Author: jfasse

Seven Secrets to Unleashing Your Inner Genius Dr. Scott Barry Kaufman

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2.  Understand the Bias.

Whether they’re in elementary school or a corporate office space, people who think and process in unique or creative ways might feel stifled by conforming to traditional means of production output.  “We do seem to be biased in most schools and workplaces against individual expression and unique choice,” says Kaufman. “That sort of standardization of behavior is really a Killer of Creativity.” How can students and nine to fivers overcome confining and rigid structures? By trusting in your own intuition when you show enthusiasm or excitement in something new, and then finding some kind of outlet to express it

A CREATIVE EXERCISE TO TRY

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I teach drawing and design and one of the first sketchbook assignments I give to the students is to pick a shape and draw it 50 times 50 different ways. This gets their imagination flowing and allows them to address different design concepts we’ve discussed; line,value,variety , etc.

I myself engage in this exercise often, making a several variations of a shape . I have posted the many variations on a shape….. there are definitely more I could come up with.. color being an additional aspect I have even touched yet. try it yourself with a shape of your own choosing.

Do you see the basic shape I started with and it’s variations throughout all the sketches?

Seven Secrets to Unleashing Your Inner Genius by Dr. Scott Barry Kaufman

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  1. Don’t force inspiration..   Sometimes you have a deadline that compels you to be creative, or task that requires some imaginative elements.  But focusing on goal-driven production may backfire.  “Inspiration is not something willed. It’s hard to wake up in the morning and say , “I’m going to be inspired today.” The more you try to force it , the less likely you are to start. , you need to create a space for people to discover things about themselves.   -Dr.Barry Kaufman 

I like these words….!

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DESIDERATUM –  something wanted or needed.

ORENDA –  a mystical force  present in all people that empowers them to affect the world or to effect changes in their own lives.

QUERENCIA – a place from which one’s strength is drawn, where one feels at home; the place where you find your most authentic self.

MERAKI- THE SOUL, CREATIVITY, OR LOVE PUT INTO SOMETHING; THE ESSENCE OF YOURSELF THAT IS PUT INTO YOUR WORK.

BE CURIOUS, RELENTLESSLY CURIOUS

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” I have no  special talent,” Einstein once wrote to a friend, “I am just passionately curious.” Leonardo actually did have special talents, as did Einstein, but his distinguishing and most inspiring trait was his intense curiosity. He wanted to know what causes people to yawn, how they walk on ice in Flanders, methods for squaring a circle, what makes the aortic valves close, how light is processed in the eye and what that means for the perspective in a painting.  He instructed himself to learn about the placenta of a calf, the jaw of a crocodile, the tongue of a woodpecker, the muscles of a face, the light of the moon and the edges if shadows. Being relentlessly and randomly curious about everything around us is something that each of us can push ourselves to do, every waking hour, just as he did.

from the book, LEONARDO da VINCI  by Walter Isaacson 2017

LEARNING FROM DaVINCI……..BE OPEN TO MYSTERY

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Not everything needs sharp lines. The 15th. century of Leonardo and Columbus and Gutenberg was a  time of invention ,exploration, and the spread of knowledge by new technologies.  In short, it was a time like our own.  That is why we have much to learn from Leonardo.  His ability to combine art, science, technology, the humanities and imagination remains an enduring recipe for creativity.  So, too, is the ease with which he was a bit of a misfit: illegitimate, gay, vegetarian, left-handed, easily  distracted and at times heretical.  Florence flourished in the 15th century because it was comfortable with such people.  Above all, Leonardo’s relentless curiosity and experimentation should remind us of the importance of instilling in both ourselves and our children, not just received knowledge but also a willingness to question  it – to be imaginative and , like talented misfits and rebels in any era, TO THINK DIFFERENT

from the book, Leonardo , by Walter Isaacson 2017

THINK VISUALLY

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Leonardo was not blessed with the ability to formulate math equations or abstractions.  So he had to visualize them, which he did with his studies of proportions, his rules of perspective, his method for calculating reflections from concave mirrors and his ways of changing one shape into another of the same size. Too often, when we learn a formula or a rule- even one so simple as the method for multiplying numbers or mixing a paint color- we no longer visualize how it works. As a result, we lose our appreciation for the underlying beauty of nature’s laws.

– The Science of Creativity –