Ideas and resources for understanding and increasing creativity
Happy Monday, everyone! What are your plans for this week? Is it obvious that I woke up in a positive mood? I think I know the reason. Yesterday afternoon I continued my re-reading of Barbara Sher’s Refuse to Choose!, and when I woke up this morning, I thought about one of her exercises early in …
Is your writing stuck? Mine has been recently. Oh, I’m still writing, thank goodness, and on a daily basis, but much of what I write feels as lifeless as last fall’s leaves that have been uncovered recently by the melting snow. The words just lie there, soggy, crushed, faded, leftover from another season. When this …
“Control of consciousness determines the quality of life.” ~ Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Think of the last time you were fully engaged with your writing. You were working to meet the challenge at hand, but you didn’t feel as though you were working. Rather, you were playing intensely. Your skills were perfectly matched to what was expected …
Do you avoid having a daily routine for fear that it will stifle your creativity? As someone who enjoys—almost craves—flexibility, I used to avoid routine, well, routinely. Then I discovered the work of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, who argues that people who use their creativity successfully often have strict, daily routines that free their minds to do …
Today I begin teaching one of my favorite courses: Creative Thinking. What does it mean to be creative? That might seem like a simple question, but it’s one worth asking because the answer may be more complex than we first realize. Is it just coloring outside the lines (or coloring prettily inside the lines)? Is …