Westside Toastmasters is located in Los Angeles and Santa Monica, California
Exercise
Describing Creativity
What do you think of creativity? Right now, before you begin a book dedicated to the topic, it's time to get to the heart of your current beliefs. Consider it a gauge that pinpoints the starting point of your journey.
On the back of the page, write or draw everything you really believe about creative people. Do you think they're geniuses? Airy-fairy? Impractical? Inspirational? Weird? Powerful? Wear too much black? Be as detailed as you possibly can, and get it all out!
When you've written everything you can, examine the list carefully. Where did those ideas come from? Are they grounded in your experience? Something you saw on television? How attached are you to these beliefs?
A person's attitude toward creativity is one of the chief factors that determine whether he or she is able to tap into it. How many of the beliefs you listed may actually keep you from accessing your own creativity, either because they don't seem worthwhile, or because they seem like something beyond what ordinary you can aspire to?
Consider your descriptions again. Would they match Thomas Edison? Benjamin Franklin? Ghandi? Steve Jobs? Queen Elizabeth the First? These are all deeply creative people who used those abilities to change the world.
You just finished the first of many experimental exercises you'll find in this resource. Please complete each one as you come to it, and don't read any further until you've done so. Each exercise is carefully designed to help you understand new ideas instinctively and emotionally, not just intellectually.