Blank Space

Creating something can be intimidating. Staring at a blank page or canvas can make an intimidating thing seem impossible. If this describes you as it does me, a great tip to get started is to put something on the page. We think what we create needs to be perfect. It doesn't. When I sit down to write, I put the command GO NOW!! at the top right corner of the paper. That gives me the command and permission to start and the understanding that I can make mistakes. What will your first mark be? It could be a smiley face, a doodle, a phrase or anything that marks the surface and gives you permission to start. Do it every time as a habit and spend less time thinking or doubting and more time creating!

Cotton fields and sweat shops

Stephen J. Gould once said- "I am somehow less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein's brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweat shops." What other areas are genius, creativity and talent being wasted? The weight of this comment is huge when you think about broken systems like education, foster care and adoption. Our prisons house great numbers of inmates who need, in order to be made whole, a creative outlet for their talents. How many migrant farm workers today have ideas but no access to move them? Access to me is easy, but for a migrant farm worker or a girl forced into modern slavery, it's most definitely of reach.

Forgotten Technology

In the age of re-purposing and up-cycling, what forgotten technologies are there that could be re-imagined for today's use? There's sure to be a mass of forgotten inventions, innovations and discoveries that could be used today. Someone somewhere long ago built a trinket, a device, a contraption that could have value today in a new arena that was not even around when it was first created. Where are these forgotten technologies? How can they be dusted off and what can they be used for?

Laugh tracks

It's difficult, maybe impossible, to be creative when you are told what to think or how to respond.

When our favorite sitcom doesn't trust us to know what to find funny and laugh tracks are added to cue us, how can we be expected to understand the subtle and intricate humor the shows writers worked so hard for us to get?

Creativity is personal, risky and associative.  Trust your audience to think for themselves and create new associations.  Trust yourself to risk being the only one laughing in the room.  Or not laughing when they tell you to.

Creative solutions to life's problems

     Creativity and intellectual property are closely linked. When ideas are put out to a person or community, they are up for grabs to anyone who wants them.

     Solutions to parenting challenges, which everyone has, are found by observing and talking. The ideas and solutions are there for the taking and implementing.  Moms are blogging, Internet communities are thriving.  We just need to go looking.

     Business solutions are solved by technology, yes.  Tech makes life easier, but many challenges in the workplace and business model must be solved by us.  Blake Mycoskie, founder of Toms shoes, found a new idea just in time to help turn Toms profitable from the leg wraps on polo ponies.

    It's up to us to look around, think,  experiment and act to find creative solutions to life's everyday problems.