The creative mind (1/29/19)

I was sitting through an online class on creativity the other day. The instructor was trying to convince the class that there were no specially creative or non-creative people in the world (sorry Picasso), but that we all could learn to be creative. Learning to be creative that is an interesting concept, especially for someone like me who develops classes for people who need continuing education credits; writes a blog; works on bonsai; bakes bread; and actually likes to garden (although it does not show, partially thanks to the darn deer). But then, I think there is a difference between creative and artistic, so maybe Picasso still rules.

The instructor had a few interesting points. One was that when you need to come up with ideas you go through a cycle. He used an example of designing a toy to be inserted in a cereal box for a western town, in the time of cowboys and Indians (150 years ago). First, folks came up with ideas that everybody seems to come up with, then they hit a slump. At that point it seems, you can only break through the slump by coming up with some ridiculous or hilarious idea that does not make any sense at all. You dismiss it, and then all the sudden the creative juices are supposed to start to flow and novel, creative ideas pop up.

Another interesting point was not to shy away from criticism or from criticizing an idea or thought. It seems only then can you grow and come up with even better, stronger and more creative ideas. Be especially critical of yourself.

I forgot the other lessons (there were four) but these two stuck with me.

This last point in particular is very interesting since a quick search on the web gave me these four points to become more creative:

1. Give yourself permission to create junk
2. Create on a schedule
3. Finish something
4. Stop judging your own work

It is particular this last point which seems to contradict the point I learned in this online class.

I’ll throw out one more list I found:

1. Train yourself to make original associations
2. Be open to new experiences
3. Make time to go for a walk
4. Add more green to your life
5. Keep a cluttered desk
6. Don’t be afraid to stand out
7. Refine your ideas: Clarify, ideate, develop, implement
8. Know the importance of setting time to relax
9. Practice, practice, practice

I get a number of emails from “news or blog” websites that send you a summary of things in which they think you might be interested. One of them bombards me with writing tips (“things you may like”), and the number one tip is to write every day, even if you have nothing to say. Just write! This is what seems to make you a better writer. I guess that gives you permission to practice and create junk. It might even open up some pathways to new, original associations and help you refine ideas. In the sermon writing group I joined early last year, we started out with just writing something for the first 20 minutes.  It could just be words, junk or a story, you were even allowed to draw pictures; it did not matter, and you did not have to read it out loud, share it, or even talk about it.

I am not a professional writer, nor do I have the ambition of even becoming one. Would I want to make money with my writing? As some of you know, I have been and still are struggling with the idea of allowing advertising on my blog and making a few bucks. I watch a number of vlogs (also known as video blogs) and the other day I read that this 30+ year old guy can actually live comfortably in the Philippines of his vlog (I actually don’t watch his). There seem to be many more that are able to do that. I have always assumed that you cannot do that from blogs and I do not think anyone would want to see my ugly face on their computer screen or tablet.

It was just interesting to see and learn the other day that creativity is a thing that can learned and cultivated. Artistry on the other hand may be a different thing. Where does my creativity come from? Most of my blog posts come from associations. I read something, hear an item on the news and it just bounces back and forth in that big empty skull of mine. Many of my posts may be the result of something green in my life. Bullet 3 and 4 in that last list are very significant to me. A lot of my ideas come to me in nature, during my walks. The woods are my inspiration, the source of my creativity. Moreover, during those walks in the woods I also often think about what I am writing about at the time; I edit those things in my mind, I rewrite them over and over.

Walking in the woods behind our home really serves as an inspiration and meditation for me.  It gets me away from day-to-day life.  It allows me to focus on my creativity, to think up ideas, to allow my mind to work through ideas and even to write posts and parts of my classes in my head.

I often write my blogs, stories, and responses to the news in my head, edit it and rewrite it a couple of times up there. I do the same thing with the courses I develop. As I explained it to my supervisor one time: “Then, all the sudden, I barf it out onto the computer screen or on paper.”

So what is my suggestion? Cultivate your creativity. Have fun, throw enough at the wall and something will stick. I have had months of drought and then all the sudden it will come again, but it only comes when you do it even if you do not feel creative at the time.

This was one of the assignments in the creativity class I watched on LinkedIn.  The assignment was to come up with two complete sentences in 7 minutes to put in the middle of these two sentences to make a story that somehow make sense.  It is allowed to be ridiculous and there is no correct answer!  I have gotten a lot of value from LinkedIn, relationships, posts, but also these types of free classes.

Green economy (1/24/2019)

It was somewhat encouraging reading Thomas Friedman’s editorial in the New York Times the other day entitled “A Green New Deal Revisited.” In it he mentions that there seems to be a group of new U.S. representatives who seem to take global warming and other environmental issues seriously. I hate to use the word crisis in particular since we were joking about starting a drinking game and having a shot of bourbon every time Trump mentioned the word crisis during his White House address the other day or when he talks about his famous border wall, but in reality our environment is in a state of crisis.

According to Friedmman, it seems that congress woman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and others have actively started the ball rolling. Leave it to this young lady to have the guts to do so. Not that I want to sound like an old man who is set in his ways. Yes, I recently wrote an account about an old guy going into the woods with his dog. I just wanted to write something different, more story like. I wanted to change the narrative a bit while still being serious about the environment. I wanted to approach nature’s beauty and importance from a different angle; discover it and enjoy it. I wanted to write about the excitement and importance of being out there.

Let's go back to the “Green New Deal” as Friedman calls it. This one is really exciting. This group of legislators are understanding that we getting close to reaching a point of no return. It is now or never when it comes to environmental protection! So they are calling for the U.S. to completely transition away from fossil fuel in the next 12 years. How the heck would we do that, you may ask. Well, according to Friedman, in order to protect “Mother Nature”, ourselves and future generations, we will have the be nice to “Father Greed.” What does he mean with that? He proposes passing environmental regulations, fuel efficiency standards, green building codes and all those wonderful things. This would make it much more attractive for innovators to develop alternative (green) methods of doing business, of transportation, of living, etc, It would make it more cost efficient. For example, whenever you look into solar energy it is always compared to the cost of energy supplied to the home that is generated by fossil fuels by the energy companies.

In 2007/2008 Friedman published something like the four zeros. Zero-net energy buildings, or buildings that produce as much energy as they consume; zero-waste manufacturing; zero-carbon power grid; and zero-emission transportation.

This all seems very ambitious, and my first reaction is that this will the hit the economically underprivileged harder than those who are richer and well off. The poor will suffer either way, when we live greener and combat global warming or when we do nothing about it; under an increasing warmer world. But then, what will happen if we do nothing about the trajectory we are on?

Most ordinary folks, it seems, are aware of global warming and know it is an important issue. They know we need to do something about it. However, we are at the mercy of a few rich manufacturers; the few elite, rich capitalists who can buy off our politicians. It seem that they don’t give a damn what happens to the world’s climate in name of the almighty dollar, their profits; the stuff they can’t take with them to hell, when they die. But for right now, they can afford more powerful air conditioners, better insulated homes, and protect themselves from us when disaster strikes, or so they think.

Our world currently has somewhere around 7.6 billion people running around on it. In the next 10 years we are expected to add another billion to it. These billion folks also want to have somewhat of a comfortable life, air to breath, clean water, transportation and maybe a Western standard of living. All I can say is: “Good luck.” At least if we continue with what we are doing right now. Something has to give. We have to take care of our children and grandchildren.

Where do we start? Well, my next car is going to be a hybrid. I use as little chemical fertilizer in my yard as possible and no pesticides. I teach, blog, preach and talk about the environment. I try to live what I preach. Does it help? Who knows, only time will tell. But if we all contribute our small part it will, or at least it may! If we don’t, we can guarantee the we or our future generations will live to experience the consequences. For the rest we need to support those politicians that are actually fighting for the environments, against global warming. Those folks and politicians who have the foresight and vision and want a better world, instead of the status quo.

2019 Here I come (1/9/2019)

It has been somewhat of a New Year's tradition of me to look back at the previous year, and even prognosticate a bit of what the new year may bring. I was not sure if I wanted to do that this year, but I got so many hits on last year's review in the recent days, that I almost felt I needed to do it again.  It seems that my readers are wondering what my thoughts are.

Breaking a little with the tradition, I want to tell you about the famous resolutions that people make at the beginning of the year. Well, I don't believe in them. Having been member of the YMCA in Cincinnati and now an active yoga practitioner at our community center, you see them come right after New Years, and after a month you are there again with the same crew for the remaining eleven months of the year. There may be a slight uptick in May or June, just before beach or pool season, but that's it.

My New Year's resolutions?

1. Not to die this year!
2. To be more active in preserving the environment.

These are my two major goals. That simple!

Goal number one needs little explanation. I hope it is something we all want. I have blogged about death and suicide before and I am not going there this time. I need to live to be able to work on and achieve goal number two! Naturally, I may stray so now and then, so be it!

Like this triple-trunked red maple in the woods behind my home I want to reach for the sky this year and work on fighting for the environment.  Teach folks more about it, talk more about it, before it is too late, and that time is rapidly coming.  This past year there has been an all-out assault on the environment by our political administration, supported by the far right, and industry.  In wetland science, we use this triple trunk is an indicator that the area it is growing in, is most likely a wetland.  Here, I am using it as an indicator that there is something very wrong with our environment.

So how about goal number two? In my eyes, the environment is under siege! As I also mentioned before, I absolutely do not understand those folks who used to scream about the federal budget and our children’s future but then are completely silent or sometimes blatant hostility when it comes to discussions about the environment and those same children. Although in today’s political climate those same folks are awkwardly silent when it comes to the budget and their offspring.

As a provider of environmental workshops I do my best to provide as much basic theoretical information as possible to my students; however, my reach is limited. In addition, with this blog I get between 200 and 400 hits per month. Not bad, but I wonder how many actually read them versus just browse it. I purposely do not advertise. Maybe I should; I wonder if the Googles of this world would send more folks my way, if I did? In addition, I would make a few cents. But for right now I’ll keep writing and trying to educate as many as possible (you all) about the beauty of nature and the importance of preserving and protecting nature. To me telling my readers a little bit about the science behind some of these things I see in nature is so important. I really think that this understanding helps people see the beauty, cultivates the love the love of nature and helps with the motivation to preserve nature.

So what am I going to do about preserving the environment? I hope to intensify my blogging effort about the environment. I will try not to be too political, but I will let the chips fall where they may. Regretfully, it seems that one political party seems to be more cavalier about protecting the environment than the other; I will keep calling them out. So be it! My wife encouraged me to volunteer a newspaper column on the environment. I am not sure if that would conflict with my job, and I am sure I could not make a living writing for the newspaper and from this blog, although that would be the ideal world. An occasional letter to the editor may work.

However, one thing is for sure we all need to roll up our sleeves and do something about our deteriorating environment before it's too late. Reports abound that tell us that our kids and grand-kids will suffer the consequences if we do not it serious and start taking drastic steps to protect the environment within the next few years. I want to be part of protecting this earth for them. It's the only one we they have!

I took this photograph this morning while walking in the woods.  I am lucky, my job allows me to telecommute.  This saves gasoline and saves the environment.  It is also good for my mental health.  The sun had just come up in the woods and I was ready to get to work.  Walks in the woods do a number of things for me: they help me focus on the day's task ahead; they help me think through things I am currently working on (like the course I am developing); the calm me inside and lower my blood pressure; and it is great exercise.  The rising sun against the trunks of the trees symbolize to me the intentions expressed in this post, my New Year's Resolutions.  Bring them on!