Creative thinking expert Jim Connolly, shares tips & resources to help you think more creatively.
Once it’s ready… it’s ready.
Whatever you are working on, comes with a use by date. Delay too long and you find that the idea you had has missed its moment.
Even the timeless classics, only garnered the initial interest that made them famous, because they were perfect for their time. Had their creators delayed, they would have had vastly less impact.
As Migual de Cervantes famously said:
“Delay always breeds danger; and to protract a great design is often to ruin it.”
Yes, there are some beautiful works of art on display at the Louvre in Paris. I spent a whole day there with my wife and still only managed to see a fraction of the amazing work on display.
What is less talked about, is the incredible work of art, which houses all the art: The Louvre building itself. As the photo above from Dom Crossley shows, it’s worth visiting just to see the outside!
Here are some thoughts on music, from very different perspectives.
After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music. — Aldous Huxley
My music will go on forever. Maybe it’s a fool say that, but when me know facts me can say facts. My music will go on forever. — Bob Marley
Where words fail, music speaks. — Hans Christian Andersen
I haven’t understood a bar of music in my life, but I have felt it. — Igor Stravinsky
Teens think listening to music helps them concentrate. It doesn’t. It relieves them of the boredom that concentration on homework induces. — Marilyn vos Savant
Musicians don’t retire; they stop when there’s no more music in them. — Louis Armstrong
As a child, I used to confuse education and intelligence. I believed that an educated mind was an intelligent mind. I was, of course, wrong.
I then noticed some well educated people, acting and living with little intelligence. I also noticed people with little formal education, who were extremely intelligent.
I recall speaking about this observation with a friend, who introduced me to the term Educated Derelicts. The term was taken from a quote by Calvin Coolidge.
Here’s the quote in full:
Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not: the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.
It seems the most intelligent people are those, who act intelligently — not those who study, yet fail to do anything with what they know.
‘Every artist was first an amateur’. — Ralph Waldo Emerson
Why is it that 2 people can walk past the same abandoned piece of land, yet see 2 totally different things?
In the above example, both people saw the same thing. What changed, was their perspective… the way they processed what they saw.
As Shakespeare once wrote: “The earth has music for those who listen.”
If you haven’t heard enough music lately, maybe it’s time to start listening from a better perspective.
“The best way to have a good idea is to have a lot of ideas.”
– Dr. Linus Pauling.
I’ve just spent a week on holiday, in Northumberland, a beautiful, hilly area in the north east of England.
I have heard lots of people over the past week, complain about the hills and how hard it can be to walk through or even drive through them.
I live in an area, which is known for being very flat. People there regularly complain how much nicer the landscape would look, if only there were some hills.
The people who love where they live, understand that happiness comes from within. Hills or flat land, city or countryside, it always comes from within.
“Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better”.
– Albert Einstein.
Like many people, I have discovered a powerful link, between movement (particularly walking) and creative thinking. In Twilight of the Idols, Friedrich Nietzsche went so far as to say; “All truly great thoughts are conceived while walking.”
The flip side of this, is that we make it harder for ourselves to come up with new ideas if we stay static… sit at a desk all morning. Yet, that’s exactly how many people work.
If you are looking for answers or ideas, take yourself for a walk. It’s amazing how often you return with the answers and ideas you need.