The Journey Begins
WELCOME!
This blog and video log is a quest in which I am studying creativity. As a student of Drexel University, completing my master’s in creativity and innovation - I have come to learn that creativity is everywhere and it is accessible to everyone. I am not the first to claim that creativity is a quality that we all have…yet most of the research and recent studies in creativity are only available to students, universities and an elite few. What about the rest of us? If we are all creative beings, how come so many of us claim that we aren’t the creative type? How come we aren’t teaching creativity in schools? If there are so many benefits to creativity and it is accessible and a trait we are all born with, why isn’t creativity evangelized in our education system like STE(A)M, Language Arts, or Physical Education? I decided to embark on a journey to show how we are all creative and not only are we born with creativity but also we may improve on our creativity with everyday practices.
ANALOGY
As I am preparing to embark on this journey, I was trying to think of a simple way of speaking about creativity in a way that everyone may be able to get (understand). It occurred it to me that creativity feels like what literacy was like 200 years ago. There was a time, when the ability to read and write was only available to an elite few. Receiving an education in which learning to read and write to a sixth grade level was a luxury. Now, in the modern age we believe that literacy is a right that each and every one of us has and for the most part is accessible to everyone. What if creativity is the modern version of literacy? What if creativity is a quality each of us can learn, hone, sharpen, master, and wield like we do with reading and writing? How would the world be and how would the people of this planet earth be if we all believed that creativity was as important like literacy?
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
Here are the questions that I am tackling in this study:
If we believe we are creative will our creativity improve?
Can we improve our creativity each day through a practice of self-affirmation and creative-affirmations?
Utilizing a growth mindset, can we practice mindfulness and visualization techniques to improve our creative potential?
Can we employ creative practices every single day to improve our creativity?
Can we measure our creativity through a practice of daily idea generation and determine if in 30 days we can improve the number and quality of our ideas?
Can we use incubation to improve problem solving by actively and deliberately create a daily practice of incubation?
Does a healthy amount of sleep each day improve our creativity?
INVITATION
I’m inviting you to join me as I record and collect daily practices to improve my creativity. The premise of the research is that creativity is innate in each and every one of us. We all have it, we cannot escape it; it is a part of our human existence. You may be curious because certain people just seem more creative…and sure, there are those that seem the creative type. I'm inviting you and me on this journey to break free of the old paradigm, the old story that creativity belongs to only the painters, musicians, dancers, writers, and the actors and the directors. Creativity shows up in everything we do from the clothes we love, the route we choose when we are driving, the food we eat, the conversations we design that we have or choose not to have. The yoga instructors designing Asana practices, and teachers making learning environments…let’s not forget the parents who create each and every day. One of the greatest acts of creativity is parenting. This study is about learning to improve our creativity through every day practices everyday.
Let’s get started!!!!