Capturing Youth

"Children laugh an average of 400 times a day, but adults laugh an average of only 15 times daily." Stephanie Young

One of the secrets of being creative is to retain or regain a childlike sense of playfulness and wonder. Einstein was famous for it. Picasso pointed out that "Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up."

Award winning documentary filmmaker Ken Burns invites young people to work on his films because “They haven’t yet learned ‘the right way’ to do things, so they come in with wide-open creativity.”

Carlos Santana had the same idea when he recorded his album Supernatural collaborating with top young musicians and it became his most successful album ever.

When you’re stuck for new ideas and need a fresh point of view, talk to a young person. Invite student interns to work on your projects. You might discover that you learn as much from them as they do from you.

© Copyright 2007 Dixie Darr. All rights reserved

Building Boxes

“I don’t feel alive unless I’m learning, moving, changing, growing.”

Eric McDougall

Thinking outside the box is one of those clichés that has been overused to the point where it has lost all its meaning. Now author Harry Beckwith says that we should forget about thinking outside the box because it’s just too hard. Instead, he suggests, we should push out the edges of our normal way of looking at things and grow our box.

“If you read Vanity Fair, read In-Fisherman. If you read Tattoo, pick up an Architectural Digest. If you read People, scan The New Yorker. If you attend the theater, catch a NASCAR race (not least of all, because of its immense appeal). If you’d never dream of watching ballet, listening to bluegrass, or going to a county fair, go.

Tinker with your box. Buy an orange sport coat and a pair of red suede shoes; see what changes. Grow a bigger box.”

© Copyright 2007 Dixie Darr. All rights reserved