Former journalist Bill Moyers is credited with saying, “Creativity is piercing the mundane to find the marvelous.” Steven Jobs, the late CEO of Apple, put another spin on it when he said, "Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn't really do it, they just saw something.”
Here’s my take on it: I love connecting things! It can energize me…or calm me. Certainly it provides me with a sense of well-being and personal growth. One of the favorite parts of my job as a nonprofit fundraiser is the connective aspect of sharing client stories in ways that I hope can resonate with potential funders.
Yet more and more, today’s funders want data and logic models and indicators and evaluation plans. The work world of the new millennium is focused on improving processes—and being able to prove it with data. Quality improvement … Lean … Six Sigma. These are data-driven processes for organizations to attain a measure of quality near perfection. There’s that word again: data. Apparently data matters.
The artist Picasso is attributed with saying, “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.” Boy, do I feel that! Especially in this world of data-mining. I feel the creative aspects of my day job being squeezed out constantly to make room for easier-to-measure data and metrics. Lucky for me I can choose how I spend my time outside work to pursue whatever creative outlets I’d like. Our children, though, do not have that choice. I worry for them. In these test-centric, extracurricular-crammed times, when’s a kid supposed to get creative?
Sir Kenneth Robinson raises this question more eloquently and with the data to back him. He’s written books about how creativity is undervalued and ignored in Western culture and our educational systems. Sir Ken’s talk entitled "Do Schools Kill Creativity?" has become the most watched TED talk of all time.
His concerns are backed by scientific studies. Dr. Kyung Hee Kim with William and Mary has been studying the decline in creativity in U.S. children for years. Her research links to studies surrounding the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT), an evidence-based, science-driven assessment created in the 1950s. Close to 3,000 individuals—or “Torrance kids”—have been part of the TTCT studies tracking creativity in the U.S. from the 1960s to the present.
And guess what? While America's IQ scores are on the rise, the country's scores on creative thinking have been declining since 1990. This is especially evident in younger children from kindergarten through sixth grade. Seems our ability to recite facts may be at an all-time high. But what about our passion and ability to ponder original ideas and make connections?
Creativity matters. But it involves taking risks. How different would today’s world be without the creative tenacity of Galileo, who was condemned for sharing astronomical findings that went against Catholic theology of the time? Or Hungarian physician Ignaz Semmelweis, who was fired for raising the notion that infections could be spread by germs on doctors’ hands? Or philosopher Giordano Bruno, who was burned at the stake for daring to propose that the universe might be infinite.
So here’s my wish for today’s children. May you continue to study your science and do your math, read your literature and mine that data. BUT…may you NEVER stop thinking differently out of fear of being ridiculed. May you NEVER lose your curiosity because you’re too busy being “taught to the tests” in school. And may you NEVER, EVER stop piercing the mundane to find the marvelous!
I gave up on making new year’s resolutions some time ago. However, I heard about a re-framing of this practice while listening to a podcast called “Happier.” The podcast hosts, Gretchen Rubin and Elizabeth Craft, suggested that listeners identify—and write down—18 things to accomplish during 2018 that would add to their level of happiness? Here are a few examples they shared:
paint my toenails once a month
fold laundry the day it comes out of the dryer
read a political biography
I’m not exactly sure why, but I found this “Eighteen for 18” challenge just different enough from the typical resolution deal that I’ve decided to try it. I appreciate the variety of the tasks—some ongoing, some one-time deals to check off once done. Perhaps I like the concept of happiness being the end result. Maybe I like the idea of doing something for my personal self-improvement that doesn’t seem like a copycat version of my office SMART goals. You know what I’m talking about: “By June 30, lose 20 pounds by eating healthier and exercising more.” Enough of that!
So here you have ’em: my “Eighteen for ‘18”:
Pray more.
Appreciate Rice more.
Purge two rooms/areas of junk.
Paint family room wood paneling (or have someone else do it).
Visit one place requiring a plane ride.
Learn a new phone app.
Walk more.
Shave legs on clean sheets day.
Plan more [joy!] for pre- and actual retirement.
Joy ~ Sass ~ Grace more.
Do more art and piano time.
Organize on-line photos—mine and those shared with me.
Do a one-on-one date with each of my adult kiddos.
Visit Emory Voice Clinic.
Touch the ocean.
Water plants/garden better.
Take blog public.
Let “it” [work…unimportant “things”] go more.
Today I’m working on #17. Why? I created the Joy ~ Sass ~ Grace blogsite back in 2012, Sheer terror has kept me from taking it public. Until now. I’m hoping that putting my blog “out there” will add to my level of happiness. Not because loads of people are likely to love it, or read it…or even see it. Rather, I’ve found that, oddly, sometimes pushing beyond my comfort zone actually does increase my level of happiness. Sometimes!
So happy ’18 to you all! I challenge you to give “Eighteen for ’18” your own twist. And let me know how it goes. Cheers! J
