Did anyone out there read the article about Google this morning in the Age? What an extraordinary phenomena is Google. But the information that really resonates with me, in that article, is the fact that staff at Google are allocated 20% of their time to work on their own projects. So in reality, Google are letting people play. This play time created what we now know as gmail. This relates to something I was talking about a few posts back about restocking the well.
To be creative, you really do need to play, go out and talk to people, be adventurous. That’s why artists, writers, musicians say they are ‘working’ when they’re lying on the couch, sitting in cafes people watching or perusing galleries. So for EVERYONE, no matter what industry you’re in, the key to being creative is to play.
So give yourself permission to do just that. Be silly, playful, waste some time. You’ll be amazed at what you’ll discover about yourself, how you’ll solve some incessant problem and guess what? You’ll enjoy doing it.
Creativity can be taught. It can come to you in many forms. here’s a few tips on how creativity works for me.
Creativity is changing your mind; it is not doing something but something else and something more.
Creativity is stifled by formula, by rigid learning techniques and people who care more for the process then the outcome.
Relaxation and exercise techniques; spiritual practises such as Yoga are of great benefit to the creative mind, getting onto that other plane is a place where originality happens. Understanding the implications and applications of sensory awareness can lead to things that only you can find in yourself. The possibilities of generating creativity through natural processes over chemical ones offer benefits that have proven to be long lasting and uniquely inspirational.
Creative new works are still possible, but you have to try something different, you have to be something different and that can be the best or worst of things – but it may be something that opens the eyes of the world.