Creativity is a weird phenomenon. You never quite know when it will appear and flood your thinking, and trying to coo it out into daylight is like trying to coo a scared cat out of from under the bed. But when it appears in full force, you feel like a million bucks. You jump on the train and ride it as fast as you can, your head out the window, hair blowing, wind burning your eyes as you refuse to shut your lids for fear of missing even one second of the beautiful landscape rushing by.
So how to seek out this creativity that floods every crevice of your brain, heart, and soul, filling it up like a little well of inspiration? Not much.
I do have, however, have one tip. Hint…it’s not Red Bull.
When feeling lackluster, uninspired, confused, or generally down in the dumps, just browse TEDTalks and pick a topic that jumps out at you. Through the story telling of the presenters, their honesty, passion, and optimism for the world, you’ll surely hoist yourself up a few notches.
Here’s one of my favorite talks of all time:
And here’s a great quote from his talk on connecting the dots that can help anyone out looking for that creativity train, or just a little pick me up…
“You can’t connect the dots looking forward, you can only connect them looking backwards, so you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something…your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever because believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart, even when it leads you off the well worn path. That will make all the difference.” – Steve Jobs
Wouldn’t it be cool if we had a GOVTalk conference speaker series?
Lauren
I have seen a few of these and yes, they are impressive and inspiring. My husband just mentioned the google driverless car one last night – we plan to watch it with our kids. Thanks for the link and the reminder of an amazing resource at our fingertips (literally!)
@Kevin Carter – That would be really cool. I definitely use TED as my Red Bull, although sometimes I’m drinking red wine and cooking dinner. Pop the iPad on the kitchen counter and whipping up dinner is my “me” time – with TED!
I completely agree Lauren, as a blogger whenever I’ve got writers block all I need do it browse TED for awhile and watch some talks. It’s like nitro for your brain!
Josh – pmStudent.com
I stumbled across Larry Lessig’s talk about the impact of copyright on creativity a few years ago and since then I visit the site frequently. My tip would be to sign up for their email distribution list. They’ll send you a periodic update with new TED talks and events, without overwhelming your inbox.