Today let’s talk about creativity. What it is, why it’s important, and how to create a more creative life for yourself.
First, what the heck is creativity? Merriam-Webster’s definition is “the ability to be creative.” Cambridge Dictionary’s definition goes deeper, making it by far the more creative definition: “the ability to produce or use original and unusual ideas.”
Creativity is curiosity unleashed. Creativity is vision in action. Creativity is imagination allowed to take the reins. Creativity is originality on display. Creativity is inventiveness, the first-born child of playfulness.
Creativity is about so much more than writing music, painting a picture, or producing a sculpture. Yes, those are creative pursuits and I’m in awe of those who make our lives better with their imaginative vision and masterful execution of their personal brand of creativity.
To start the new year off on the right foot, I attended a presentation about setting intentions and committing to them. Around the halfway point, when he had walked us through a couple of exercises, the speaker asked us to say aloud, “I am committed to my goals.” Throats opened and the room rang with loud, happy voices. Then he asked us to say, “I believe in my ability to achieve my goals.”
Totally different story. The response was more of a group mumble as people said words about themselves that they didn’t believe. The speaker then mentioned the late MLK Jr., asking us if social change would have happened had his level of commitment in the “I Have a Dream” speech been the same as what we just demonstrated.
The point was made – in order to lead and effect change, in order to achieve our own personal goals, and in order to be believed when we speak, we need to embody commitment. It can be tough to believe in ourselves –...
What do they do, these vet’s assistants?
They have the best job ever!
All day with kittens and puppies they play
Getting wags and kisses – so clever!
You’d almost pay to have their day
It just sounds so life-giving…
Vet technicians are almost magicians
Turning snuggles into a living!
What you don’t realize with those stars in your eyes
Kisses aren’t all they are getting.
Listen up, listen well – get a clue
And you’ll find out what techs really do!
Welcome to Veterinary Technician Week, a week that recognizes those who support veterinarians in caring for pets. There's a lot of misunderstanding about what vet techs do - let's clear that up, shall we?
Vet technicians – what people think they do:
Vet technicians – a partial list of what they really do:
Do you have a dog? Two? More? Are you dogless and get your dog love from friends’ dogs? Or maybe you’re someone who just doesn’t see the appeal of dogs?
If you love dogs, you’ll probably love this article. If not, read on anyway because there’s probably something here for you despite your distaste for this nearly-perfect being. (Oops…my bias is showing!)
In the early part of the 20th century, Will Judy, the editor of Dog World Magazine, who was a WW1 veteran and an ordained minister, devoted his life to helping people understand what he saw as a spiritual bond between humans and dogs. Of dogs, Will Judy wrote, “The most loyal thing in the world is your dog. Whether you come home from Congress or from jail, whether you have lost your fortune or made a million, whether you return home dressed in fashion’s heights or in rags, whether you have been hailed as a hero or condemned as a criminal, your dog is waiting for you with a welcome...
Are you a rule-follower or a rule-flaunter? Most of us are firmly in the “it depends” category. Most rules we follow, some of them to the letter, and some we think don’t even apply to us or shouldn’t be rules at all. So why are there rules and why do we follow them?
A pair of researchers, Sven Steinmo and Celine Colombo, set about to understand why people follow rules, why the impulse or need to have and follow rules exists, and how well it’s working for humanity. They found that norms of trust and cooperation need to be an intrinsic part of members of society in order for that society to thrive and prosper. You don’t have to look very far to see where rules came from – religions, races, and governments have been the impetus for complex sets of rules intended to govern and control the behavior of the people in their sphere of influence.
Why do people choose to be part of something that seeks to control their behavior, even to the point...
Today is National Relaxation Day and this week is National Aviation Week. What do those two have to do with each other and why should you care? This will tie them together, ease your stress, and give you wings, so read on.
Wilbur and Orville Wright didn’t have pilot’s licenses, and no one needs a license to chill.
The same year that the first states – Massachusetts and Missouri – began requiring drivers licenses of anyone who wanted to operate a car on public roads, Orville and his older brother Wilbur made the first powered flight. They didn’t even have drivers’ licenses, and certainly didn’t have pilots’ licenses because those hadn’t been invented yet. Neither brother had a high school diploma, neither attended college, and yet with their fascination for aviation, their insatiable desire for experimentation, and their commitment to manned flight in a heavier-than-air motorized vehicle, they made discoveries and...
Caution: cliché alert!!!
Yes, you’re right – this edition of the newsletter is about self-care. July is Self-Care month and yesterday was International Self-Care Day. And if you’re like nearly everyone else, me included, self-care isn’t at the top of your to-do list each day, and it needs to be, for both of us.
Why? Don’t make me point you back up to those cliches, ok? The reason phrases become repeated so often that they become trite and clichéd is because – drum roll please – they’re true. They resonate, and have resonated for decades, if not hundreds of years. And yet here we are, talking about how we neglect our own self-care.
How can we make our own care a priority? First, give yourself credit for the things you already do for yourself:
About 120 years ago a phrase came into being: “get out of the doghouse.” If a couple had a fight and one locked the other out of the house, unless there was a barn on the property, the only shelter was likely to be the family dog’s house. Hence, a bid for forgiveness was characterized as a bid to get out of the doghouse.
Humans have a difficult relationship with the concept of forgiveness. We get irritated by the behaviors of others every day in small ways, and sometimes even suffer hardship, hurt, or loss through the actions of others. Both the small slights and the larger ones spark a level of negative emotion pointed toward the perceived perpetrator. Behavioral scientists agree there are at least two components to forgiveness, emotional and behavioral, and while there’s not a lot of research on them, it’s likely that most acts of forgiveness include a blend of both. Let’s look at two examples where an offense is given, and forgiveness might be...
In the US, today is the day we celebrate the birth of our nation. It was 247 years ago that the Revolutionary War ended and the Declaration of Independence was signed. The ideals put forth were revolutionary at the time, especially the idea that people should be the architect of their own lives, free to pursue faith, family, and fortune without undue government interference.
Fast-forward a couple of centuries and American life looks very different than it did back then. We’ve moved from subsistence farming and small businesses in small towns to a nation full of mega-businesses, mega-banks, mega-mergers, and a mega-government complex sporting a mega-military and mega-tax collection complex. The pressure to live up to the American dream of success and even excess is high, and sadly, the reality of rising stress and depression is keeping pace. As the world becomes more electronically connected, people are often feeling more disconnected.
This Independence Day, think about your...
Today is the anniversary of the birth of Helen Keller, a woman whose life was a portrait of resilience. Even today, 143 years after her birth in a northern Alabama hamlet named after a Chickasaw tribal rainmaker, people share her ideas about happiness and leading a useful, productive life. Schoolchildren learn about how she overcame her disabilities and graduated from Radcliffe College, which is now Harvard University. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, her statue stands in the US Capitol building, and a movie about her young life and the teacher who was able to find a way to reach her, The Miracle Worker, won two Academy Awards.
Illness – probably meningitis – when she was less than two years old left Helen Keller deaf, blind, and without language. Since she couldn’t hear, she didn’t have a way to even know words existed. Since she was blind, she didn’t have a way to grasp the abstract concept of objects and their descriptors. The fact...
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