Learning from Great Thinkers
The Creative Thinking Habit Da Vinci, Edison & Whitman Had in Common
By Michael Michalko
A habit to consciously cultivate is the habit of keeping a written record of your creativity attempts in a notebook, on file cards, or in your computer. A record not only guarantees that the thoughts and ideas will last, since they are committed to paper or computer files, but it will also goad you into other thoughts and ideas. The simple act of recording his ideas enabled Leonardo Da Vinci to dwell on his ideas and improve them over time by elaborating on them. Thus, Leonardo was able to take simple concepts and work them into incredible complex inventions that were years ahead of their time, such as the helicopter, the bicycle, and the diving suit. Read more »

Creativity & Teaching
Creative Teaching Escapes the Classroom
By Stav Papadopoulos
Creativity cannot be bound to the strict confines of any classroom.

No room, laboratory, stage, workshop or seminar hall, auditorium or formal setting can contain the rush of creativity.

Creative teachers can bring the world into the classroom but they are just as aware how much inspiration, appreciation and confidence students gain when they are introduced to different environments. The well-planned field trip, the class held outdoors, the visit to another class are not just examples of a change of scene but a great opportunity for creative activities to get off the ground. Read more »

Poems & Photos Inspire Writing #5
The Power of the Visual Evokes Meaningful Writing
By Hank Kellner
Here in part is what Joe Milner, Ph.D., Professor of English Education at Wake Forest University wrote about using visual images to inspire writing. "I know from my own classroom experience the power of the visual to evoke meaningful writing. When the provocative and often delicate poems in Reflect and Write are paired with perfectly selected artwork and accompanied by thoughtful quotations from a diverse range of wonderful thinkers, success is inevitable."
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This We Know #8
In a Nutshell
By Tom Evans
No matter how many facts we collect, in a nutshell, all that we can ever really know is a model that works for us that allows us to get by in life. We think we know for certain that we will die at some point and cease to exist. Some of course ‘know’ they will survive after their death. Some of those ‘know’ they will go to Heaven, or some to Hell. Others ‘know’ they will come back and live a near infinite set of existences, perhaps until they reach some form of Nirvana. Read more »

Making Your Creative Mark
Refresher Course of Ninety-Seven Creativity Tips
By Eric Maisel

1. Be consistent in showing up. Getting to your creative work only once in a while won't keep it alive. Make routine and regularity sacred words!
2. Who knows how many artists fail because the light that shines through them is refracted in a thousand directions and not concentrated in a single beam? Pick projects and complete them! It is not really possible to work on a thousand things at once.
3. One of the best ways to help yourself create every day is to craft a starting ritual that you begin to use regularly and routinely. When your ritual becomes habitual you will find yourself moving effortlessly from not creating to creating. Read more »