Boosting Your #Creativity

I’m going to share two ways to boost creativity—a website and a particular article on that site… 

The site is called Medium and here’s a bit of what they say about themselves:

“Medium is a different kind of place to read and write on the internet.

“A place where the measure of success isn’t views, but viewpoints.

“Where the quality of the idea matters, not the author’s qualifications.

“A place where conversation pushes ideas forward and words still matter.”

The thing is, you can read there; but also, you can write there:

“However, the real value of Medium isn’t our tools. It’s all about the network, the connections with other people, and the stories you create. Well-designed networks reduce friction and help good stuff be found. Connections allow the whole to become greater than the sum of the parts and new paths to discover and build meaning. After all, isn’t that what every writer wants?”

Interaction is Key:

“Reading these stories is not passive. Every highlight you leave changes the way others interpret the story — and maybe even the way the author thinks about what they wrote.”

So, boost your creativity by reading great articles on Medium (you can follow particular writers and/or follow tagged ideas) and share your creativity on Medium by writing articles.

And, here’s their Huge Promise:

“When you sign up for Medium, you are joining a community of millions of thinkers and doers offering their best ideas and moving conversation forward on the biggest issues and interests of the day. Because great writing deserves a great audience.”

• Here’s a beginner’s guide to using Medium.

And, here’s an article from Medium to start you off—9 Ways To Dramatically Improve Your Creativity.

To encourage you to take that link, here are the topics discussed in the article:

1. Learn Through Collaboration
2. Do Something You Love
3. Find Inspiration From Other Industries
4. Unplug (Or Just Do Nothing)
5. Walk
6. Set the Right Mood
7. Use the Six Thinking Hats Technique
8. Ask For Advice or Feedback
9. Pick a Terrible Idea

I dare ya to go read what Larry Kim says about those ideas; and, that link of his name will take you to other articles he has on Medium :-)
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All About Creativity

As many of you know, a recent poll showed that folks most wanted to see blog posts about Reading, Book Promotion, Creativity, & Self-Publishing.

Image Courtesy of Stephen Coburn ~ http://www.freeimages.com/profile/nruboc

So, to begin giving readers what they want, I scoured my sources and I’ll share eight links to articles about Creativity.

Tomorrow, I’ll be returning to my usual posting style—coverage of one or two articles (with commentary)—plus, I’m sure I’ll do posts that readers haven’t asked for :-)

Btw, I’m stressing Creativity today because it’s something Readers, Writers, and Publishers can certainly, always, use.

From SF Gate : You Can Boost Your Creativity By Looking At Art

From PsycheCentral : Keys to Creativity: Embracing the Unknown

Another from PsycheCentral : Keys to Creativity: Curiosity

From The Conversation : Fighting The Slump: A Strategic Approach to Developing Creativity

From Epoch Times : ‘But I’m Not Artistic’: How Teachers Shape Kids’ Creative Development

From LinkedIn Pulse : Stop Apologizing for Being Creative

From Innovation Excellence : 15 Quotes to Spark Creativity

I just have to share one of those quotes : “You cannot discover new oceans unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore.” ~~ Andre Gide

From Nautilus : How “Meaning Withdrawal”, aka Boredom, Can Boost Creativity

I hope you find one or more of those articles helpful; and, I hope you’ll share about it in the Comments.

And, perhaps, share a link or two to other Creativity articles :-)

CREATIVE BONUS: A talk about the need to facilitate creativity in every human being…

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When The Muse Speaks . . .

 Any of you remember the daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, the nine muses of myth? Here are their respective fields of museness: epic poetry, history, love poetry and lyric art, music, tragedy, hymns, dance, comedy, and astronomy.

Are you a person who creates in one of those areas?

Do you think there are muses for other creative activities?

What about the muse of Fatherhood?

How about a muse for bricklayers?

Perhaps each person has a muse specialized for whatever they choose to do with their life?

I’ll vote for that last one without denying all the other possibilities :-)

It’s been said the muse is a shape-shifter. Which could mean, for a creative writer, the muse plays the part of all the characters inhabiting the author’s head.

Then there’s the issue of whether the muse is really “in” the head. Can’t the heart abide a muse’s process? Couldn’t a muse hang out on one’s shoulder?

My muse has been with me since I was born. She made me do things as a child that my mother wondered at and my father abhorred.

I worked hard in my twenties to make her proactively real. It’s a process called Active Imagination…

She’s changed her name many times and she usually, of late, speaks to me without using words.

Her latest command was to be more attentive to this blog—make it shine…

Since I know the task isn’t just on my shoulders—she doesn’t issue commands that she doesn’t help me with—I feel I can make the effort.

I do hope that small percentage of my readers who leave comments will let me, and her, know how we’re doing…
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