Creative Solutions and Inspirations from the Modern Day Muses

Exposure Realms

By Jill Badonsky, M.Ed.

Part 1 | Part Two

Sometimes I spend too much time alone and my thoughts start inbreeding resulting in odd ideas. So this month I ventured out of my realm into the world of business.

Exposure to fields we normally do not venture into jiggles the controls on our minds so ingenuity leaks in. This is a good thing. So I wonder what magazines, websites, stores, gardens, recipes, CDs, DVDs and other venues I can explore to trigger for ideas for my own passion? And you, what about that question for you? I find lots of material for poetry in newspaper articles, the History Channel, archaeology magazines and science magazines.

Anyone can look for history in a museum. Creative explorers look for history in hardware stores. — Robert Wieder

Through an extensive search for someone in the world of business with something original and valuable to share with you, in Creativity Portal land, I found a section head of creative production at a prestigious medical institution. Mr. T prefers to remain anonymous because of the public relations red tape he would have to go through to use his name.

He describes his department:

“Our group includes video producers, script and print writers, graphic designers, presentation designers, photographers, videographers, web designers, digital signage designers, event planners, live event directors and those pesky engineers that keep everything running. I'm not an expert in all fields, but I try to connect us all through the creative process. I have set up a creative planning area where all are invited to participate in the creative process of each project across areas of expertise. The area includes a plasma screen where we often view inspirational material. There's a networked computer connected to the plasma so we can surf the net or even create things on the fly. We also have a creative catch-all board. I invite everyone to put up whatever inspires them (within good taste of course!). People have chosen to create things in Photoshop, cut out ads from magazines they have found interesting, and even put up various quotes that have inspired them.”

This kicks off the creative process for Mr. T and his team.

Exposing myself to fun stuff on the Internet is something I do too to warm my brain up for art, writing, gardening and decorating. Then I get ideas through connecting, associating, mixing and a term I coined and favor, creative foreplay. I get excited about the ideas that ricochet off of what I see that is already in existence. I combine two unrelated concepts for the very least, amusement and in hopes of something juicy.

It is the function of creative men [and women] to perceive the relations between thoughts, or things, or forms of expression that may seem utterly different, and to be able to combine them into some new forms — the power to connect the seemingly unconnected. — William Plomer

So here’s something you could do in 5 to 15 minutes: Make a list including fields of study, topics within those fields or other issues. List nouns, events, places unrelated to those things you are interested in. Brainstorm ways each item on your list can trigger a new idea for a current project of yours. Venture from the obvious to the far-fetched, the useful to the frivolous, the literal to the metaphorical... no limits.

Click in next month for Part Two, where Mr. T. gives an entirely different perspective (an aerial one) about creative blocks. •

Copyright © Jill Badonsky, 2006. All rights reserved.

About the Author | More by Jill Badonsky
Jill Badonsky, M.Ed. is a nationally recognized workshop leader, artist, performer, humorist, and author of the book, The Nine Modern Day Muses (and a Bodyguard): 10 Guides to Creative Inspiration for Artists, Poets, Lovers and Other Mortals Wanting to Live a Dazzling Existence. She teaches creativity lovers to facilitate classes and workshops based on her book and along with UCLA psychologist, Robert Maurer, she trains people to be Kaizen-Muse Creativity Coaches. She can be found lurking at www.themuseisin.com.

06/13/06