Change Your Life: Be Mindful of the Wonder

“Those who dwell among the beauties and mysteries of the earth
are never alone or weary of life” (Rachel Carson).

What we see in the world around us is to a large extent a matter of choice. Do we take time every day to look, really look, at things? To find the beauty, or the humour, or the charm, or the mystery in them? When driving car to work or better at traffic light, do we stare aimlessly out the window, or do we make an effort to look at the colour of the sky, the shapes of the clouds? Do we look closely enough to allow ourselves to be delighted by the funny little dog trotting along the sidewalk? Or to feel sympathy, or admiration, or sadness when we watch an elderly woman walking slowly and carefully out her front door?

It is natural to be preoccupied by our own thoughts, or to be lulled into not noticing all that is around us while we do routine errands. And there is nothing wrong in daydreaming from time to time (in fact is it good). But the more we can be mindful of what we are doing as we doing it, the healthier and happier we will be.

Mindfulness is a choice, and it is something we can practice: When our mind wanders – whether while eating, doing the dishes, writing a report, or walking to our car – we can gently shift our focus back to the wonders that are everywhere to be found.

I like what Helen Keller (she lost her sight and hearing when she was 19 months old as a result of an illness) noted in her essay, Three Days to See:

“I who am blind can give one hint to those who see – one admonition to those who would make full use of the gift of sight: Use your eyes as if tomorrow you would be stricken blind… Hear the music of voices, the song of the bird, the mighty strains of an orchestra, as if you would be stricken deaf tomorrow. Touch each object you want to touch as if tomorrow your tactile sense would fail. Smell the perfume of flowers, taste with relish each morsel, as if tomorrow you could never smell and taste again. Make the most of every sense: glory in all the facets of pleasure and beauty which the world reveals to you.”

Don’t overlook life’s treasures,

Be mindful of the wonder.

Lord, Give Us Today Our Daily Idea(s)

 References:

1. Choose the Life You Want: 101 Ways to Create You Own Road to Happiness by Tal Ben-Shahar, PhD (New York: The Experiment, 2012)

2. Full Catastrophe Living” Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain and Illness by J. Kabat-Zinn (New York: Delta, 1990)

Nurture Creativity: Steal Like An Artist!

“Art is theft” (Pablo Picasso)

Great Artist Steal. Pablo Picasso is also often quoted as saying: “Good artists copy, great artists steal.” T.S. Elliot, poet and writer, admits, “Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal; bad poets deface what they take, and good poets make it into something better, or at least something different. The good poet welds his theft into a whole of feeling which is unique, utterly different from that from which it was torn.” Nothing is Original. Jim Jarmusch explains, “Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is non-existent.”

Find Something Worth Stealing Today. “Every artist gets asked the question, ‘Where do you get your ideas?’” writes Austin Kleon, “The honest artist answers, ‘I steal them.’ How does an artist look at the world? First, you figure out what’s worth stealing, then you move on to the next thing. That’s about all there is to it. When you look at the world this way, you stop worrying about what’s ‘good’ and what’s ‘bad’ – there’s only stuff worth stealing, and stuff that’s not worth stealing. Everything is up for grabs. If you don’t find something worth stealing today, you might find it worth stealing tomorrow or a month or a year from now.” Don’t Neglect Ideas, Take It. As Mark Twain wisely suggests, “It is better to take what does not belong to you than to let it lie around neglected.”

New Idea = Combinations of One or More Previous Ideas. Carl G. Jung, psychiatrist and psychotherapist, observed: “Our souls as well as our bodies are composed of individual elements which were all already present in the ranks of our ancestors. The ‘newness’ in the individual psyche is an endlessly varied recombination of age-old components.” Austin Kleon also wrote, “Just as you have a familial genealogy, you also have a genealogy of ideas. You don’t get to pick your family, but you can pick your teachers… your friends… the music you listen to… the book you read… the movie you see.” Be Apprentice to Great Thinkers. “Chew one thinker – writer, artist, activist, role model – you really love. Study everything there is to know about that thinker.” “The great thing about dead or remote masters is that they can’t refuse you as apprentice. You can learn whatever you wants from them. They left their lesson plans in their work.”

The title of this article is 100% steal from Austin Kleon’s book Steal Like An Artist

95% quotes (a.k.a. steal) from various writers
3% edited and modified from people’s writings
only 2% my original words. Come on, steal like an artist!

“If you steal from one author, it’s plagiarism;

if you steal from many, it’s research.” (Wilson Mizner)

God, Give Us Today Our Daily Idea(s)

Nurture Creativity: Take a Sit, Drink Starbuck Coffee and Observe People

Pic from: jolingyeoh.blogspot.com, thanks!

“One very important aspect of motivation is the willingness to stop and to look at things that

no one else has bothered to look at. This simple process of focusing on things that are

normally taken for granted is a powerful source of creativity” (Edward de Bono)

Off day. After work. Free time. With a cup of hot Starbuck coffee or simply bring one from home. Find a place to sit. At the mall, food court, the street, football field, in front of the church with pen and paper. This one is fun – people watching can be very interesting! Try this: set aside some time to hang out alone at a nearby park (or anywhere public as I mention above) and observe those around you. Pay attention to how they walk and talk, what they're saying and wearing, and how they interact with others. This is fun.

As you observe them, begin to write down different details. Pay attention to your senses and write about things you see, hear, feel and smell. Don't spend too much time thinking hard, just write or take notice whatever comes to your mind. This practice can help you improve your observation skills. It also helps you learn to focus and be mindful of what's going on around you. When you practise this and begin to write it down or pay attention to what comes to your mind, you'll start using those creative thinking brain muscles that need to be exercised.

If you want to nurture your creativity, be mindful and observant. Too often we go through life missing many of the details, but if you make it a point to notice what’s happening around you, you’ll soon find many creative ways to use what you learn in your writing, artwork, or other creative endeavours. I practise and use this observation skill to help me to bring home the Bible lessons to my hearers by translating the ancient Scripture into daily life, to generate ideas for blogs and to improve my alertness of what’s around me (I can be so absorb in my own world sometime).

Do people watching with a cup of coffee or tea, whatever you prefer

God, Give Us Today Our Daily Idea(s)

Nurture Creativity: Be Crazy, Think Differently

After watching Computer History Museum channel interview Walter Isaacson, author of Steve Jobs: The Authorized Biography, I instantly mesmerized by Steve Jobs’ personalities. I then watched BBC’s Steve Jobs Documentary: Billion Dollar Hippy and Discovery Channel’s iGenius: How Steve Jobs Changed the World on Youtube. After that, I went to Popular Bookstore to get any books on Steve and I found a very great book offer of Jay Elliot’s The Steve Jobs Way: iLeadership for a New Generation for RM15 only! Usually it’s RM85.90. Wow! Awesome!

When I or anyone think of intuitive leadership, innovative thinker, visionary, and world changing creative-idea guy, one cannot not think of Steve Jobs and his company Apple. Have you heard it famous “Think Different” campaign before? Not long after some conflicts and leadership problems in his own founded company, Steve Jobs returned to Apple. When he returned, the iconic “The Crazy Ones” commercial was aired as part of the larger “Think Different” campaign. What was less known at the time was that Steve Jobs write the commercial himself. He wanted to revive the company and inspired not only its customers but its employees as well. The version of “The Crazy Ones” that Steve himself narrates didn’t aired until after his dead. If you already watch the commercial, you will remember this legendary speech:

“Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.”

Mind you, there’s a fine line between creativity and insanity. I don’t mean (I think Steve Jobs also don’t mean) clinical insanity – there’s nothing good about that. But when I say “Be Crazy, Think Differently” I mean a kind of functional craziness that should inhabit our creativity. That wacky and insane-sounding concepts of ideas are what I’m talking about. Be crazy. Remember, not all crazy ideas will worked out. Sometimes crazy ideas has to come at the right time. But what is sure is that the world need “The Crazy Ones” – are you the one?

Be crazy, think differently

Lord, Give Us Today Our Daily Idea(s)

Nurture Creativity: Use Online Time Wisely (Hunt for Ideas!)

“In order to become an effective idea hunter,

one must be receptive to creative inspiration from unfamiliar or unusual sources”

(Andy Boynton, The Idea Hunter)

Most of us spend online time for social networking, searching, reading content, e-mailing or communicating in general, visiting multi-media sites for music or video or both, online shopping, etc. Recently I visited TIME website and stumbled on an article. I thought it is interesting because in the article they include Apps that can count how many time (not necessary ‘wasted’) you spend on Facebook. It is safe and will not appear on your timeline. Mine, since 12^th November 2008 until today, I spend only 3 days 18 hours 52 minutes and posted 14,718 things on my feed. On average 17 minutes per day. How about you? [Check it out: http://time.com/6107/how-much-time-have-you-wasted-on-facebook/]

Surely, Facebook or any other social media or the Internet is not that bad. What’s bad is when you addicted to online 24-7. What’s really bad is when you wasted your life online! What’s good is that you can use these tools for good. These tools, if you can use it wisely, can be your great source of ideas and to spark up your creativity. Basically, these are the thing I do when I’m online:

§  Downloaded audio sermons, audiobooks, talks and seminars

§  Watch video or listen to talks from YouTube, podcasts and websites (I recommend TED Talks, Google Talks, Intelligent² and LearnOutLoud.com)

§  Read articles such as How Stuff Works, BBC and TED blog

§  Surf randomly (but not mindlessly). Who know, you might stumble to a cool website that may change your life!

How to use online time wisely? Here are my suggestions: 1) Intentionally, set time for online. You should be in control. It can be an hour in the morning, then an hour in the afternoon before lunch or mid-night before you go to sleep. Try not to go online, if possible, in the evening. Safe it for outdoor activities. 2) Set a limit. As for me, in regular time, I set at most 2-3 hours online. Depend on your job requires and working hours, set a limit (or simply take some time off once in a while). and 3) Use the time for ideas hunt. Find and gather as many ideas as possible, write it down on paper, steal it! and create your own new ideas – and if it useful, work on it.

Use online time wisely. Go for ideas hunt!

Lord, Give Us Today Our Daily Idea(s)

The Art of Touching, Tasting and Smelling Creatively

Average human “looks without seeing, listens without hearing,

touches without feeling, eats without tasting, moves without physical awareness,

inhales without awareness of odour or fragrance, and talks without thinking”

(Leonardo da Vinci)

Creativity also can be enhance and increase through our senses of touch, taste and smell. All these senses – including visual and sound – will bring impact on our creativity. When you touch, don’t forget to feel it. When you eat, try to taste it. When you breathe, aware of smell around you. “If we use all five senses – scent, sight, sound, touch, and taste – to stimulate our minds while working,” explain Jane Porter, writer for Fast Company website, “then this may spark more creativity.” Remember, idea is all around you.

Touch

I cannot work in a very cool environment. When I go to the state library, I will take a walk every half an hour for 3-5 minutes to get myself warm. In my office, if nobody is around I prefer to use fan. At home, open windows is good enough. Temperature surround our environment impacts our focus and work performance. Keep our office too cold or too hot may cause errors and inefficiency in the workplace. Sense of touch really can affect us. Another example, if you wear your watch on the other hand for a day or switching your wallet from your right pocket to your left, these adjustments of daily routines can stimulate creativity too. Learn to touch creatively and really feeling it.

Taste

Jane Porter writes, “The connection between food and your mood has been demonstrated across studies over the years. Incorporating fruits, green vegetables, and complex carbohydrates into your diet helps with energy and focus. Fill your body with junk, and your mind likely won't be running on the best fuel.” For me, coffee (not a junk!) is my idea-mood booster. Some suggest a wee bit of alcohol can boost creativity because it helps block out the rational left brain. But when we are at the office, coffee or tea, is preferable. And powerful too. Try this also, eat a fruit – for example, apple. Look at it in your hand and then slowly put it in your mouth and close your eyes. Notice everything as it hits your tongue. Don't chew it yet. See how long you can go just tasting it. Your mouth should water with anticipation as you continue to roll it on your tongue, sucking and tasting the sweetness of that apple. When you start to chew it be aware of everything that you taste. Do you realize how good apple is? Learn to taste and really tasting it.

Smell

I like to go to Starbuck and order my favourite thick-black coffee. Even if I don’t buy, I sometime pretend to look around the shop but secretly I sniff for that amazing aromatic strong smell of coffee brewing. Oh so nice! (I’m not an addict-er, mind you, I’m simply a passionate coffee lover). Often when I need to refocus and attract inspiration, I just smell the coffee, which I find very helpful for me to stimulate my thoughts. Books also can create such stimulation for me. Maybe you like the smell of tea or flower or fresh oceanic air or perfume candle, use it to stimulate your focus and creativity. Put it somewhere close to you. Creativity must smell good! Find your stimulus and really smelling it. Enjoy!

Utilizing the sense of touching, tasting and smelling (hearing and seeing too) are the easiest way to instantly tap into our own creative potential. By experiencing and experimenting with different sensations, we open ourselves up to new ideas. Like what Leonardo da Vinci like to say it: “The five senses are the ministers of the soul.”

Idea is all around you

Lord, Give Us Today Our Daily Idea(s)

The Art of Seeing Creatively

Average human “looks without seeing, listens without hearing, touches without feeling, 

eats without tasting, moves without physical awareness, 

inhales without awareness of odour or fragrance, and talks without thinking” 

(Leonardo da Vinci)

The world, everything around us, for creative people is a magical experience. When we observe something closely, and follow it moment by moment, we disengage from the chaotic of our own consciousness. This is a good condition to nurture our creativity. A great stillness and peace will comes over us. Our minds become quieter and relax. By focusing on something, it is as though we are being brought into focus. If before this we “looks without seeing” now we learn look and really seeing.

One day I walk at the recreation park and stopped by the lake and look at the water. First I noticed on the surface my own reflection, ripples, water beetles, and water plants and flowers. Then I look down into the water, adjusting my eyes, changed my positions and angles many time – I saw fishes, coins, larva and surprisingly a crab! I will forever thought that the lake is boring if I haven’t really take time to look and seeing it. Many time ideas come when we just observe with focus, see with curiosity and look with interest at things around us. Look at nature, animals, human beings and even a crab will spark an idea for you, yes, that crab inspired me to write this.

Albert Einstein writes (maybe out of context) that, “Creativity is seeing what others see and thinking what no one else has ever thought." Learn and practise the art of seeing creatively. When you believe that the world around us have something to say about creativity, you’ll see it. Maybe you can try these “sight” exercises to increase your creativity. Remember, ideas is all around you.

§  Look up into the sky or sea or ocean or mountain or all at least once a day and towards the far horizon.

§  Describe a room or a scene as accurately as possible.

§  Practice doodling and drawing. Sketch people's faces (I drew my girlfriend’s face on our date).

§  Look for the subtle clues to people's moods and feelings reflected in their eyes and body movements.

§  Visit museum or art gallery sometime. Become more aware of great photography, artwork and paintings. What's great and wonderful about them?

§  Try watch movies as though you were the cameraman. What do you appreciate about the different angles, lighting, and presentation in each scene?

§  Wear a blindfold for 10 minutes and then slowly remove it and notice the effects. First, close your eyes again and thanks God with appreciation and gratitude because you’re not born blind. Then, look around one more time. Do you notice what is not there before?

Take a walk, run or sit and observe.

Look and really seeing. Idea is all around you.

Lord, Give Us Today Our Daily Idea(s)

Common Blocks to Creativity #3: Resource Myopia

“Resource myopia is common among pragmatic,

no-nonsense realists who ‘see things as they are.’

Innovation thrives on seeing things as they might be” (David P. Campbell)

Myopia means “the quality of being short-sighted” and “lack of foresight or intellectual insight.” Resource myopia, thus in this context, mean, the inability to see the resources at our disposal. It is a common block to creativity! We are often unaware of our own strengths. The resources at our disposal are usually much larger than we imagine. Consider a man like Nelson Mandela. He had no formal authority nor, to begin with, an exceptional gifts. But by his pen, by his speech, by his example, and by his ability to bring together dedicated men and women, he was able to move mountains, so to speak.

The ability to perceive one’s strengths and weaknesses accurately and the awareness of the resources in one’s environment are indispensable for overcoming resource myopia. Curiosity about the situation one find oneself in, the habit of asking around who has what resources and where, “the managerial trait of being able to draw readily on the resources of others,” are worth cultivating to get rid of this block.

Resource myopia gives rise to a number of other disabilities that also hinder creativity. They chief of these are fatalism, excessive dependence, “learned helplessness,” and inferiority complex. These are dangerous! All these disabilities arise because resource myopia makes us poor problem-solvers. Get rid of resource myopia, immediately!

Lord, Give Us Today Our Daily Idea(s)

References:

1.      Lifelong Creativity: An Unending Quest by Pradip N. Khandwalla (Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing Company Limited, 2004).

2.      Take the Road to Creativity and Get Off Your Dead End by David P. Champbell (Center for Creative Leadership, 1977)

Characteristics of a Creative Person #4: Develop Comparisons to Illustrate Points

“I shut my eyes in order to see” (Paul Gauguin)

It is not enough to simply speak in terms of numbers when portraying the probable outcome of a new idea. There’s always more to an outcome than numbers. A creative person will adopt a metaphor or two to help others best get the complete picture.

An increase of 100 percent, for example, is like doubling a hundred ringgit. Doubling a hundred ringgit is like printing a hundred ringgit with banknote printer. Etc. In personal terms, learning a new word every day and using it in a sentence three or more times is like earning and advanced degree in English language. Studying a new language (as English is not my first language) means introducing an entirely new nation and society to your life. The creative person finds lots of comparisons and similarities to use in communicating ideas.

Creative people develop comparisons to illustrate points or ideas

Lord, Give Us Today Our Daily Idea(s)

*I recommend you to read Danny Cox and John Hoover’s Seize the Day (Book-mart Press, 1994), “Step Two: Developing Strengths” page 77-118.

How-To Generate Ideas #13: Look From a Different Perspective

“If you look at a room from a different position, you will see different things.

Some things that were hidden in one view become visible in another”
(Robert Korn)

When Jonas Edward Salk, a medical researcher, was asked how he discovered and developed the first polio vaccine, he responded, “I pictured myself as a virus or a cancer cell and tried to sense, what it would be like.” He tried from a different perspective.

This is the example of ‘divergent thinking’ which means a thought process or method used to generate creative ideas by exploring many possible solutions (I just learned that term from Wikipedia). Looking at a challenge or problem or situation from a different perspective is an essential component of creativity. It involves the ability to quickly come up with different solutions and alternatives to a problem – and the ability to be original.

Next time when you approach a problem or situation, try to build in new ways to look at it. Maybe you can try finding ideas by picturing yourself as an object. Try imagined that you’re the other person or an audience. Try to be in the customer’s shoes or student’s minds. Try to understand it by using many different kind of chart such as column, pie, bar, line or radar chart. Try different method and language. Try to study context and history. Try to change your positions physically and engage emotionally. Try to find as many perspectives as possible. I tell you, creative ideas will flow like a river.

Lord, Give Us Today Our Daily Idea(s)

How-to Generate Ideas #1: Engage in Observation Time

“Ideas come from everything” (Alfred Hitchcock)

You want to have great ideas? Well, it won't happen in a vacuum. You need some way of getting your brain to think in new and creative ways. Commit time to specific sessions where you stimulate your brain into thinking differently. Being a good Malaysian and sometime labeled as a loner guy, my favorite method is people watching. Alone, uninterrupted, relax and observe. A simple walk around Kuala Lumpur city or Kuching city can introduce me to exciting activity and behavior that makes me think anew. Sitting in the mall with Starbuck coffee also one of my favorites. Any crowded urban area, mall or park can do the same.

Lord, Give Us Today Our Daily Idea(s)