Making, creating is the essence of life – we literally move and reproduce. We are constantly creating, whether we are conscious of it or not.
I’ve known for some time that focus destroys fear. Chuushin was the result of my focus on destroying fear.
Read MoreWe often spend our days, and our lives, focused on “adult” issues that have been deemed by society to be proper engagements. There’s an underlying calculus to what we do: we work because we need money (obviously); we spend quality time with our families (well, we should); we work out to keep our bodies in shape (again, we should); we attend to the spiritual ceremonies that help us deal with the big questions. All these efforts have some kind of outcome that is quantifiable and we feel good about them. Very utilitarian. And all this is fine and good and we should be providers for ourselves and our loved ones. We should be strong community-focused, citizens who provide value, monetarily as well as in civil society.
Read MoreWe can’t control how we are born: our gender, our race, the country of our birth. However, we are highly influenced by societal and family influences as we grow up. Our creation myths are provided to us – this is your religion, this is your nationality, this is your sexuality, this is how we think about things because, well, it’s “always been that way.” Any supposed aberration from the established rules is considered a threat, which is why homophobia, xenophobia, racism, misogyny tend to flourish in closed environments. Different = bad. It’s probably a biological survival leftover from our ancestors, wherein conformity to the tribe and its needs superseded the needs of the individual. A nonconformist could, in fact, be a threat to the health of the group. Any kind of questioning of the status quo was dangerous. Rebels were dangerous.
Read MoreI was interviewed over the weekend by Dov Baron for his video-podcast called Curiosity Bites (my episode comes out in a couple of months -- stay tuned). Dov is a charismatic man whose resume runs from being a leadership coach to author to speaker to podcaster just to name a few arenas. Our discussion was very far-reaching and varied to say the least, running the gamut from design to art to business to languages and culture to being a parent. Underlying the whole discussion was the theme of creativity.
At one point I blurted out that, to me, creativity equates to freedom.
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I wrote about doing something beyond your day job in my book, The Art of Creative Rebellion, and how it is additive to your ability to bring value to your job. I caution my design team from associating too heavily with their title or company brand – yes, it’s important to have pride in your company and your role but it’s also important to be a fully realized human being, with friends, family and passionate interests that allow you to fill your creative battery.
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