloud I created. Read through it and find the phrases which inspire you most. Tweet those words, make up your own colorful ‘affirmation’ card, or use the words to inspire a new creation this week. If you usually collage, write a poem. If you are comfortable writing about ‘reality’ – jot down a fantasy.
Creative Prompt #2: Click the link to take our new HOW ARE YOU CREATIVE? Quiz. There are just 10 questions. Every ‘yes’ answer affirms your creativity. I challenge you to ask everyone you know if they are creative. If they answer ‘no’ or seem less than confident about their creative abilities, share this survey with them. I’d love your feedback. Send me a note about your results and/or experience and I’ll send you an autographed copy of the HOW ARE YOU CREATIVE? word and idea cloud.
Creative Prompt #3: Looking at things differently. Many creative discoveries come from combining things in a new way. The fish and the feather show above are a beautiful example. This prompt suggests you take a discovery walk in nature and begin to imagine unusual combinations – maybe a flower bird or cloud candy. Be sure to take along a small notebook or journal to capture your imaginings. Use as many of your senses as you can during your walk – including balance. Your brain will love you for it!
Have you heard Ken Robinson’s newest TED talk? It’s a great introduction to his recently released, revised edition of Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative. This book is literally calling for a creative education revolution – and it’s solidly founded on facts I believe most people will find astounding. Robinson offers evidence personalized education for every student is an investment rather than a cost. He states,”The only way to raise overall standards is to engage the energies and imaginations of every student in the system.” The book covers examples of this type of ‘radical innovation’ which is working miracles in pilot programs affecting thousands of students who use technology coupled with group work, collaborative projects and ’thinking’ time. Standardized test scores are balanced with “…exhibits and demonstrations of achievement reflecting real world evaluations and assessments that all of us face in our everyday lives,” (p. 258). He does not suggest identical changes be imposed throughout the country. It’s up to each community to design a system which addresses their unique challenges. This book also has a strong creative leadership focus. In his closing comments Robinson states, “To realize our true creative potential – in our organizations, in our schools and in our communities – we need to think differently about ourselves and to act differently towards each other. We must learn to be creative.” To that I say ‘amen’!
Albert Einstein
- My creative spirit daughter Sarah. Photo credit: Marta Ockuly
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
P.S. Sending out Happy Birthday wishes to my super creative, master’s project ’sounding board partner’ Amy! It is certainly fitting for you to be celebrating the anniversary of your arrival on earth during World Creativity and Innovation Week! Sending you billions of blessings and your happiest dreams come true!
