Before you read anything, check out this website. Click 'download' to read what I read.
In this article, the author, Mitch Ditkoff, gives, what I think, 14 great ways to spark one's creativity. Each suggestion has some sort of a theme to it, and at the end of each suggestion is a prompt for the reader, including questions to get one's brain thinking a little harder or an actual applied task to help out with organization.
Out of Ditkoff's 14 suggestions, a few of them really stuck out to me. The first was suggestion number 5, "Fantasize." Yea, I know what you're thinking, I thought the same thing too. Ditkoff even knows what you're thinking, as he mentions that this term is usually associated with "children or perverts." Not the case here, however. Ditkoff merely wants the creative thinker to do just that-think creatively about stuff he or she wouldn't normally think about. Nighttime dreams can be really, really strange sometimes, right? Daydreams are the same thing, you're just conscious enough to scribble down all your thoughts, especially if a great one pops into your head. I need to start doing this more. Fantasizing, daydreaming, whatever you want to call it. Just as long as I'm not doing so in class. Sometimes, I am quick to be pessimistic, and think that something is impossible and I'll never get it down. However, Ditkoff argues that part of fantasizing is simply entertaining the idea that the impossible can actually be made possible. All you have to do is let your mind wander.
A second suggestion I took to nicely was number 8, "Take a Break." YES. Don't you love hearing those words together? I think, or I hope, at least, that everyone reading this has experienced the wondrous joys of walking away from a project that's stumping you and coming back to it, finding it is much easier coming back into it now than it was a half hour ago. I've experienced this with film projects as well as a Sudoku. Sometimes I am so stumped that I just think the puzzle is faulty and the editors made a mistake, but when I set it down and come back to it 15 minutes later, suddenly, an 8 magically appears! Ditkoff explains that it is often obsession and too much effort that leads us to a road block. Stepping away for a little while gives your brain a chance to relax or focus on something else not so tedious, so that when you come back to it, your brain has had a mini vacation and is ready for a real solution. When I work on a film project, I could go for 14 hours straight and not even realize it (seriously, I've done that). I bet I could cut that time down by a few hours or so, if, when any serious issue comes up that is stumping me, I set the program to the side for a bit and play a game of Solitaire before trying again.
Finally, Ditkoff's number 10 suggestion, entitled "Hang Out with Diverse Groups of People," really made me think about how I could benefit by doing that. A lot, I figured. When we hang around the same people day in and day out, they can become even too familiar. Everything kind of starts to become the same...creativity goes by the wayside. Entering college, I found an amazing group of friends who I can laugh with, cry with, and I know each of them truly care about my well-being. At the beginning of the year, I was hanging out with them every single night, and I loved it. It wasn't until my roommate invited me to come hang out with her friends one night (and I said yes, that's the kicker) that I realized there were actually other interesting people living on this campus who I didn't even know existed. Just spending that one night with my roomy and her friends made me feel like I had accomplished something; what that was I have no idea. As I continue on through college life, I'll make more of a point to say "yes" when asked to swim with a different crowd. Getting to know more people on this campus shouldn't be a problem, and knowing that I can use it to my creative advantage as well as socially is a bonus too.
Prompt 4: Make New Connections
aquarium jump funny
sock swim smooth
elephant fly strong
football wish turquoise
God sleep flat
pillow create smelly
family dance spikey
teddy bear snuggle fresh
calendar stretch microscopic
boyfriend laugh boxy
Some "intriguing new connections" I have discovered:
I know God is strong, but he could also be microscopic. I mean, I can't really see him, but I know he's there. He's just an itty bitty guy floatin' around in my heart.
Why is the saying "when pigs fly"? Why can't it be "when elephants fly"? Elephants are larger than pigs. It would be more of a miraculous thing to see an elephant fly over a pig, I think.
If you had to choose between sleeping flat or sleeping spikey, which would you choose? I think I would prefer to sleep flat because spikey just sounds painful, but actually, flat doesn't sound that comforting either.
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