I was sitting at home alone last night, completely worn out from spending a week at Burning Man and then starting a new job, and I decided to have a quiet Netflix and chill night. Hoping to up my creativity game, I turned on The Creative Mind documentary and really appreciated one key point that I’ve been thinking about since. It was a quote from Nathan Myhrvold, who is a former exec at Microsoft and also a cookbook writer, nuclear scientist, and researcher of dinosaurs and asteroids. He said that a big spark of creativity for him is “taking ideas from one place and applying them another place."
That’s a very simple concept, but I see how Nathan’s ability to live in a number of different worlds at once has allowed him to bring innovative ideas to each. It reminds me of how Steve Jobs audited a calligraphy class in college taught by a Trappist monk, and then brought those ideas to Apple. And now we have tons of beautiful fonts on our computers (are Wingdings 1, 2, and 3 really all necessary, Steve?).
The documentary kept stressing the idea of getting off the path of least resistance and trying something new. With specialization, we are learning more and more about less and less, meaning we aren’t thinking like Nathan- bringing in new ideas from completely different fields and experiences.
But I’m also thinking back to my blog post from yesterday about a lack of time, which is a reality many creative people face, especially those with kids. With jobs that expect us to be specialized and get really good in one specific field, and with enormous responsibilities at home, where then is the time to write a cookbook or research dinosaurs or invent a new nuclear reactor?
Maybe, though, the bar doesn’t have to be that high. Perhaps we can just explore more in our own neighborhood and PUT DOWN OUR DAMN PHONES so we are actually engaged and paying attention. Is there a museum you can check out with your kids? A creativity podcast you can listen to on the way to work? Or an art class (at a place like Mischief) or an improv dojo you can drop in on that will allow you to temporarily get off the path of least resistance and learn a new skill? Or, if you are incredibly tired like I was last night and opt for Netflix and chill, maybe you can check out a documentary that will help you look at things differently and inspire you to be more creative.
And honestly, as I’m writing this, I’m realizing that even reading a fiction novel transports us into a new world that may inspire our creativity. So I guess the point is do something new that stretches our perspective and don’t just re-watch the same America’s Got Talent Youtube videos over and over again like I often do. Kodi Lee is pretty amazing though…