Creativity Exercise: Fortunes and Free Writes

Let's start the week with our creativity fully engaged! Here's how it works. I broke open a bunch of fortune cookies we hadn't eaten ... part of my periodic "clean the kitchen and throw out useless calories" routine. You choose one of the fortunes, write it at the top of a clean sheet of paper, and use it as the start of a three-minute free write.

No deep thinking required. No editing allowed. Just choose a fortune and write! (Alternate exercise: Choose one fortune as inspiration for a photograph or drawing.)

• Land is always in the mind of the flying birds.
• You will receive unexpected support over the next week. Accept it graciously.
• It would be best to maintain a low profile for now.
• Flowers would brighten the day of your close friend.
• Every production of genius must be the production of enthusiasm.
• Failure is the virtual way to prepare you for great responsibility.
• Dessert CAN make you happy.
• Man is born to live and not prepare to live.
• Money is not everything. You can buy a doctor but not health.
• Your best investment is in yourself.