TED talk brainstorm

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Just like people creativity comes in many different shapes, sizes, styles and colors; everyone’s different but everyone is creative in their own way. Whether it’s something as complicated as turning an old refrigerator box into a rocket ship or as simple as throwing paint on paper until you see something stick out. Creativity has no boundaries, it simply depends on the way your mind sees the world. It’s not something you buy from the store or copy out of a book, it’s your brains ability to create or do something in its own unique way.

Imagine a world with cats in hats and foxes in socks. Not everyone may know him by his real name but Theodore Geisel is one of the most well known authors in history. Better known as Doctor Seuss, he was a man of sheer brilliance. His books have sold over 222 million copies, almost one eighth of the total estimated sales of The Bible. The Publisher's Weekly list of the top selling children's books of all time included 16 Dr. Seuss titles in the top 100. That means of all the thousands of children’s books out there, 16 of the top 100 ever written were created by Dr. Seuss alone.

Theodore Geisel attended Dartmouth College where he began his writing career for the school’s humor magazine, Jack O Lantern. It wasn’t long before Geisel was promoted to the chief-in editor of the magazine. He was caught throwing a party and drinking in his room with his friends, unfortunately for him this was during prohibition so his punishment was severe. He was forced to resign from all extracurricular activities, including the humor magazine. In order to continue writing for the magazine without the administration knowing he began signing his work with a pen name “Seuss”, which was his mother’s maiden name. It wasn’t until after he graduated that he began using the name “Dr. Seuss” which he continued to use for the remainder of his career.

  Although he’s known as a children’s author, his books are known and loved by people of all ages.  But he was notorious for more than just his clever books and witty rhymes. Each one of his books is an opportunity to learn something. He taught kids it was possible to learn and have fun at the same time. After reading an article by a Life Magazine that was critical of the books schools used to teach reading, Dr. Seuss set about to write a book that would interest children using a less than 400 words. Working from a final list of 236 words, Dr. Seuss completed his book in nine months. Published in 1957; The Cat in the Hat became a bestseller and changed the children’s publishing world forever. 
Before Doctor Seuss and The Cat and The Hat came along, children were taught to read through gruesome textbooks filled with dull activities. He made kids enjoy picking up books through his use of imaginary characters, entertaining verses and fantastical illustrations. Dr. Seuss wasn’t a genius because of the billions of dollars he’s made or the millions of books he’s sold. His genius shines through his use of literature to educate children and ability to make them look forward to picking up their next book.

Genius

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A genius is someone who does something that the world has never seen before. They aren’t afraid to go out on a limb and try something completely new. When I think of the word genius the first thing that person that comes to my mind is J.K Rowling. One of the most famous authors in the world, she’s managed to make her story into something amazing. I think of her as a genius because of the way she can suck readers into a world she’s created with her imagination. People all over the world are familiar with Harry Potter. One of the most popular book series every created, J.K Rowling has managed to grasp the attention of readers everywhere. A story many people immerse themselves in for days at a time, she’s become one of the most famous writers to ever live. When I think of all the truly amazing people through out the world, J.K. Rowling is surely one of them.

Is Education Killing Creativity?

Everyday billons of kids spend majority of their days in school, learning and growing into what society wants them to be. Most of the time the curriculum for schools is the same through out the world. Students are required to take their core classes where they are taught to solve math problems, interpret the periodic table and read maps. Sadly, creativity is not included in that curriculum. Schools are slowly killing creativity in students by not allowing them to take art and dance classes. Classes that stimulate thinking other parts of their minds, the part that controls the creative process. After the levy failed in my high school, the school had to cut classes for funding for other areas. Most of the classes that they got rid of were the art and cooking classes; we had one art class because it was required to graduate. Many schools today see these subjects as useless because they won’t help children in society. In a seminar given by creativity expert Ken Robinson about the problems with the way we educate children, he argues schools teach subjects based on which are most likely to get them a job.  I think schools are hurting students with their decision to focus education primarily on subjects like math and science. Sometimes, teachers have to look for other ways to teach creativity.

Even tough schools may put art classes on the bottom; opportunities for students to be creative are everywhere. Many times teachers will give students many different ways to complete assignments; whether that’s writing a paper, creating a poster, or something much more creative. As a student I always tried to choose the projects that would allow me to think in ways I wouldn’t normally do in school. For example in my history class we had to write letters as if we were writing in the 1800’s and it allowed me to think like I was really old. It allowed me to be truly creative and make the paper look really old by rubbing it with tea bags and I had fun. I think students have many chances to be creative they just have to find them.

Revision

The first step in the creative process is to come up with an idea. Your first idea doesn’t always have to be your best or final idea but you need a building block. Once you’ve come up with an idea, you have to play around with it to make it better. Whether that’s adding something or taking away from the original idea, this process is called revising. It’s making something better or worse by trying new things with your original idea. It allows the writer to make their ideas clearer for the reader. Without revision, writers wouldn’t be able to create their best work.

            The process of revision sparks creativity because it allows writer’s to try things that may not work. When a writer knows they don’t have to submit their first idea, it allows them to take chances. They don’t have don’t have to fear failing because they can always go back and change ideas that don’t work. Revision is like a safety net because even if your first idea is a total flop, you can always go back and make it better. Sometimes, writers become too dependent on the ability to revise their work and it can hinder their creative ability. They may not spend as much time perfecting their first ideas because they know they can always go back and change them. Just because you have the ability to edit things doesn’t mean you should really on that completely. You should still try o produce the best first draft you can. The process of revision can be good and bad for the creative process it all depends on the writer.

Henry Darger

Henry Darger was a man of many secrets. He lived most of his life hidden away in his dark room, creating what many people today would consider marvelous works of art.

Many people today would consider Henry Darger to be crazy because of the uniqueness seen through his artwork. His paintings were something no one had ever seen before, different in a way most society was not ready for. In fact after seeing his work, most people would consider him to be mentally ill. I think that Henry was not sick mentally or physically, he was just different. In society today it’s hard for things that go against the social norm to be accepted and that just how Henry was. Most of his life he spent locked away in his room, writing an autography to his life, creating pictures, and talking to himself. In my opinion, Henry wasn’t mentally ill he just had a mind with more creativity than the world was ready for.

Henry spent most of his life locked up in his room hidden away from the world. The fact that he kept his work secret from everyone even his family showed exactly how he felt about society. Henry wasn’t looking to be accepted by society. He didn’t put the value of his artwork in others opinions, he painted what he wanted and was satisfied with it. Unlike artist today will change their painting style based on what’s popular, Henry painted only what he saw. I think inside he knew his work would be rejected by society so he kept it to himself. The world can be one of the harshest critics on artist today, but to Henry the value of his artwork was seen through his eyes not others.

In my opinion creativity is doing or making something that is unique to the person doing it. I don’t think think creativity is something that should be judged by society, I think its something seen in the eyes of the beholder. Just because people might reject an idea doesn’t mean it’s not creative. I think Henry revealed how creative he was trough his artwork. His paintings were something no one had ever seen before; they were new and unique. In fact they were so different people began calling him mentally ill. Even if Henry was mentally ill, the fact that he created something new made him just as creative as anybody.

Creativity

Just like people creativity comes in many different shapes, sizes, styles and colors; everyone’s different but everyone is creative in their own way. Whether it’s something as complicated as turning an old refrigerator box into a rocket ship or as simple as throwing paint on paper until you see something stick out. Creativity has no boundaries, it simply depends on the way your mind sees the world. It’s not something you buy from the store or copy out of a book, it’s your brains ability to create or do something in its own unique way. Everyday millions of people ask the question “how can I be more creative?”  Sometimes in order to be more creative you have to look for inspiration in everyday occurrences, give your mind time to think, and not fear failure.

Look around you. What do you see? A hair dryer, a traffic light, a half eaten lollipop. To you these things may be just objects with no meaning, something you see every day. If you look a little deeper, you’ll see an opportunity for inspiration.  Every opportunity in life is a chance for us to be creative. Whether it’s at work, at school, in the gym; inspiration for creativity is everywhere we just have to find it. Many times we tend to relate creativity to sculptures, painters or inventors but its much more than that. Everything you think and do is creative whether that’s the way you walk, dress, or present yourself. Johanna Blakely the Deputy Director of the Norman Lear Center argues inspiration comes from the streets, the way everyday people mix and match their own fashion looks. Blake has held a series of conferences about the lack of ownership in fashion and creative content. Creativity isn’t always in black and white; many times you have to look much deeper.  Sometimes an idea can come from big art marvels but there no limit on what can spark inspiration. We need to think more like children, who see the world in ways adults tend to forget. Children seem to be able to make anything out of absolutely nothing. Whether that’s making a straw into a person or a tissue into a house, they never seem to have a limit. We need to adopt that same way of thinking when it comes to looking for inspiration in our everyday lives. You never know where your next great ideas going to come from, it may be somewhere you’d never expect. Inspiration for creativity is all around you; you just have to take the time to find it.

You wouldn’t expect to solve a math problem without giving yourself time to think about it; well being creativity is no different. It takes time to fully develop ideas into something truly original. Some of the greatest works of art in history weren’t created overnight. It took Italian artist Leonardo Da Vinci over four years to paint the Mona Lisa. The Statue of Liberty took 21 years to go from an idea to the statue we see in New York City’s Harbor today. Thomas Edison didn’t come up with the light bulb on his first attempt. It took him quite a bit of time filled with many attempts that resulted in failure. Try after try he finally invented something that would change the world forever. In a book written by Hungarian psychology professor Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi at Claremont Graduate University, he states there must be a surplus of time in order to achieve creativity. Creativity isn’t inspired by time limits and deadlines but by freedom, humor, and having fun. Time restricts the creative process; it puts pressure on the mind not allowing it to completely develop thoughts and ideas. The more time you spend thinking and perfecting ideas, the less you have to worry about faiure.

In a perfect world, everyone would succeed on their first attempt. But sadly this is not a perfect would, its far from it. Many times, your not going to succeed on your first try, maybe not even your hundredth try. That doesn’t mean you should give up, we should see failure as inspiration to work harder. In order to be more creative you have to be willing to go out of your comfort zone and not be afraid to fail. In a lecture given by comedian John Cleese on how to fully harness your creativity; he states nothing will hold you back more from being creative as much as the fear of making a mistake.  Some of the most famous people in the world wouldn’t be were they are today if they had been afraid to be who they are. Well-known pop singer Lady Gaga is not afraid of what people think of her. Whether it’s a hat shaped like a lobster, an exuberant feather headpiece, or a dress made from hundreds of Kermit the Frog dolls; she’s not afraid to try new things and that’s why she is successful. Just like Lady Gaga, we need to have that same approach when it comes to being creative. If you’re lucky, your mistakes may even lead you to create something magnificent. One of the most famous buildings in the whole world wasn’t built the way it was originally planned. When Bonnano Pisano came up with the original design of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, it wasn’t leaning. The towers tilt began shortly after construction because the ground underneath the foundation was too weak to support the structures weight. Even though it wasn’t originally planned this way, poor construction has led it to be seen as one of the most amazing buildings in the world. Maybe your not going to accidently create an architectural marvel, but that doesn’t mean you can’t create something great.  You’re never going to be truly creative unless you’re willing to take chances and try new things. The thought of failure is enough to scare off many people but you cant let that intimidate you. Sometimes you have to step outside the box and do something you wouldn’t normally do to get new ideas. Failure is a part of everyday life. You may not create something perfect on you’re first try but that doesn’t mean you should throw in the towel.

The most creative people in the world are able to find inspiration anywhere, spend time developing their ideas, and don’t fear failure. Everyone has potential to be more creative you just have to know how to find it. You never know, you may just create something that will change the world forever.