Creativity Tips: Appreciate Good Luck

As promised yesterday -- an explanation of why the random nature of my photograph just doesn't matter:

There are times when you're driving down the road or flipping through a book and you see it -- the very word you've been searching for or the exactly right image.

You just got lucky. Ain't life grand?

P.S. I think I forgot to include this image when I did the creativity cards series. If you haven't looked at the series, check it out below -- explains the images on my business cards. Photos by the wonderful Leslie Adams.

P.P.S. Happy birthday to LynnMyVeryBestFriendInTheWorldSinceFourthGrade. (Are there people you always identify the same way? I think everyone who knows me knows when I bonded with Lynn.)

Creativity Tips: Will Write for Food

Back to the creativity card series! If you received this card at the Creative Instigation session, congratulations! This is my favorite business card. It reminds me to remind you that I am a hired pen. *

*That's a stolen phrase. I don't even like it. But I'm writing this late at night and I'm too tired to come up with something else. Leading us to the creativity tip for the day: Don't drink and blog.

P.S. No, I haven't been drinking. I'm just tired and babbling. And, while I'm babbling:

P.P.S. I just watched the Emmy awards. Skinny old women shouldn't wear sleeveless gowns. And Candice Bergen's fashion consultant should be shot. And Betty White rocks.

P. P.P.S. Yes, I'm done now.

Creativity Tips: To Move Forward, Back Up

Are you stuck in a creative rut? Here's a quick tip to get you moving. Use a different technology. If you write on a computer, pick up a pen. Or, if you still have a functioning typewriter, use it!

If you paint, drop the brush. Fingerpaint. Or, find a drawing program online. If you're dealing with numbers, step away from the calculator. Grab a pencil, and get to work. You can always check the results with the calculator later.

Back space to the future.

Creativity Tips: See the Box

So, you've been told to "think outside the box." Let's be serious: There are times you are limited by the box -- whether the box is money, time or people. There are also times when the box is a wonderful thing, giving you structure to guide your path.

This creativity card reminds us of a real recipe for creative success: See the box. Don't do what you've always done. But don't go creatively nutso for no reason. Analyze the situation strategically, then decide where to think.

(This reminds me of drawing outside the lines. I had a fit when my firstborn, Kate, started drawing inside the lines in her coloring books. I was sure her creativity was gone forever. My wonderful friend Nancy, an artist, stopped the insanity by reminding me that we have to know how to draw inside the lines, so we can choose to draw outside.)

Creativity Tips: Appreciate Your Own Talents

Ah, the carving card.

Here's the meaning behind it ...

Creativity Tips: End Grouchy with Groucho

Here's a fun way to start the week. Wear your pair of Groucho glasses.

What do you mean, you don't have a pair of Groucho glasses? How is that even possible?

As we move through our creativity card series, the Groucho card is very important. It started out meaning: Take a new look -- at people and projects. But every time I pull out the glasses and have someone put them on, everyone laughs.

Everyone laughs. Now, there's a mood for creative instigation -- everyone engaged, everyone happy.

Buy the glasses.

Creativity Tips: Do Something New

As we continue exploring the meaning behind the creativity cards I handed out at the Creative Instigation presentation, let's look at one of my favorites: Coco, the sock monkey.

I write. I bake. I don't often make sock monkeys. But, there were people I love who really, really needed a sock monkey. (You know who you are.) So, I found a pattern, and voila! Adorable sock monkeys to give away -- and one to keep.

When you get in a creative rut, try something totally different. Monkey around.

Creativity Tips: Be Generous with Applause

Start the week off right. Give yourself a hand! And, while you're at it, applaud the person next to you and the person next to that person.

What are you applauding? You tell me. I'll tell you this: If you look for something to appreciate and celebrate, you'll find it.

Creativity Tips: Don't Be a Beak Performer

This is one of my favorite creativity cards -- and creativity props. Everyone loves a rubber chicken. What's it mean? Well, there are many interpretations, including this one ...

There’s one sure way to deliver peak performance: Just say “no” to beak performance.

Beak performance is a common and insidious ailment that kids on a farm understand and CEOs don’t. Here’s how it works. If you draw a line in the dirt, and you put a chicken’s beak to the line, the chicken will faithfully walk that line. Day in. Day out. He won’t lift his beak, he won’t look around, he won’t move off the line.

In business terms, the chicken accepts, “We’ve always done it that way.” In personal terms, the chicken believes, “There’s nothing I can do about that.” The longer you’re on a job, or with a person, the more likely you are to display the dreaded beak performance signs.

But here’s the good news: You’re not a chicken. So lift your head up and take a good look around. You’ll be amazed at what you see.

Creativity Tips: Walk the Talk

Last year in her art class, my daughter Mary made this perky little penguin. Now, while I don't generally decorate with penguins -- perky or otherwise -- this one is displayed in a place of honor in our house.

Why? Because actions speak louder than words. Mary knows we're proud of her creative abilities, because she can see our pride -- and her penguin -- every day.

So, consider this question from your Jewish mother: When you receive a creative gift from a colleague or a kid, what do your actions say?

Creativity Tips: Letting Go

This creativity card features a close-up look at a painting my daughter Kate made for me several years ago. She went with a Georgia O'Keefe look, knowing I liked that style.

I like Kate's style.

On Saturday, Kate moved out of the house and into her dorm at K-State. She starts classes today. So, my baby is on her own. And that brings us to the creativity tip for the day: Life is letting go. Make sure the people you love know you love them. Today.

(How does that apply to creativity? Look at the picture. There's nothing more creatively instigating than love.)

Creativity Tips: Work with the Best

I'm going to tell you a secret: The piece of pottery you see here really isn't as pretty as it looks.

I know this, because I made it. I can tell you where every flaw is -- from the dribbled glaze on the side you can't see, to the uneven width of the walls.

But you know what? Leslie Adams took this photo -- and she made my pot look beautiful.

And that brings us to the tip for the day: Work with the best, and you'll look better.

Creativity Exercise: Find Your Mantra in a Magazine

You're right. I didn't find Breathe in. Breathe out. in a magazine. But the other lines were there -- just waiting for me, thanks to the brilliance of copywriters I'll never know.

For today's exercise, flip through a magazine and find copy that means something special to you. It could be a headline, or a pullout quote. Or, it could be a photo. Doesn't matter -- there's no chance of being wrong. Cut it out and post it. Give yourself a smiley face!

Creativity Tips: Sweat the Details

I know, I know. You're not supposed to sweat the small stuff. Too bad. Because the small stuff makes a big difference.

Take, for example, these details on one of the antique recipe boxes I collect. The details make this more than a utilitarian storage item. The details make this art.

In creativity -- as in much of life -- details matter.

Creativity Tips: Ask for Help

Ask for help. It's that simple. Or, if you're used to being a solo creative genius, that challenging.

Here's what you need to remember:

1. Never be afraid to ask for help.
2. Ask people you trust, whether they're "authorities" or not. That's why you have a creative team.
3. Don't wait until it's an emergency and the creative sirens are blaring!

P.S. For those of you joining this series in progress -- we're discussing the meaning behind the creativity cards I handed out in the first of many Creative Instigation presentations.

P.P.S. Thanks to popular demand (stop laughing, I'm serious, I don't make this stuff up), I have a waiting list for our next presentation. Let me know if you want me to add your name!

Creativity Tips: The Queen of Hearts

Do you know what this creativity card shows? It's a crown, fit for a queen.

Know what this creativity card means? Check it out.

Creativity Tips: Now You See It ...

Thanks to everyone who attended the Creative Instigation presentation! As promised, today starts a series explaining the photos on my creativity cards*.

Do you know what this one is? To me, it's completely obvious. It's the antique inkwell I got when I was at MU. (And that would make it an antique now, even if it weren't then.)

What? You didn't see an inkwell? Are you kidding?

Hmmm. Interesting. It seems that I see the inkwell, because I know it's there. Most people didn't know what it was, or they guessed -- a crystal or a doorknob.

Everything you see is filtered by everything you know. So, take a minute and look for an outside opinion. Don't assume that everyone else knows what you know, or sees what you see.

*A big THANK YOU to Leslie Adams, who sees the shots I never see. Leslie took all the photos and designed the cards.