Creativity--what is it?

What is creativity?  Having a difficult time understanding exactly what a creative mind does?  Try this.

Creativity is when you take this song,

and recreate it so that it comes out like this.

Any questions?

Poetry: Life After TEDxGreenville

March 22, 2013.  A great deal of work, a few upsets, but a very satisfying feeling in the end.  When the curator for the first 3 TEDxGreenville events tells you that he believes this was "the best one yet", that is a very gratifying feeling.  It's also very humbling, particularly when I think of all that could have gone wrong, but that it didn't because of the good work of so many people.

First, I think of Russell Stall (to my right in the photo), director of Greenville Forward, a kind person who thought that it was a natural fit for his organization to shepherd TEDxGreenville through a transition of leadership and a growth spurt.  A good fit, but so much more work than he bargained for, I'm sure. Then I think of the many months of work crammed in between home and work that all of the members of the Program and Interactive teams contributed to our success.  Without these people and their creativity and dedication, our content would not have been of the caliber that it was, engaging people during breaks as well as time in the theatre. Of course, I try to remember that a great event in it's fourth year is only as good as the work of so many others who started it and grew it for the 3 years before we came along. Let me not forget, also, the commitment of others on our Planning team who nudged the sponsor funding along, who managed marketing, AV and volunteer coordination.  A good event made very special by the contributions of so many.  Thanks to all!

The team that did so much, working from July until early December to research nominees, interview finalists and decide who made it on the stage this year:  Keith Smith, Jennifer Oladipo, Ana Parra, Patrick Mieritz, Jawana Sihra-Leach, Marc Bolick and two not in the photo, Eddie Smith and Rob Green.

Interactive activities, anyone? These are the fine folks who dreamed it and then made it happen, including an art director, architect, designer a web developer and a couple of those people who do too much for their own good:  Phil McCreight, Lisa Corley, Jason Pleakis, Bridget Kirkland, Joel Van Dyke, Tanya Thompson, Joel McCreight and (not pictured) John Digney & Tim March.

Now, a week later, what to do?  Now we try to dash off one poem for each day in April. Yes, April is National Poetry Month and this is my 3rd year of attempting to write one poem a day.  It's a personal challenge, which proved to be too challenging last year. This is the first year in which I actually begin on April Fool's Day!  Let's see what my observations and creativity can assist me in concocting today. Won't you join me on this journey of a fool that I'm on?  "A poem a day! Who was the fool who dreamed this up?"

Love x 14 = real connections

Custom Valentine For Granddaughters, Corley and Olivia

Occasionally we stumble upon some little idea which manages to make big things appear (or reappear) in our lives.  This month I read a tweet by Amy Taylor of Brains of Fire.  @NoMeatballs (Amy's twitter handle) had a teeny idea.  She was going to do things in a very back-to-the-future way.  Idea: Take time to focus on 14 special friends and create a custom valentine for them.  One card per person.  One meditation per person. One break at a time stolen from our hurry-up-and-hurry world.

Bravo, Amy.  As usual, the "little things", when fully realized, became THE BIG THINGS.

For each of the friends that I sent my cards to, I want you all to know that as I worked on your valentine I thought about you and who you are to me in my life.  I meditated on who I see you as, what might be important to you in your life or perhaps an experience that we've shared.  I wondered about which Sharpies I would use to craft your custom valentine and I thought of you smiling and maybe shrieking with delight when you opened your gift.

Amy's #Lovex14 project was small this year. Next year it will be BIG, I am convinced of this.  Why don't you connect with @NoMeatballs now, and get ahead of the big swarm of activity for next year's Valentines Day?