Remember When You Were a Child?
Did you doodle at school as a kid? Did you play make-believe games with your friends that took you to other worlds real and imagined? Did you have an invisible friend?
Our minds are so free as kids. We imagine anything and everything. Our creativity knows no limits and our imagination is boundless.
When do we lose that? When does our creativity go into hiding, and we settle for the ordinary and the mundane?
Some people never lose it. Some people keep the imaginative strength of children into their adult lives. You see it around you every day.
Who would have thought you could run a car on electricity? Or hear music on the go? Or watch 3-D landscapes in a 2-D setting?
Your creativity is still inside you. You never lose it. If you look close enough, you’ll see it there underneath the surface, just waiting for you to renew your acquaintance.
Go find it. Rediscover the creative part you haven’t used since childhood. It can be used anywhere. Your personal life. That board meeting. That business plan. That marketing idea. That blog post. That kitchen recipe. Anywhere.
Your imagination and creativity are powerful tools. They can separate you from the crowd. The possibilities they offer, in life and in business, are endless – the only barrier is you.
When was the last time you used yours? Really used it?
Okay, I was sold on the first blog of yours I read but this one just happened to catch my eye. I've tried to have this conversation with many different people over the years, starting with the question, "So when did you lose your creativity?" Often I'd just get blank stares! When I think back, I can pinpoint when most people I grew up with lost it. Somewhere between 2nd and 3rd grade I'd wager. There was a shift that happened then where crayons and craft paper were to be set aside for "higher education". I watched as most went right along with the program. I was told by teachers that I didn't "apply" myself (of course I was also reading at an 8th grade level in 1st grade so I was bored out of my mind when they took away my arts and crafts).
Anyway, I agree that people just need to rekindle this. And it's not just in artistic pursuits that creativity becomes useful. When you have a creative mind you become a creative problem-solver. You apply that creative juice to every day life.
Okay, I was sold on the first blog of yours I read but this one just happened to catch my eye. I've tried to have this conversation with many different people over the years, starting with the question, "So when did you lose your creativity?" Often I'd just get blank stares! When I think back, I can pinpoint when most people I grew up with lost it. Somewhere between 2nd and 3rd grade I'd wager. There was a shift that happened then where crayons and craft paper were to be set aside for "higher education". I watched as most went right along with the program. I was told by teachers that I didn't "apply" myself (of course I was also reading at an 8th grade level in 1st grade so I was bored out of my mind when they took away my arts and crafts).
Anyway, I agree that people just need to rekindle this. And it's not just in artistic pursuits that creativity becomes useful. When you have a creative mind you become a creative problem-solver. You apply that creative juice to every day life.
I think you've probably got that time period about right, Sherry. I know when I was about 8 years old, my teachers didn't like me doodling. Fair enough, I was meant to be learning, but the thing is, many people don't bother taking up the doodling again after the class is done.
Perhaps we need to look at doodling hours in school and keep the creativity alive that way?
Doodling class! That would be fun and helpful!
I've used mine lately, but definitely not as often (and not as effectively) as I should be/need to. When using your creative abilities, it requires a bit of courage and bravery as well to act on them. You've to be willing to go out on a limb and really just "see what happens." That's tough at times, but posts like this a good reminder that using creativity and "seeing what happens" is often the best way to find new, awesome products/services/etc.
JMattHicks
Courage is definitely a big part of it, Jeremy - and often, when someone is brave enough to challenge or show their creative side, it's slapped down by someone far less creative and much more insecure.
Time to ignore that and just plough on. :)
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HI Danny! Love this post. Thank you. It's such a shame that a child's creativity and confidence are often submerged as part of growing up and not seriously nurtured. Yet it's creativity and imagination that fuel new ideas and innovation. As you say creativity and imagination are always there to be unearthed later in life. Wouldn't it be great if more attention via our school and work systems, was given to ensuring they are never buried and these qualities are valued as highly as other perhaps more quantifiable disciplines? Have a great evening DB! Take care.
marketingisus
Part of me wonders if it's pressure on teachers just to get results with their charges, as opposed to getting great results that truly matter?
it's easy to skim through 30 kids and mark all as okay; not so much to have the time to nurture each one and bring out what strengths they have.
I know it's not the complete fault of the education system, but definitely needs a rethink. Parents, too.
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Danny - Good stuff, friend. I remember that I used to sit for hours and draw everything that I could see in the room around me. I miss that, for multiple reasons (having the free time without distractions to do it, along with the extreme focus needed to perform this task).
I sometimes feel like I really need to regain my attention span in general. I was reading "My Life as an Experiment" by AJ Jacobs recently, and he explores the idea of "unitasking" (as opposed to multitasking). I've been attempting a modified version of this myself, in an effort to be more productive. I've found that some of my most creative ideas come when I allow myself time to think.
jasoncrouch
Hey there mate.
I hear you on that - part of me wonders if something like the iPad, or that art tablet game for the Nintendo Wii, could bring some of that carefree creativity backk? Fingers crossed. :)
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I'm writing a book next month, so I'll definitely be using said imagination then. ;) That said, I'm a big believer in creativity. How do we use it? How can we exercise it? These are questions that goes through my mind often, but most of the time I dare not use the C-word; that can be stifling. Instead I concentrate on expanding horizons; experience is the best way to inspire that magical power.
Sushi That's a great outlook. Keeping your options open without using a specific term is bound to benefit.
When I was 8 years old I had an assignment to write a fiction story. Mine was "Trapped in the World Wide Web." This was in 1994 when none of my fellow classmates knew much about the web. I think the story was pretty clever and I've been meaning to write the sequel for a while now. What crazy things will I think of to do with technology today? It's about time to take that walk down memory lane and rediscover my imaginative side.
jennalanger Now THAT's a story I'll be looking forward to reading, Jenna. :)
DannyBrown It's on my to-do list to scan it and put it online. I made all the drawings on the computer and the main characters were a Floppy Disk, CD-Rom, and the evil Queen spider. I'll let you know as soon as it's digital!
I love, love, love this, Danny! The opportunities to use our creative skills are limitless. On my blog's about page, in "things you might not know about me," I tell my readers that I love turning the sound off on old 40's movies and inventing new lines of dialogue. Just crazy off-the-top-of-the-head stuff. At one of my sister-in-law's garage sale (she gave us some very funny looks), Bob and I picked up stuff (mechanic and garden tools work well) and named as fast as we could what else they might be or be used for.
It not only makes you laugh until you cry, but it gets you to say, "Hmmm. What else could this be?" And I firmly believe that the more we practice, the more our creativity comes out.And aren't these skills that we can transfer to our businesses?
You are right. Kids do this all the time. When exactly did it get beat out of us? Very important post here.
JudyDunn Ha, that's awesome, Judy. I used to watch a show back in the U.K. that had a premise like that, and some of the stuff they came out with was hilarious.
You're right, of course - pretty much anything we do personally we can transfer over to our business. After all, at the end of the day, it's just a professional extension of who we are ourselves.
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