Creativity | BAReed Writing, Business Writing

Cultivate Your Inner Two-Year-Old

Personal Growth, Work Life January 10, 2014 Leave a comment

I don’t think that this post will interest people who like to have a steady, few task oriented occupation. I was thinking the other day that 2 year olds have it right to be so inquisitive. The world is more interesting when you want to learn more about the things around you – how they work, why they are the way that they are.

Going farther back, I had a revelation about colic as I tried to soothe my sons when they were babies. And suddenly I saw the world as they saw it and while my realization didn’t ease my own exhaustion and wish that they would just stop crying, it did give me empathy to continue my quest to bring them peace. The revelation was just this – there is a tremendous amount of stimulation around us every waking moment of every day, lights, sounds, movement, touch and our senses are bombarded, we have learned how to process it all to the point that we are nearly unaware of how much stimulation is around. But to a baby it is all new and disorienting.

By the age of 2, we can filter through the familiar stimuli and get drawn to anything new that tickles our senses. We explore this new thing with delight and share this pleasure with anyone who might be around. Who can’t help but be charmed?

Somewhere along the line, the curiosity and delight in new things dries up for many of us. New things might start to mean more to do, or harder to understand, or any number of unpleasant associations. Sadly.

I won’t deny that much of this reasoning can be true, but we miss out on new things that could be good by this wholesale shutting down. I was thinking the other day about one of my least favorite responses to the cheerful good morning that I offer around the office, which is ‘what’s good about it?’. I’ve gone to the effort to fire up my cheer and get a snarl in return?

Well, here is my hard-won answer to that question – the possibility. I’m breezing through my own apprehensions and morning grumpy to cultivate my inner two-year-old. There is possibility for something interesting, potentially delightful just ahead. And I don’t want to miss it because I filtered it out. If I channel this inner curiosity, I might just make more opportunities for myself at work by expanding my knowledge of the how and why of my work place. What do you think?

Coloring, Color, Colorful

Random thoughts November 15, 2013 Leave a comment

Did you like to color as a child? A boxful of crayons and a coloring book, a rainy afternoon, a good spot at the table – happiness was mine. I envied the kids who got the big box of crayons but I could do a lot by blending colors. I manage to revisit this simple pleasure periodically – with my own boys, then nieces and nephews. The kids grow out of their coloring stage and my urge goes dormant.

My Crayon Stash

But not the joy that I get from color – I am not a monochromatic person – my preference for color is always active. Over the years the colors on the palette that attract my eye the most have changed. In childhood it seemed that everyone said their favorite color was blue, so I decided that I wasn’t a fan. Until cobalt blue came into my life. And I had a sweet little electric blue car for a few years. Plus combine blue with green and I can feel my muscles relaxing.

Walk through a garden with its green and splashes of color and suddenly you realize that there are countless shades and tones to a single color. I dare you not to smile. Your heart not to feel just a bit lighter.

I live in the suburbs, more green that many cities, but mostly shades of concrete. Bleh. When I can get in the car and drive away until green is the predominant color, I can feel my breathing getting deeper and my eyes seem to see more clearly – cleansed of all the suburban tans.

I do wear the neutrals – your grays, blacks, browns and tans – as a basis for some type of color. I would have made a terrible Goth going around trying to add a spot of color to everyone else’s outfit. Just ask anyone I see regularly who wears too much black.

How about you – how does color affect you? Or doesn’t it?

The Value of Creative Thinking

Business Writing, Writing August 28, 2013 Leave a comment

Logical, analytical thinking seems to be greatly prized these days, and rightly so, but this should not diminish the importance of creative minds.

“Creative minds have always been known to survive any kind of bad training.”

~ Anna Freud

Intuitive leaps can be made over all sorts of pitfalls, overcoming many shortcomings.

Limiting Fear of Failure

Business Writing, Writing August 19, 2013 Leave a comment

Of course we don’t want to put time and effort into something only to see it fall apart, but what do we save if we don’t make the attempt?

“When we can begin to take our failures nonseriously, it means we are ceasing to be afraid of them. It is of immense importance to learn to laugh at ourselves.”

~ Katherine Mansfield

We fail, we laugh, we learn and make a new and better attempt.

Define Yourself as an Artist

Business Writing, Writing August 5, 2013 Leave a comment

For some reason we fear defining ourselves as creative.

“An artist is someone who uses bravery, insight, creativity and boldness to challenge the status quo. And an artist takes it (all of it, the work, the process, the feedback from those we seek to connect with) personally.”

~ Seth Godin

Creativity is broader, deeper and more accessible than we seem to initially think. And adds just that extra something to a life.