Published: October 05, 2007 01:16 pm            

KISSEL: The future belongs to the creative

“Every child is an artist,” Pablo Picasso once said.

“The problem is how to remain an artist after growing up.”

Many people think creativity is the exclusive realm of the painter or musician, but it’s really a common concern belonging to parents, carpenters, cooks, gardeners — in short, everyone.

It is perhaps the central issue facing our world society today and tomorrow. Making and sustaining peace requires creative solutions. Developing new technology requires inspired thinking. And fostering happiness in ourselves and those around us requires a constantly adaptive positive attitude.

For us in Western New York — which I believe is already a fairly creative region due to the fact residents often need to wear many different hats to remain fulfilled and solvent — developing creativity could help us on our path to economic recovery.

Cities and regions that have a strong creative class, which essentially consists of those who are paid to produce ideas, information and technology, are those that will prosper in this new century, according to a study by Richard Florida, a professor of regional economic development at Carnegie Mellon University.

"Creativity has come to be valued,” Florida said, “because new technologies, new industries, new wealth and all other good economic things flow from it.”

Creativity isn’t just the key to starting an economic engine, it’s how we will live together in relative harmony — even as populations swell, social divisions blur and extremist groups try to violently press their agenda upon others.

We should strive to create an international community of people who are more enlightened and thoughtful of others and themselves. The world is unfortunately still a very hostile and intolerant place.

Interestingly, those regions that have a strong creative class are often settled by those people for how tolerant its populace is. When I feel the need to judge, the advice I try to follow is to first take a long look at myself in the mirror.

For in the end, being creative is about being happy.

Problem solving is the ability to form solutions by weaving together disparate pieces of knowledge. That can apply to your work, but also your family and even yourself.

So how do we develop creativity in ourselves and our children?

Fortunately, the ways are nearly countless.

n First of all, believe you are creative. Everyone is, and the more you allow yourself to be it, the more you will live it.

n Break habits, even ones that may be viewed as good. The more we allow ourselves to fall into patterns, the more our thinking will follow suit. New ideas spring from new actions.

n Recognize your ignorance and use this to your advantage. “The more I know, the less I know” is one of my favorite phrases. Adopting the beginner’s attitude and looking at things with a fresh eye is key to developing creativity.

n Find new interests. It blows me away to think there are people in the world without interests or hobbies; people who actually get bored. The more talents and interests you have, the greater the chance for innovation big or small.

n Sleep on it. That’s an old, old adage, but truer words are hard to come by. The conscious mind accounts for less than 10 percent of our brain power, with the unconscious mind accounting for the rest. When we sleep, our unconscious mind is unleashed. That’s why problems seem less complicated the following day and new ideas take shape. When we allow ourselves the time to revisit a project, only benefit follows.

n And most importantly, never give up. Becoming more creative takes work, but it’s work that feeds on itself and creates a self-sustaining environment.

On the other hand, while ‘it’s all good’ is a phrase that can be applied to the creative process, knowing when to abandon an inhibiting concept or action can also be progressive and liberating.

Imagine the things we could accomplish if everyone embraced creativity in their own way.

E-mail comments to joekissel@roadrunner.com.

        

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