Want to have some creative fun? Let's play around with ideas for a few minutes...
Try this... Think of two things that are totally unrelated and then we will imagine what they might be... for example:
Elephant - - - Physics
Inkwell - - - Partridge
Jellyfish - - - Database
Sandwich - - - Explorer
First, make up your own list. Develop a list of at least 5-10 pairs. The more unrelated the better.
Done? OK, the next step is to figure out how to connect them somehow. Our minds are geared toward finding connections. For example, looking at the list above, I might imagine that we learned how to understand elephant language, and that they were in fact primarily theoretical physicists with some brilliant new ways of looking at the universe that changed our perspective forever. For the next pair, I might imagine a bird shaped inkwell, or I might imagine a bird that could shoot ink as a self defense mechanism, like an octopus. For the next one, I could consider the genetic structure of a jellyfish as being a molecular scale database (which it is), or I could envision a new type of database that is transparent and amorphous, rather than rigid and highly structured.,,, etc. etc.
Ready? Now try it on your own! Make a game of it. Try to come up with at least 3-4 alternate meanings for each word pair. Don't just read this and say, "ya, whatever"... Do it! I am not going anywhere. It's fun! It really is. Hmmmm.... maybe we can make a board game out of this... not today. We'll save that for another day. OK, ready..... GO!
Done? Don't be lazy! Stop now and try it out (would it help if I say 'please'?). It's fun! I promise!
I can't check on you, so I am going to have to trust you. I can trust you, right? Done? Cool. Then read on...
Now you may be wondering, why did I ask you go to through that exercise? It is the most basic and simple example of how we can create by bringing two or more things together and making connections to form something new.
Want to be more creative? You need to relax your preconceptions and ideas about the way things 'should be', and try something new. The idea is to figure out how to look at something from a different perspective, and/or think of things that nobody else has thought of. You could combine two unrelated words in your field of interest, and develop some new ideas that may even be practical as well as fresh and new. Want to stretch a little more? Take one word from your field of interest and ten words that are as unrelated as possible, then combine them and see what you come up with. Alternately, take your list of unrelated words you just developed and combine them with a third set of words from your area of interest. Play, play, play, and you will be surprised at how much fun it can be coming up with new ideas!
Remember: You are a creative genius. You just forgot how to be who you are.... but it is starting to come back to you now!
Happy playing!
