7 Ways to Cultivate Your Creativity [Slide Show]: Scientific American Slideshows

Everyday Creativity The tattoo artists throughout Russia's prison system have never had lessons in painting technique (nor, apparently, hygiene training). They don't have ink and tools at their disposal. And yet they create entire murals on one another's chests and backs: onion-domed cathedrals, intricate cobwebs, chilly grim reapers. And they're not just beautiful decorations—they are coded biographies, telling those in the know their bearer's history and affiliations. One would be hard-pressed to find a tougher environment than the jails where these artists work. Their ink is made from soot shaved off their shoes and mixed with urine. When we think of creativity , we think of Mozart, Picasso, Einstein—people with a seemingly fated convergence of talent and opportunity. Some do so every day. Herzog is director of the Institute for Security and Open Methodologies, a nonprofit dedicated to researching how security works in all aspects of our lives.

400 Writing Topics - Prompts and Suggestions for Paragraphs, Essays, and Speeches - Essay Topics If getting started is the hardest part of the writing process, close behind it (and closely related to it) may be the challenge of finding a good topic to write about. Sometimes, of course, an instructor will solve that problem for you by assigning a topic. But at other times you'll have the opportunity to choose a topic on your own. And you really should think of it as an opportunity--a chance to write about something you care about and know well. So relax. Don't worry if a great topic doesn't immediately spring to mind. To help get you thinking, we've prepared some writing suggestions--more than 400 of them, in fact. We've organized the suggested topics into 11 broad categories, loosely based on some of the common ways of developing paragraphs and essays. Now follow the links to our 400 topic suggestions and see where they take you. And if you're still having trouble coming up with something to write about, see

Use Image Searches Like a Thesaurus to Overcome Your Creative Blocks Are there empirical studies about how to be creative? Isn't it completely subjective and personal? yup. There are entire peer-reviewed journals committed to the subject. Creativity can't be "personal" anyways, as in order for something to be creative it has to be unique to a certain extent, which requires context and comparison. So then what do you think of the content of this article? Going to have to agree with you there. 100 Blog Topics I Hope YOU Write People often ask me how I come up with things to blog about, and I find the question strange, because my problem is the opposite. I have too much to blog about. Why? Because there’s a whole fast revolution rolling through, and right now – today – is our time to make it all work for us. If we’re going to show people how to use social media to drive meaningful conversations instead of being yet another marketing tool, we have to run out and educate at a break-neck pace, so we can bring more and more thought leaders into alignment with these big and not-so-big organizations who could use our help. So, on my plane ride home from San Francisco, I decided to write you up 100 blog post titles that I want YOU to write. One favor? Here’s 100 Blog/Podcast Topics I Hope YOU Write: 1 How I Use Facebook 2 Ways I Embrace My Audience 3 Should My Town Use Social Media? If you like what you saw, I’ve got plans to send new blog topics out every week to you for a very low price.

Get Mentally Fit with an Idea Quota The first step to have great ideas is to adopt an attitude of having lots of ideas. Going further, there are some strategies we can use to dramatically increase the amount of ideas we generate. The Idea Quota is one of the simplest and most effective of them. The Idea Quota I first learned about the Idea Quota through Michael Michalko’s excellent book Thinkertoys. The point of committing to a quota is that it forces you to actively pursue new ideas. Although you can use quotas without specifying a central theme for your ideas, the technique works best when you direct it to very specific needs, such as: a challenge you’re working on, either in your personal life or at work;an improvement you want to make in your life or business;finding answers to specific questions you have, either practical or more abstract. Pump Some (Mental) Iron Just like in a physical workout, to grow your creativity muscles you have to constantly push your limits, even if just a little bit. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

50 Ways to Find Inspiration: Create, Explore, Expand “If we look at the world with a love of life, the world will reveal its beauty to us.” ~Daisaku Ikeda I have always loved that scene in American Beauty when Ricky Fitts shows his video of a plastic bag blowing in the wind. He’s the complete opposite of his neighbor Lester Burnham, who seems to have decided long ago to live life in a comatose state of submission, completely disconnected from authentic joy. Ricky seems inspired by everything that most people simply overlook. He explains of his bag video: “It was one of those days when it’s a minute away from snowing and there’s this electricity in the air, you can almost hear it. “And that’s the day I knew there was this entire life behind things, and… this incredibly benevolent force, that wanted me to know there was no reason to be afraid, ever. We all want to feel moved, and then to use that to create love, joy, passion, and purpose. If you’ve been feeling stuck or uninspired, these ideas may help you find inspiration: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

201 Ways to Arouse Your Creativity Arouse your creativity Electric flesh-arrows … traversing the body. A rainbow of color strikes the eyelids. A foam of music falls over the ears. It is the gong of the orgasm. ~ Anais Nin Creativity is like sex. I know, I know. The people I speak of are writers. Below, I’ve exposed some of their secret tips, methods, and techniques. Now, lie back, relax and take pleasure in these 201 provocative ways to arouse your creativity. Great hacks from Merlin Mann of 43 Folders

Learn How to Think Different(ly) - Jeff Dyer and Hal Gregersen by Jeff Dyer and Hal Gregersen | 10:24 AM September 27, 2011 In the Economist review of our book, The Innovator’s DNA, the reviewer wondered whether genius-level innovators such as Marc Benioff, Jeff Bezos, and Steve Jobs challenge the idea that working adults can really learn how to think differently and become innovators. We don’t think so. Remember, it was Steve Jobs who jump-started the now-famous “Think Different” advertising campaign as a way to inspire consumers and recharge Apple’s innovation efforts. It worked. Reams of relevant research (including our own) proves Jobs right. But neither Steve Jobs nor Apple nor any other high-profile innovator or company has a corner on the think-different market. Take Gavin Symanowitz, whom we recently met in South Africa. Innovators (of new businesses, products, and processes) spend almost 50% more time trying to think different compared to non-innovators. Just do It. Shake it up. Repeat. As a leader, how often do you think different?

No Idea Left Behind: 25 Tools for Capturing Ideas Anywhere As a serial entrepreneur, I’m addicted to ideas. I feed off of ’em. And nothing makes me more upset than having a great idea… and losing it. Ideas never happen at opportune times, and having the proper idea capture tools can make sure that you’ll capture all your ideas for later processing. The problem with ideas is that they’re situational. You don’t only have ideas while you’re in front of the computer, or walking your dog. In order to capture every single little idea that we have, we’ll need to take a multi-pronged approach to capturing the little bits of genius that we have throughout our day. I should note that we’re not talking about complex systems like mind mapping and other GTD systems. Analog Idea Capture Analog idea capturing is the oldest and one of the most useful forms of idea capture. Hipster PDA. Pocket Briefcase. Moleskine. Rite in the Rain notepad Rite in the Rain. Write boards. Sticky notes. Mac Software Quicksilver appending to text file. Quicksilver. OmniFocus. Jott.

Creative Writing Prompts, Creative Writing Ideas, Creative Writing Exercises, … — Helping Writers and Poets Get Some Writing Done 8 Methods to Find Inspiration Tim @ Mini Life Hacks suggested I write a following up article from my guest post about 8 Steps to Inspire Others . Thanks for that suggestion Tim, I’ll first cover the methods to find inspiration in this article and my next one will cover how to take action on that inspiration. Please consider sharing this article if you enjoy it and feel free to sign up for my RSS feed here. Search Out New Experiences Inspiration comes about because of change or seeing the possibility of change. Nature and God’s creations Creative art and writing Stylish music and sound Innovation and brain science Life impact stories ( Arswino always has great examples of that at his blog ) Underdog stories. These are just a few and everyone will have their own personal favorites that interest and inspire them. Keep An Open Mind Once you do find new experiences, the unknown often drives fear or a defensive attitude towards it. Watch Your Emotions Share the Experience Seek Out Solitude Keep in Mind Your Role Models