a little inspiration

Excerpts from a March 1992 Psychology Today article titled:
The Art of Creativity

...the degree of creativity is influenced by our feelings: our belief that we can speak without fear of retribution, our feeling of being trusted by others, a confidence in our own intuition. All affect how we respond to the information before us.

There are many ways in which the creative spirit can find expression in the workplace: innovations in management, improvements in distribution methods, or new ideas for financing a business. Creative ideas can also be used to strengthen the organization itself by increasing the initiative of workers. One such innovation is the elimination of restrictive job descriptions that put workers in "boxes" and limit their performance. Another idea is to share all financial information with all of the employees.

...)The capacity for making intuitive decisions is a basic ingredient of creativity. Intuition is trusting the vision of the unconscious, letting go of the self-conscious control of the thinking mind. It is so often opposed in the workplace because it can't be measured or quantified or rationally justified. But it has the ring of truth because it is grounded in the ability of the unconscious to organize information into unanticipated new ideas.

...)BE AWARE

So often we go through our days on automatic pilot, but lacking the Zen inner awareness. To a certain degree, we like people and situations to be predictable; we enjoy the habitual and tend to avoid surprises. But there is a downside to routine: We can easily become fixed in our ways of seeing. Our expectation of how things are supposed to be replaces our capacity to perceive.

Thomas Edison had an unusual way of tapping into theta brain waves: He would doze off in a chair with his arms and hands draped over the armrests. In each hand he held a ball bearing. Below each hand on the floor were two pie plates. When he drifted into the state between waking and steeping, his hands would naturally relax and the ball bearings would drop on the plate. Awakened by the noise, Edison would immediately make notes on any ideas that had come to him.

"Creativity is a quick, clear message that translates into understated art that presumes and assumes nothing of another person's learning or intellect."
~Steve Dunleavy
reporter, A Current Affair

"Creative people are committed to risk. The creative person always walks two steps into the darkness. Everybody can see what's in the light .. the real heroes delve in the dark."
~Benny Golson, musician

"Creativity comes by breaking the rules, by saying that you're in love with the anarchist."
~Anita Roddick
founder of The Body Shop

"There are lots of things to do, but it's not for me to tell you what they are. You have hobbies, think of something..."
~Jane Curtain posted by Cyndy | link | | |
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