Below is an example of a short report from a previous quarter, on the topic of creativity we reviewed last week. At the time, no visuals were required but one appears here to illustrate the theme:
On Being Creative
A recent article in the New York Times titled "Learning to Think Outside the Box," by Laura Pappano, reports that college degrees are now being awarded in the study of creativity and that those who earn such degrees, by some accounts, have proved themselves to be creative problem solvers, people who can think outside of the box, which might make them strong candidates in the current job market as certain employers prize creativity. It may seem awkward to speak of majoring or minoring in creativity per say, that is, separate from any specific field or endeavor, and in fact in several of the courses mentioned the work required appears rather academic, a traditional process requiring study of the literature on creativity and representative individuals, personal observation and self-reflection, analysis of a problem, discovery, and invention:
In Dr. Burnett’s Introduction to Creative Studies survey course, students explore definitions of creativity, characteristics of creative people and strategies to enhance their own creativity. These include rephrasing problems as questions, learning not to instinctively shoot down a new idea (first find three positives), and categorizing problems as needing a solution that requires either action, planning or invention. A key objective is to get students to look around with fresh eyes and be curious. The inventive process, she says, starts with “How might you…”
If the course were Composition 101, similar strategies might be used to enhance student awareness of how good writing gets done. The centrality of trial and error to all creative endeavour is a key takeaway in creativity studies; one teacher dubbed his course “Failure 101” to emphasize the fact. Indeed, “his favorite assignment” sounds much like a writing assignment: “Construct a résumé based on things that didn’t work out and find the meaning and influence these have had on your choices.” He asks students to connect the dots in their life, and to redefine failure in the context of the larger journey. Indeed, I believe we accomplish little if we are unwilling to risk failure or to grope our way instinctively through the psychological turmoil and darkness of inexperience, ignorance, and, at times, ineptitude. But we must till we find our footing, else we risk accomplishing little and losing touch with that which gives life real zest, meeting the challenges life poses.
Humans are naturally creative, we have had to be in order to survive; our world is increasingly a world of made things and the best of them, utilitarian or artistic, serve to make living easier and richer: a chair provides comfortable rest, a bowl, fork and spoon practical means of conveying food to our mouths, clothing warmth and protection, and story, poetry, music, film and all the arts ancient and modern, above all, sustenance for our souls. The more we develop our creative capacities the more potential we have to enhance our lives and those of others. The old myth is that creative endeavor requires some sort of divine gift or genius, but giftedness may be greatly overrated. Friedrich Nietzsche wrote in Human, All-Too Human (1878) about the process artists must dedicate themselves to in order to achieve greatness:
Artists have a vested interest in our believing in the flash of revelation, the so-called inspiration . . .[shining] down from heaven as a ray of grace. In reality, the imagination of the good artist or thinker produces continuously good, mediocre, and bad things, but his judgment, trained and sharpened to a fine point, rejects selects, connects . . . All great artists and thinkers [are] great workers, indefatigable not only in inventing, but also in rejecting, sifting, transforming, ordering. (qtd. in Shenk)
One has only to read the history of any great artist to discover the artist’s commitment to a process whereby natural endowments or talents were honed by experience and training and a sense of purpose that outweighed the considerable difficulties of achieving work of great merit. Stephen McCranie, a young commercial cartoonist, writes and illustrates a blog called DoodleAlley recounting, among other topics, his creative “issues” in a fresh and clear style, some of which the frame here illustrates.
At Youtube, a marvelous addition to the world of made things, one can watch the posts of the ice skating finals at the Sochi Winter Olympics, and marvel at the athletic skill, power, daring, and grace of reigning champion Yuan-Kim and others in faraway Russia, long after the games have ended, or listen to the recordings of artists and thinkers now dead. Today we have so many sources and models of inspired work we can feel overwhelmed, but the problems and challenges of the 21st century remain and will require news ways of thinking to meet them. It seems to me creativity is part and parcel of surviving and thriving.
Shenk, David. The Genius In All Of Us. New York. Random House, 2011. Print.
