Vision and the Creative Edge

Most people are not really free. They are confined to the niche in the world they carve out for themselves.They limit themselves to fewer possibilities by the narrowness of their vision. V S Naipul

Vision is one of the 5 elements of character [ see the Parthenon model of creativity] that I believe is essential for the development of personal creativity.

What is vision?
A vision is a positive, powerful picture of what you want to create - be it an art work, a meal, a dance or a life. It is a picture that is important enough for you to commit time and energy to bring it into being.
Peter Senge says it is “ a force in people’s hearts, a force of impressive power.” (Fifth Discipline. p.206).
A personal vision is the pictures or images that a person carries around in both their head and their heart. At its simplest level a vision is the answer to the question, “What do I want to create?”
Visions inspire us to reach for possibilities and to make them our realities. They bring out the best in us and help us rise above our fears and pre-occupations with what can go wrong and focus on what can go right.

Why is vision important?
Having a personal vision provides you with a constant mental road map giving you direction. With a vision firmly in mind, you can make moment-to-moment choices with real integrity. A person with a vision is more likely to feel fulfilled, energised and confident.
On the other hand, when no vision exits, life is more likely to be seen as drudgery, to be endured instead of embraced, performed instead of experienced, and stagnant instead of vital and evolving.

Vision . . . .
§ provides us with an anchor
§ provides us with a beacon.
§ supports the core from which we can make decisions about what we want to be and how we wish to invest our talents and time.
§ directs our focus and energy

If you want to learn more about developing your creative edge my new workbook - The Creative Edge Putting creativity into your life Putting life into your creativity - is now for sale. Contact wayne@future-edge.co.nz It comes as a pdf file on a disc. Price $NZ15 plus postage and packaging. I'll send it anywhere in the world!

The Creative Edge

The Creative Edge is both the name of this blog and my new workbook. Over time I am going to put excerpts from the book on this blog. The book, by the way, can be ordered directly from me - wayne@future-edge.co.nz or through the Creative Skills Training Council http://www.cstc-apa.com/creativity-for-sale/

The Creative Edge

All change happens at the edge and creativity is about change.
.
For me, creativity is the stuff you do at the edges. But the edges are different for everyone, and the edges change over time. Stuff that would have been creative last year isn't creative at all today, because it's not near the edges any more.

“The most fertile region [in the mind’s inner landscape] seems to be the marshy shore, the borderline between sleep and full awakening and where the matrices of disciplined thought are already operating but have not yet sufficiently hardened to obstruct the dreamlike fluidity of imagination.” Arthur Koestler

If you want to be creative, understand that you'll need to get to the edges, even if the edges have moved. Being creative means immediately going to the place the last person left off.

“Creative thinking takes place neither inside the box nor outside the box, but at the edges of the box.” Chris Bilton Management and Creativity

Creativity is about pushing the boundaries. It is not possible to be comfortable and creative at the same time. All creativity takes place at the meeting point between different worlds.

“Sometimes when you think you are done, it is just the edge of beginning. Probably that's why we decide we're done. It's getting too scary. We are touching down onto something real. It is beyond the point when you think you are done that often something strong comes out.” Natalie Goldberg

We all live within a box of possibilities whose edge is formed by inner judgments, attitudes and beliefs. When we are conscious of these habits of mind and behaviour, we expand the box, continue the journey, and experience a sense of heightened satisfaction and fulfilment. With an expanded box of possibilities, we will better understand how to face life’s challenges with a creative mindset.

“I want to stand as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you can see all kinds of things you can’t see from the centre.” Kurt Vonnegut Jr

“When you have come to the edge of all the light you have
And step into the darkness of the unknown
Believe that one of the two will happen to you
Either you'll find something solid to stand on
Or you'll be taught how to fly!” Richard Bach

"Come to the edge," he said. They said, "We are afraid."
"Come to the edge," he said. They came. He pushed them . . . and they flew." Guillaume Appollinaire

How Edgy Are You?

Where are the edges of your current knowledge and abilities?

How have they shifted from a few years ago?

How do you challenge yourself to keep things fresh and exciting?

The Creative Edge Workbook

Its been a long New Zealand winter and I've spent a lot of time writing The Creative Edge Workbook . . . AND ITS DONE!!! YEEEHAAAAA!!

Its over a 100 pages long and is on a CD in pdf format.

What's in it?

Information [word bites] about creativity - for those who like to know stuff [but don't expect to become more creative by knowing]. These are intended to stretch your thinking.

The Parthenon - have to but it to find out about that or check the previous blog!

Practical activities to expand your creativity - for those who like to do stuff.

Other people's stories - for those who need to know that becoming more creative is possible and that others have done it [some of these also appear on my blog]

A test!!! Yes a test - to see how you fare against the generally accepted characteristics of creative people

Quotes - a bunch of quotes from famous and not so famous people about creativity - learning from the wisdom from others never hurts

Some spelling mistakes - I'm sure that there will be some - spellcheckers aren't perfect and nor am I

Price - NZ$15NZ plus NZ$5 postage [if I have to post it] Seems pretty reasonable.

If you would like 1 or 10 or 100 let me know [by email] and I'll get them in the mail to you asap. Don't forget to include your snail mail address. I'll reply to your email giving you details of your payment options - including a PayPal email limk that I have never used before so I hope it works.

I'm off to South Africa as a guest facilitator at a 15th Annual Creativity Conference next month [October] and the workbook material will form the basis of my workshop.

So if I don't respond to any requests in October that's why - I'll be up at the great, grey / green, greasy Limpopo River - although I'm sure its not!

Hope you are all well and being exceptionally creative.

wayne@future-edge.co.nz