• Food for Thought

• Developing Creativity

Welcome back from the holidays! New Year can be a great time to make plans to do fun, enriching activities throughout the year. Instead of making resolutions, I compile a list of all the fun things I want to learn or do during the year. Have you set play goals? If not, then you might be surprised at how pleasant it can be.

Over the years I have noticed that many things on my play lists are artistic. I probably wouldn’t have thought much about the type of things on this year’s list except I was thinking about two books I recently read.

Daniel Pink, author of A Whole New Mind, Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future, suggests that some jobs will be automated and others outsourced to countries where workers will do the work for less pay. The jobs that remain here at home will be those that require workers to be more right brain-directed or creative. Hot careers will involve conceptualization, innovation, creation, and designing not only for function but also for beauty, whimsy or emotional engagement. Workers will be sought who can analyze an abundance of available data and information, extract disparate pieces, and from that synthesize a compelling or persuasive story or narrative. As the workplace focuses on collaboration and team work, workers will be required to exercise social and interpersonal skills.

It is not all about work either. Play, humor, games, laughter and light-heartedness are thought to improve the work environment and the overall well-being and satisfaction of workers. Our ancestors struggled with basic survival activities that various technologies now perform for us. Consequently, we have the luxury of time to consider the more esoteric aspects of life and seek meaningful, spiritual fulfillment.

In Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, author Betty Edwards contends that everyone has the ability to draw provided the analytical, verbal portion of our brains can be distracted so that the more creative, visual areas of our brains can be more operative. You may want to try her exercises and test her theory. The examples she provides are amazing.

I was delighted recently to discover several websites that are creative and playful. Here are some fun and free things to do:

A wide range of creative avenues from altered books to woodworking can be explored at www.creativity-portal.com. You can also print out a cool calendar that fits into a jewel CD case that can be propped open on your desk. I thought that was quite clever.

If you are looking for how-to shows, LPB has tons of them. Check the weekend schedule for LPB 1 and the entire schedule for LPB 3 at LPB Schedules. (Did you know that there are 3 LPB channels?)

If you would love to play but your attention span and memory are shot, then you may want to develop your brain with the free games at http://www.lumosity.com/brain-games/flexibility-games. If you wonder where creative ideas come from, browse through Arts and Culture: Exploring Inspiration at http://www.pbs.org/now/arts/creativity.html.

School reform often encourages teachers to “engage” their students to develop 21st century skills. Do you ever wonder what that means? Some ideas can be found at http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/engaged.htm. I love the idea of students as explorers—a wonderful vision for life-long learning.

I noticed a quote on an email from Richard Baker, Fine Arts Program Coordinator for the Louisiana Department of Education, that is pertinent: “Students use their imagination to be creative. This will lead to innovations that will improve the quality of life for all. One of our jobs is to develop and nurture the students’ love of the arts.” Our job is also to nurture our own love of the arts. To receive the Arts Bulletin email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) indicating Subscribe Arts e-bulletin.

If you are pondering the meaning of life and happiness, then I hope you are watching the new series airing on LPB from January 4th – 6th called This Emotional Life. If you missed the series, you can watch it online at http://www.pbs.org/thisemotionallife/home. The host, Daniel Gilbert, who wrote Stumbling on Happiness, explores ways to improve social relationships, cope with emotional issues, find happiness, and become more positive, resilient individuals. Who wouldn’t be interested in that?

That leaves me wondering a few things:
1) What would you put on your play list?
2) What play websites do you recommend?
3) How do you teach or encourage creativity in your classes?
4) What makes you happy?


Ellen W. Wydra, Ph.D.
Director, Educational Television and Technology
Louisiana Public Broadcasting

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