What is Creativity?

• Digging deeper
• Not being afraid any more
• Cutting holes to see through
• Singing in your own key
• Having a ball!
• Finding unusual solutions
• Passion for ones interests; a desire to go forward
• Appropriate, meaningful, or valuable novelty
• A style of existence
• Persistent trying
• Walking two steps into the darkness
• Finding out what makes you unique and looking for ways to express this uniqueness
• Finding new, innovative solutions to unusual problems

What traits are typical of creative people?

• Commitment to risk
• A willingness to try new ways to do things
• An ability to visualize problems, to work them out mentally
• A desire to push beyond the boundaries of convention
• An interest in confronting challenges
• An openness to surprise, particularly those that come from mistakes or desperation
• An eye for the happy accident

Is it true that you either have it, or you don't?

Howard Gardner talks of several kinds of intelligence:

• Interpersonal--you know other people well; you make friends easily; you seem to know what will appeal to other people.
• Intrapersonal--you know yourself very well; you have a very clear sense of who you are as a person; you know what you believe and why.
• Kinesthetic--you're good with your body
• Spatial--you have a sense of your surroundings; you always know where you are without a map; you can park a semi in a small space.
• Logical/Mathematical--you can solve logical problems; you like numbers and you can put together logical arguments
• Verbal--you are sensitive to language; you like to write poetry or stories; you get complex jokes; you enjoy reading.
• Musical--you sing or play or compose music; you can feel rhythms as you drive in your car.
• Natural--you can determine north when there is no sun; you recognize the sound of different birds; you get along well with dogs and cats.
• Spiritual--you have a strong connection to the divine; prayer makes sense to you.

Gardner suggests that we are creative in different ways

What are the stages in the creative process?

• Immersion--bury yourself in the problem. Learn as much about it as you can. Explore various solutions. Talk to people. Read.
• Incubation--Put your problem away. Allow your subconscious mind to work on it.
• Illumination--Watch for solutions to appear. Be ready for them. Write them down as soon as you think of them.
• Transaction--Solve your problem. Like Nike says, Just do it.

What role do risk and commitment play in creativity?

• Our stumbles are clues to what we are trying to do.
• We learn by our mistakes, what not to do.
• Risk forces you to look for new ways to solve problems.
• If there is risk of failure, you look harder for solutions.
• If youre the sort who is willing to take a risk, youre probably also the sort of person who is not highly self-critical or overly influenced by social norms or others expectations.
• Therefore, you are better able to try unusual solutions to new problems.

Why do people seem to get their best ideas while driving, showering, etc? According to Inside Creativity,the video we watched in class, ...

• The mental space is a vast, inner galaxy of ideas, thoughts, experiences, a steady murmur of fleeting impulses few of which ever reach the conscious mind.
• Certain thoughts cross the threshold to be illuminated by awareness.
• Awareness is shaped by several factors: Self-censorship, the inner voice that confines our thoughts to what we see as acceptable. The other is habitual thinking. These forces keep some of our most creative thoughts from seeing the light of day.
• Creativity occurs best when we are willing to break out of our regular way of doing things.

What is flow or the white moment?

• Youre doing your work better or faster, but it feels effortless, almost easy.
• Youve prepared so well, the skills are part of the instinct. You can turn the brain off and not think about it.
• Your skills match the demands of the situation.
• Only the parts of the brain relevant to the task are active.
• Complete absorption in what youre doing.
• The mind is not filled with random thoughts about self; there is just the doing.
• Attentiveness to the task. A passive way of thinking of creativity.