Just a little Bit of Creativity....

Pressfield's War

I've just finished re-reading Steven Pressfield's War of Art for the third time. It seems I return to it every 12 months to give myself the necessary creative kick in the arse to get myself motivated and lift my self belief past the level of getting out of bed in the mornings. The War of Art is subtitled Break Through the Block and Win Your Inner Creative Battles and is divided up into three sections:

   1. Resistance - Defining the Enemy

   2. Combating Resistance - Turning Pro

   3. Beyond Resistance - Higher Realm

Pressfield's work had impressed me the first time round when I read it in 2009. Since then its been on constant loan to friends except when I'm re-reading it.  I had never really warmed to his third section on my first two readings. This reading I found the final section (where he introduces the idea of the Divine Muse) the most useful and the most challenging, with none of my previous reservations and hesitations. Lately, I have been feeling a little like Jesus' third servant in the parable where the money/talent is buried and the servant is called into answer for his inaction. Pressfield has helped awaken that sense of responsibility - so let's hope we see some more creative activity and actual physical production in the coming weeks/months.

I've also read Pressfield's earlier books - the golfing novel/movie Legend of Bagger Vance (which he tells the story of in this book) and his military/historical work on the Battle of Thermoplylae Gates of Fire, - both I found entertaining and challenging as well.  If you haven't come across The War of Art yet, seek the book out. Its a very easy read, large print and you should be able to work through it quickly. I'd recommend it to anyone engaged in any sort of creative work. If you're suffering from roadblocks and obstacles, Pressfield may be what you need to galvanise yourself into action.

Burn brightly, Pete

Rory's Story Cubes: Let the Good Times Roll!

My latest package arrived from Amazon today including, to my delight,  Rory's Story Cubes. To my delight because often Amazon will not post games to overseas addresses but somehow Rory's made it through. There are infinite ways to play with Rory's Story Cubes. You can play solitaire or with others with over 10 million variations. With Rory's Story Cubes, anyone can become a great storyteller and there are no wrong answers. The Story Cubes are nine dice with a different icon on each side. Roll the cubes and look at the face up images. Pick an image that will be the starting point for your story. Beginning with "Once upon a time...", make up a story that somehow links all 9 face up images. 

Suggested uses: Party game or ice-breaker, Literacy development, Speaking and listening skills, Creative inspiration, Mental workout, Problem solving.
Burn brightly, Pete

Whole New Ball of Wax

I'm always on the look out for new toys, especially if they are creative as well as interesting looking. This is a new one that's only been out for a few weeks called Ball of Whacks. The Creative Whack Company is a joint partnership of Roger von Oech and Stuart Kaplan. Von Oech is an internationally-known creativity consultant who has worked with many companies around the world and is the author of the best-selling creativity classic, "A Whack on the Side of the Head", a textbook on the creative process from the 80s. Kaplan is the boss of the US Toy Company.

The Ball of Whacks comes with a 96-page creativity guidebook  with tips, stories, exercises, and insights into the creative process. Each individual piece of the Ball of Whacks is a "golden ratio" rhombic pyramid. Held in place by 180 rare earth magnets, these design blocks fit together to form a perfect 30-sided rhombic triacontahedron — geometry's most beautiful shape.

The toy was designed as an aid for creative brainstorming, strategies for problem solving, insights into the creative process, and challenges to construct shapes and mosaics and invent new ones. Its also supposed to be a good stress reliever for active individuals working under pressure. 

Burn brightly, Pete

Department of Doing

Burn brightly, Pete