Creativity is hard

The Daily Drip

Creativity is hard.

Do you remember when it was easy?

I remember being a kid with no shortage of ideas for play.

At some point, though, our imaginations aren't as rewarded as memorization and regurgitation. In fact, deviating from the recipes and formulas and parameters we're given is seen as disadvantageous.

It's not that formulas are bad, it's just that they have a specific use. Imagination is the same. It's not that imaging every possibility is bad in all contexts.

We all know what happened next, though. We graduated school with our atrophied curiosity and stepped into our jobs were some of us were told "your work just seems disconnected from the rest of our company's work" (a paraphrased statement someone told me was said right before that someone was ushered back to their cubicle).

All of sudden, curiosity is more rare than the commoditized skills like memorization and rule-following. All of a sudden, innovation is desirable and it's hard for us to reinvigorate it.

Electric cars, cost-effective space ships, B-Corporations, video games that educate, and healthcare tech.

We need more of it.

And it's up to us to figure out how to revive that creative, curious, visionary part of ourselves that has been tucked away in the toy bin since childhood.

I just recently had the idea that I should write a few mock headlines for The Onion each day. Seems like a fun way to practice creativity.

What's something you do currently or might do soon to reinvigorate this part of yourself?