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| The Imus Map |
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Student Turns Math Homework Into Graduation Dress
I'm not sure what kind of grades she got in math, but I would give her an A+ in Creativity!
Instead of tossing her homework into the trash, one Canadian student fashioned the completed assignments into a graduation dress.
Kara Koskowich, 17, stitched about 75 pieces of math homework into a one-shoulder dress that captured the attention of friends and peers at her graduation ceremony, the CBC reports. The dress is mostly white with a colorful belt made from neon Post-It notes.
Koskowich, who admitted the dress was finished just days before the reveal, said the papers were strategically placed to look like an explosion.
- Read the full story at CBC.ca
Links:
CBC News Canada
Huffington Post
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Your Brain On Dance
Scientists Map the Brain During Dancing
2/28/12
We can guess what our brains go through while we're dancing; we experience euphoria, elation, happiness, and probably nervousness for those with two left feet. While we're just conjecturing, scientists at Bangor University are discovering precisely what goes through the brain while we're shaking our groove thing. Dr. Emily Cross enlisted the help of contemporary dancer Riley Watts to examine how the brain responds to movement, both choreographed and improvised.
Watts told BBC, "I'm thrilled that my skills as a dancer can be put to use in a scientific context to further everyone's understanding of what is actually going on in our brains."
The contemporary dancer boogied in a variety of settings, including a 3D motion capture studio, and then had an MRI exam while he watched videos of himself. His brain's reactions were then recorded, giving us a window into the inner workings of our mind. Cross' focus is on the relatively new field of neuroaesthetics -- a field where the brain's reactions to artistic endeavors is studied -- creating the perfect opportunity to collaborate with Watts, who was thrilled to participate.
Cross sees even larger implications further down the road, saying,
"The material Riley and I develop will lead to experiments that advance our understanding of how the brain learns complex movement. In particular, our results will inform how therapists can best teach new motor skills to healthy people as well as those suffering from neurological or physical injury."
Source: Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/28/scientists-map-the-brain-during-dance_n_1307017.html?ref=mindful-living&ir=Mindful%20Living
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Map Making Marvels
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| The Piri Reis Map |
The Greatest Paper Map of the United States You’ll Ever See - Made by One Guy in Oregon
At first glance, Imus’ “The Essential Geography of the United States of America” may look like any other U.S. wall map. It’s about 4 feet by 3 feet. It uses a standard, two-dimensional conic projection. It has place names. Political boundaries. Lakes, rivers, highways.
So what makes this map different from the Rand McNally version you can buy at a bookstore? Or from the dusty National Geographic pull-down mounted in your child’s elementary school classroom? Can one paper wall map really outshine all others—so definitively that it becomes award-worthy?
So what makes this map different from the Rand McNally version you can buy at a bookstore? Or from the dusty National Geographic pull-down mounted in your child’s elementary school classroom? Can one paper wall map really outshine all others—so definitively that it becomes award-worthy?
I’m here to tell you it can. This is a masterful map. And the secret is in its careful attention to design.
These days, almost all the data cartographers use is provided by the government and is freely available in the public domain. Anybody can download databases of highways, airports, and cities, and then slap a crude map together with the aid of a plotter. What separates a great map from a terrible one is choosing which data to use and how best to present it.
How will you signify elevation and forestation? How will you imply the hierarchy of city sizes? How big must a town (or an airport, or a body of water) be to warrant inclusion? And how will you convey all of this with a visual scheme that’s clean and attractive?
According to independent cartographers I spoke with, the big mapmaking corporations of the world employ type-positioning software, placing their map labels (names of cities, rivers, etc.) according to an algorithm. For example, preferred placement for city labels is generally to the upper right of the dot that indicates location. But if this spot is already occupied—by the label for a river, say, or by a state boundary line—the city label might be shifted over a few millimeters. Sometimes a town might get deleted entirely in favor of a highway shield or a time zone marker. The result is a rough draft of label placement, still in need of human refinement. Post-computer editing decisions are frequently outsourced—sometimes to India, where teams of cheap workers will hunt for obvious errors and messy label overlaps. The overall goal is often a quick and dirty turnaround, with cost and speed trumping excellence and elegance.
By contrast, David Imus worked alone on his map seven days a week for two full years. Nearly 6,000 hours in total. It would be prohibitively expensive just to outsource that much work. But Imus—a 35-year veteran of cartography who’s designed every kind of map for every kind of client—did it all by himself. He used a computer (not a pencil and paper), but absolutely nothing was left to computer-assisted happenstance. Imus spent eons tweaking label positions. Slaving over font types, kerning, letter thicknesses. Scrutinizing levels of blackness. It’s the kind of personal cartographic touch you might only find these days on the hand-illustrated ski-trail maps available at posh mountain resorts.
A few of his more significant design decisions: Your standard wall map will often paint the U.S. states different colors so their shapes are easily grasped. But Imus’ map uses thick lines to indicate state borders and reserves the color for more important purposes—green for denser forestation, yellow for population centers. Instead of hypsometric tinting (darker colors for lower elevations, lighter colors for higher altitudes), Imus uses relief shading for a more natural portrait of U.S. terrain.
Read more & see examples of why the Imus map is so much better here...
Read more & see examples of why the Imus map is so much better here...
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Creativity is not lost...
Using its playlist and some tech savvy, lost iPod reshuffled to its original owner
There are perhaps a quarter of a billion of the music devices circulating around the world now, and given the global traffic that passes through the Washington area, the owner could be . . . anywhere.
So after finding a pink iPod Shuffle during a jog on Sligo Creek Parkway recently, my first inclination was to stuff it in a gym bag and enjoy the music. The trail was empty, and it did not seem worth the trouble to hunt down the owner of an inexpensive device whose content was probably stored on a home computer and easily duplicated.
But after I gave it a listen, the personality of the owner seemed to peek through — and made it hard not to help the orphaned device find a way home.
“It’s a pink Shuffle,” Dar Maxwell said excitedly when The Washington Post called her Friday to say that her lost music player was in safe hands. “How’d you know it’s mine?”
Certainly not by the playlist itself. The thing had a personality — annoying at first, when Eminem came blaring through, but more subtle when Cake, Shirley Bassey and Florence and the Machine followed along.
To help track down the owner, some of my Web-savvy colleagues offered to play along in a little armchair anthropology. They posted the playlist online and challenged readers to identify the owner based on the music.
That drew plenty of guesses, none correct.
“Female in her late 20s to mid 30s. Likely to be white, educated and sporty,” RubyRedbag commented.
“The owner is a dude aged 39-42,” offered 0073, while jonmiller1 got more specific: “a college-educated Caucasian female in her 20s with Appalachian heritage.”
Actually, the owner is Miami-born Maxwell, 47, who was walking her dog on the Silver Spring trail and lost the Shuffle just before she turned off to go back to her neighborhood.
As the guesses indicate, you can’t really judge a book by its cover when it comes to mining playlists for clues to character. Although some of the hip-hop and rap was courtesy of her two teenage sons, the Eminem tracks were her doing.
And Maxwell is also responsible for “Teenage Dream” from the cast of “Glee.”
“This is what I listen to,” said Maxwell, who works at an international development company. Despite some ribbing from friends about the “Glee” track, she said she felt the playlist was a good reflection of her personality: a born-in-the-’60s core with plenty of modern flavors.
“I will go to my grave saying Aerosmith is my favorite.”
So how did we find her?
The Post’s Ryan Kellett knew enough about iPod technology to examine the digital “watermark” associated with each purchased iTunes track.
You can find that by right-clicking on a song and going to “get info.” That brings up various pieces of data stored with the file — including, in this case, an e-mail address that served as the “Apple ID” on one of the tracks.
From the e-mail, he was able to find a phone number using other databases and — voila.
More evidence of the sacrifice to privacy that comes with the digital soup we’re swimming in? Proof that the cloud is not a metaphor?
“It was surprising” that enough information was embedded in the machine to track her down, Maxwell said. Unlike some devices, the Shuffle can’t be locked with a password.
But ultimately, she said — her pink cache of music back in her hands — the reunion was “a great holiday story,” like Rudolph helping Santa deliver all those misfit toys to homes where they belong.
“Thank God it was a cool playlist.”
Staff writer Ryan Kellett contributed to this report.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/lost-and-found-ipod-shuffle-reunited-with-owner/2011/12/20/gIQAVmcy7O_story.html?tid=pm_lifestyle_pop
Friday, December 16, 2011
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
A Direct Link Between the Chicken Dance and Creativity
In Part 2 in my crash course on stimulating creativity, I'm clearly demonstrating a correlation between the Chicken Dance and creative thought. Have a gander:
The Best Chicken Dance
Chicken Dance Champions
Number One Chicken Dancer
Harry Potter Chicken Dance
If you have played all of these videos, at least once, you have surely tapped into your creative spirit. So, get busy, get to work on your final project!!
The Best Chicken Dance
Chicken Dance Champions
Number One Chicken Dancer
Harry Potter Chicken Dance
If you have played all of these videos, at least once, you have surely tapped into your creative spirit. So, get busy, get to work on your final project!!
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Must-Read Success Lessons from Michelangelo
Browsing through the Internet looking for sources of creative inspiration, I found a fabulous website called Pick the Brain. One of my favorite Michelangelo quotes has inspired me in my creative work. I'm using it in my final CMC11 project.
Enjoy these lessons put together by Mr. Self Development:
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni, commonly known as Michelangelo, was an Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, poet, and engineer. His work in each of these fields was absolutely ingenious.
When you take into account the quantity of correspondences, sketches, and reminiscences that currently exist, Michelangelo is the best documented artist of the 16th century.
Two of his most popular works, David and the Pietà , were sculpted before he turned thirty.
As an artist he created two of the most influential works in the history of Western art: the scenes from Genesis on the ceiling and The Last Judgment on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel in Rome.
As an architect, Michelangelo pioneered the Mannerist style at the Laurentian Library. When he was 74 he succeeded “Antonio da Sangallo the Younger” as the architect of Saint Peter’s Basilica.
One of the qualities most admired by his contemporaries was his sense of awe-inspiring splendor. It was the attempts of subsequent artists trying to imitate Michelangelo’s highly personal and passionate style that resulted in “Mannerism,” the next major movement in Western art after the High Renaissance.
5 Must Read Success Lessons from Michelangelo:
1. Work Hard
“If people knew how hard I worked to get my mastery, it wouldn’t seem so wonderful at all.”
It’s true; it takes hard work to succeed!
The idea that “people succeed because they’re lucky” may make you feel better, but it’s simply not true.
The reality is that success is the result of hard work. Are “you” working hard? Are you giving your all to this game called life? You won’t succeed on a half-effort; to succeed you must give your all.
2. You Have to See It
“A man paints with his brains and not with his hands.”
What you can see you can do! If you can’t see it, you can’t do it. So what do you see for your life? Do you see more of the same, or do you see greatness just around the corner!
Before you arrive you must see it; what you see is “exactly” what you’re going to get. So what do you see?
3. Carve Out the Angel
“I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.”
Michelangelo said, “Every block of stone has a statue inside it, and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it.” Every person is like that block of stone, there’s greatness inside, but it has to be carved out. It has to be carved out through hard work; it has to be carved out by the individual who can perceive their own greatness. To succeed, you must carve your greatness out of the block.
4. Have Faith
“Faith in oneself is the best and safest course.”
To succeed you must believe in your ability! You must be the first member of your fan club. As the famous poem goes, “If you think you’re outclassed, you are, you have to think high to rise, you must be sure of yourself, before you can ever win a prize, think big and your deeds will grow, think small and you’ll fall behind, think like you can and you will, it’s all just a state of mind…”
Do you believe in you?
5. Aim High
“The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving the mark.”
You can do more than you’re presently doing! You’re capable of accomplishing things that you can not currently perceive, things that would astonish you. There lies dormant in you potential that has yet to be tapped; you have to aim high in order to unlock that potential. Greatness is inside of you, but it’s up to you to release it.
Thank you for reading and be sure to pass this article along!
Mr. Self Development is an author who teaches a motivational and practical guide to success. Please visit him at Mr. Self Development.com.
Source:
Enjoy these lessons put together by Mr. Self Development:
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni, commonly known as Michelangelo, was an Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, poet, and engineer. His work in each of these fields was absolutely ingenious.
When you take into account the quantity of correspondences, sketches, and reminiscences that currently exist, Michelangelo is the best documented artist of the 16th century.
Two of his most popular works, David and the Pietà , were sculpted before he turned thirty.
As an artist he created two of the most influential works in the history of Western art: the scenes from Genesis on the ceiling and The Last Judgment on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel in Rome.
As an architect, Michelangelo pioneered the Mannerist style at the Laurentian Library. When he was 74 he succeeded “Antonio da Sangallo the Younger” as the architect of Saint Peter’s Basilica.
One of the qualities most admired by his contemporaries was his sense of awe-inspiring splendor. It was the attempts of subsequent artists trying to imitate Michelangelo’s highly personal and passionate style that resulted in “Mannerism,” the next major movement in Western art after the High Renaissance.
5 Must Read Success Lessons from Michelangelo:
1. Work Hard
“If people knew how hard I worked to get my mastery, it wouldn’t seem so wonderful at all.”
It’s true; it takes hard work to succeed!
The idea that “people succeed because they’re lucky” may make you feel better, but it’s simply not true.
The reality is that success is the result of hard work. Are “you” working hard? Are you giving your all to this game called life? You won’t succeed on a half-effort; to succeed you must give your all.
2. You Have to See It
“A man paints with his brains and not with his hands.”
What you can see you can do! If you can’t see it, you can’t do it. So what do you see for your life? Do you see more of the same, or do you see greatness just around the corner!
Before you arrive you must see it; what you see is “exactly” what you’re going to get. So what do you see?
3. Carve Out the Angel
“I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.”
Michelangelo said, “Every block of stone has a statue inside it, and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it.” Every person is like that block of stone, there’s greatness inside, but it has to be carved out. It has to be carved out through hard work; it has to be carved out by the individual who can perceive their own greatness. To succeed, you must carve your greatness out of the block.
4. Have Faith
“Faith in oneself is the best and safest course.”
To succeed you must believe in your ability! You must be the first member of your fan club. As the famous poem goes, “If you think you’re outclassed, you are, you have to think high to rise, you must be sure of yourself, before you can ever win a prize, think big and your deeds will grow, think small and you’ll fall behind, think like you can and you will, it’s all just a state of mind…”
Do you believe in you?
5. Aim High
“The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving the mark.”
You can do more than you’re presently doing! You’re capable of accomplishing things that you can not currently perceive, things that would astonish you. There lies dormant in you potential that has yet to be tapped; you have to aim high in order to unlock that potential. Greatness is inside of you, but it’s up to you to release it.
Thank you for reading and be sure to pass this article along!
Mr. Self Development is an author who teaches a motivational and practical guide to success. Please visit him at Mr. Self Development.com.
Source:
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Jumpstart Your Creativity
If you need to be creative and find that you are feeling sluggish and uninspired, sign up for my Jumpstart Your Creativity crash course. It's easy, it's fun, it will make you feel creativity in your very bones.
Directions: Get up and dance to the music videos below. I guarantee you'll feel more creative instantly!
Replay as necessary. Advanced courses available upon request.
Directions: Get up and dance to the music videos below. I guarantee you'll feel more creative instantly!
Replay as necessary. Advanced courses available upon request.
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Working Class Hero - John Lennon
This song speaks to the topics we've discussed relating to the fear of being creative, how schools and life itself can kill our creative spirit. Lyrics below...
Working Class Hero - John Lennon
As soon as you're born they make you feel small
By giving you no time instead of it all
Till the pain is so big you feel nothing at all
A working class hero is something to be
A working class hero is something to be
They hurt you at home and they hit you at school
They hate you if you're clever and they despise a fool
Till you're so fucking crazy you can't follow their rules
A working class hero is something to be
A working class hero is something to be
When they've tortured and scared you for twenty odd years
Then they expect you to pick a career
When you can't really function you're so full of fear
A working class hero is something to be
A working class hero is something to be
Keep you doped with religion and sex and TV
And you think you're so clever and class less and free
But you're still fucking peasants as far as I can see
A working class hero is something to be
A working class hero is something to be
There's room at the top they are telling you still
But first you must learn how to smile as you kill
If you want to be like the folks on the hill
A working class hero is something to be
A working class hero is something to be
If you want to be a hero well just follow me
If you want to be a hero well just follow me
Working Class Hero - John Lennon
As soon as you're born they make you feel small
By giving you no time instead of it all
Till the pain is so big you feel nothing at all
A working class hero is something to be
A working class hero is something to be
They hurt you at home and they hit you at school
They hate you if you're clever and they despise a fool
Till you're so fucking crazy you can't follow their rules
A working class hero is something to be
A working class hero is something to be
When they've tortured and scared you for twenty odd years
Then they expect you to pick a career
When you can't really function you're so full of fear
A working class hero is something to be
A working class hero is something to be
Keep you doped with religion and sex and TV
And you think you're so clever and class less and free
But you're still fucking peasants as far as I can see
A working class hero is something to be
A working class hero is something to be
There's room at the top they are telling you still
But first you must learn how to smile as you kill
If you want to be like the folks on the hill
A working class hero is something to be
A working class hero is something to be
If you want to be a hero well just follow me
If you want to be a hero well just follow me
Monday, December 5, 2011
Creativity from: Critical Thinking and Creative Literacy
Can creativity be clearly defined or articulated through scientifically researched facts or formulas? We can all experience the results of creativity but the human process behind it is complex and a challenge to describe accurately or fully. From the beginning of human history people have been creative and have put this creativity to every day use in life. Development, progress, discovery and advance, have been fueled in some way by creativity.
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines the word creativity as:
- a quality of being creative
- an ability to create (Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary 2008).
Creativity can be generally viewed as an activity where the mind is involved in producing new ideas or new ways of connecting and understanding existing ideas, being original. Although it is a difficult term to define or measure accurately it can be seen and experienced in daily life. Music, literature, art, dance, and theatre are all tangible products of creativity. It can also be viewed as a part of critical analysis, problem solving, inventiveness and innovation. Creativity is a part of human beings, it affects how we live and understand, how we see, hear, taste, smell and touch the world round us. It is an integral part of education and learning, not an added extra.
Image source: http://www.glasbergen.com
2. Is it of any use?
Image source: http://natalieshell.com/2007/04/10/visual-mapping-another-way-to-story/
'Creativity now is as important in education as literacy. We should treat it with the same status.' Sir Ken Robinson (see section 4 below)
The significance and necessity of creativity for contemporary life is being recognised more and more, presenting schools with a challenge to change pedagogies in order to be effective educators in preparing future generations of children to take their place in the world ahead. Loveless states that creativity is 'an essential life skill through which people can develop their potential' and human beings have immense potential if our educational systems encourage, guide and nurture creativity in people (Loveless 2002, p. 2).
Image source: http://www.wvexecutive.com/featured/summer07/21st-century-education/
3. How does it affect literacy?
Image source: http://www.edutopia.org/visually-speaking
Literacy has been the foundation of education through the areas of reading, writing, and speaking, but are these sufficient in a rapidly changing world and a future that is difficult to prepare for or predict? Leask cites Wagner in giving an interpretation of literacy as, 'being able to communicate within the medium of your culture' (1995 cited in Leask 2001, p. 192). The communication medium for many cultures around the world today is being driven by new techologies, the medium of the computer, the web and the mobile phone. Technologies like the web and mobile devices are becoming very important in the way people communicate with each other in society and worldwide.
Visual literacy can be understood generally as a way of understanding and reading images, signs and symbols. Like an old proverb states, 'a picture is worth a thousand words'. People have used images, signs and symbols to communicate since creating prehistoric cave paintings. How would humans navigate through life without them? Educational scholars now believe that linguistic and visual literacies need to be integrated for effective learning to take place (Kress 2003). Educators view visual literacy as being necessary to an effective pedagogy and learning in the 21st century.
4. One size does not fit all
Image source: http://www.scriptmapping.com/images/Gallery/MindMappingBig.jpg
People have different ways of seeing and understanding the world that they live in; there are different and creative ways available which are very effective for educators and learners. Humans are unique individuals; some learn by doing, some by thinking things through, and others by reading manuals, drawing pictures, or watching videos. There are many possibilities and tools available (like mind mapping software example above) which provide a wonderful and creative variety for teaching and in learning experiences.
The Futurelab initiative for innovation in education has excellent information and resources on new approaches in learning.
Futurelad http://www.futurelab.org.uk/
Futurelab http://www.futurelab.org.uk/resources/publications_reports_articles/literature_reviews/Literature_Review382/
Sir Ken Robinson is an internationally recognized leader in the development of creativity, innovation and human resources.
Interview with Sir Ken Robinson on Creativity and Education (Podcast mp3 - part 1 & 2) http://www.electricsky.net/?s=Sir+Ken+Robinson&cat=1
- (part 1 - 9:17 mins, Sunday, September 30, 2007) http://www.electricsky.net/podpress_trac/web/205/0/070930-ES-Portrait-66.mp3
- (part 2 - 11:37 mins, Sunday, October 7, 2007) http://www.electricsky.net/podpress_trac/web/206/0/071007-ES-Portrait-67.mp3
5. Variety is the spice of life
Image source: http://hello.eboy.com/eboy/wp-content/uploads/shop/EBY_FooBar_35t.png
New technologies can create valuable learning contexts that enhance education or training, and provide an effective learning process and outcome. Norton and Sprague state that technology can assist learning that is; ‘active, constructive, collaborative, intentional, conversational, contextualised and reflective’ (Norton & Sprague 2001, pp. 5-6). Molnar refers to research conducted by Kulik at the University of Michigan where his results found that computer based education reduced time in completing tasks, increased scores and performance (Molnar 1997, p. 66).Technologies should not be seen as an end in themselves but a means to an end. The printing press and television were once new technologies and are still used to great advantage in education and training today. Technology and pedagogy should be viewed as ‘fundamental and inseparable elements of education’ (Evans & Nation 1993, p. 198).
Contemporary life is now immersed in a digital world full of multimedia that is having a tremendous effect on how we communicate, work and live. Young people use popular new web technologies like You Tube, Face Book and My Space (along with various others) at home but these are not currently allowed to be used within some educational contexts. Technology itself is a very good tool and benefit but its use may not be particularly educational or positive at times and perhaps even illegal. There is a conflict between having access and being restricted due to censorship or security. How is this to be dealt with so that opportunities can be seized and the potential of new technologies realised for a better future?
Soiurce: http://criticalliteracyandcreativity.wikispaces.com/Creativity
Saturday, December 3, 2011
My Brain on Math
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| This is what my brain looks like on math. |
Reflecting on STEM:
I did not take Algebra II in high school because my Algebra I teacher made me feel like a complete and utter failure at math. Until just a few years ago I would be paralyzed with fear anytime anyone asked me a mathematical question. I would experience a brain fog where even a simple multiplication exercise would cause me to sweat. As I tried to sort out the answer in my head it felt like the numbers were each seeping into separate sections of my brain and I couldn’t bring them all together to figure out the answer.
...Good grief, I just googled “math fog” to see if I might come up with examples of my experience, instead, it turns out math fog is actually a mathematical problem. Check it out: http://forum-3.com/math-forum/math-help-finding-fog-t368.html
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| This is what I wish my brain looked like on math. |
Some funny math images from Google:
Sunday, November 20, 2011
9 Ways of Cultivating Creativity & How to Motivate Yourself to Massive Action
Two great articles from: Think Simple Now
9 Ways of Cultivating Creativity
Source:http://thinksimplenow.com/creativity/9-ways-of-cultivating-creativity/
I believe that Creativity and Spirituality are interconnected. By spirituality, I don’t mean religion, I’m referring to the human spirit, our Source, that place in us that feels connected to Life. Napoleon Hill calls it “Infinite Intelligence“. Deepak Chopra calls it “Pure Consciousness“. My friend Joshua Roman described it beautifully, “..that place in us that never ends.”. This beautiful place in us which cannot be accurately described by words, and can only be felt by the heart.
Being creative is simply relaxing into that place in you and connecting with this “Infinite Intelligence”. It is a gift in each of us, waiting to be discovered. We are all talented beings, because we all have access to the same infinite Source. We are all richly endowed, naturally.
When we act from a place of Creation, we are in a place of abundance, where there are no bounds. Limitations and scarcity only comes when we act from a place of Competition.
There is no such thing as “Being more creative“, you ARE already a creative being. But, you can practice to become more in-tuned or aware of that creative energy surrounding you, all the time, of which you have unlimited access to.
Here are 9 practices I personally use to help me in ‘cultivating’ creativity.
Practice:
- Being Relaxed – Take a moment to do something that makes you happy; that brings you joy; that you love; that centers you. Meditate, take a walk, go for a swim, read something that puts you in a good mood, journaling – writing down your thoughts (this can be so rewarding!).
- Gratitude - Thinking about all things you are grateful for produces a positive energy flow and vibration. As you feel the love in your heart for all the wonderful blessings and gifts in your life, you will instantly relax and feel all warm-and-fuzzy inside. In that moment of warmth and love, you are open to creative energy.
- Tickling Your Imagination – Imagination is highly visual. I’ve found it helpful to practice seeing vivid images with my eyes closed.
- Try it. Close your eyes, and imagine that you are in a scene, any scene. Okay – pick your ideal scene, practice seeing the details of your environment in this scene. See the colors, the textures, touch something. What does it feel like? What do you hear? What do you smell? What is the temperature like? Etc.
- Being In the Moment - Every outstanding musician or artist will tell you that when they are creating great music or art, there are no thoughts, they are completely in the moment, and experiencing flow. Athletes call this ‘being in the zone‘. You can practice present moment awareness by giving full attention to whatever you are doing: eating, washing dishes, making your bed, etc. Meditation helps tremendously. The book “The Power of Now” by Eckhart Tolle is also highly recommended.
- Being Inspired - Practice seeing beautiful things that moves you emotionally. Flip through a book containing thought provoking images, go to an art gallery, read something inspirational, talk to someone who calms you.
- Drawing - This may sounds funny, but one of the effective ways to practice getting in touch with your creative side is to start drawing. Drawing forces you to see things differently. I highly recommend the book “Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain” and the workbook by Betty Edwards. This book was designed for people who has never drawn before. I first heard about this book from a psychology textbook. I have gained much from its insights.
- Seeing Alternatives - Be curious. Practice asking yourself how to do something differently. When seeing the solution to a problem, ask yourself, “What are some alternative ways to doing this?“. Develop the mental attitude that “there is always another way” even when alternatives seem ‘impossible’.
- Being Open - Never shut down any idea that comes your way, do not make judgments about it. Appreciate any idea that comes to you, even ones that seem “stupid” or “obvious”. This way, you encourage more creative ideas to surface from your being.
- Think on Paper - With a bunch of loose paper (or notebook, I prefer loose paper so you don’t feel restricted that you have to keep the page ‘straight’ and organized.), start jotting ideas down. Write everything down that comes to your head: random words, phrases, ideas, thoughts… sometimes you might want to circle things and draw lines to connect ideas. When an inspiration hits, follow it. If you suddenly have a different idea, jot it down somewhere on the page or in a new page. This is how I construct blog articles. I start with ideas and points, sometimes really crappy points at the start, and once I fall into ‘flow‘, the article will take shape before my eyes.
How to Motivate Yourself to Massive Action
Source:
“It’s the action behind the attraction that makes the wish come true”
Powerful motivation comes in understanding that you can achieve anything you truly desire in your heart.
It is the knowledge that you are destined to fulfill your every goal, which drives you to change.
The decision is the first step towards change. Regardless of the decision, every change requires some form of action. Do you find it challenging at times to motivate yourself in taking action? Sometimes, I catch my mind making excuses, and occasionally I ‘succeed’ in avoiding the action all together. Here are some pointers I have personally found helpful in motivating myself:
- What & Why? – “Start with the end in mind.” To achieve a goal, it’s important to define clearly what that goal is. How do you know when you’ve achieved it? Define a measurable end. Once you have your goal, it’s important to understanding the Why – why you are doing it? Ask yourself what are the motivating factors behind it? For your family? For your kids? Why? Why must you succeed?
- Break it down to small achievable tasks – It is very easy, and human, to be overwhelmed by the sheer effort and energy involved in achieving a big goal. Especially if the goal consists of many unknowns or a long-drawn process. We tell ourselves it’s impossible or it’s too much work, and then we give up even before we take any action towards a goal. I’ve found it very helpful to always split the main goal into several milestones. Then breaking each milestone into a series of steps to achieve that milestone. For each step, break them down further into smaller, measurable and achievable tasks that can be achieved in a few hours or less. This will make the goal appear manageable. Achieving one task after another builds confidence and momentum, and before you know it, the end result will be in sight. Personally, I feel rewarded and more motivated just by crossing tasks off with a black marker as I complete them.
- Take a Small Step – Even the smallest first step will help create momentum towards change. “Start doing the thing to have energy to do the thing” -Bob Proctor.When I heard this, a light bulb went off in my head. So now, whenever I don’t want to do something that I know will help me. I would trick myself into thinking ‘I’m just gonna start it, it’ll only take a few minutes.’ And once I start it, I typically will finish the task. I have this quote written on a cue card, taped on the wall across from my bed, serving as a daily reminder.
- Rewards & Celebration – Give yourself small rewards for each completed step or task. Then celebrate when you reach each Milestone! I use ice-cream, Chai, reading and internet browsing time as rewards for myself. Look back at what you’ve done, enjoy it, embrace it, and give yourself a pat on the back for a job well done! I like to exaggerate this step by doing a “happy dance“: very silly moves I do, that tend to make other people (and myself) laugh. This way, my body moves, I’m smiling and my mind will create positive associations with achieving milestones to being happy.
- Pain vs. Pleasure – Have you noticed that you are more inclined to avoid pain, than to gain pleasure? For example, we all know the benefits of eating healthy and exercising, but this benefit alone often is not enough to motivate us to action. But, if your doctor tells you that must live a healthier lifestyle or in 6 months you will contract a life-threatening illness, you are more likely to make the change. Here’s a visualization technique I picked up from a Tony Robbins ‘Unleash the power within’ seminar:
- Visualize yourself in 5 years without taking the actions to reach your goal. See yourself in pain. Do this for a minute, and then intensify the feeling. Feel the heaviness on your back. Do this for a few minutes, and then relax.
- Now visualize yourself having achieved your goal. What do you look like? How are you celebrating? See and feel the benefits it’s provided. Now, let that feeling intensify. Do this for a few minutes as the feeling intensify some more.
- Inspiration – Being around motivating people really helps to inspire us into action. People who are consistently aligning their decisive actions towards their goals. Being around these people can be infectious, and their energy will impact you. If you don’t have such people in your life? Get a cd or dvd of a motivational speaker. Just listening to an outstanding speaker’s voices, can create enough energy to pump you up. I recommend, “Anthony Robbins“, “Les Brown” and “Bob Proctor“.
Do shools kill creativity?
If you haven't watched this video on creativity by Sir Ken Robinson, click to view now. He's funny, and he speaks to an important point.
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Lifesaver: One Minute Meditation
This very simple exercise is more powerful than you might imagine.
Give it a try:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6eFFCi12v8
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| One Minute Meditation |
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6eFFCi12v8
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Creativity Starts With A Belief
Creativity starts with a belief. Do you dare to believe in yourself? Once upon a time you did...
Click on-
http://youtu.be/V5Bx7ADx1XI
Click on-
http://youtu.be/V5Bx7ADx1XI
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