Courageously Creative

Do You Know Where You’re Going To?

December 20, 2013 By David Goldstein

The Last Mile

Slightly ruffled the female sounding voice said: “YOU FINAL DESTINATION IS NOT ON A DIGITIZED MAP” – as if asked, how do you get to Santa’s house? Then, with a second thought, the GPS reluctantly gave a route to follow. When reaching the end of the paved roads, she naively said: “YOU HAVE ARRIVED!” Wishful thinking and self proclaimed success – but not worth celebrating and not exactly true — since I’m standing about a mile from the destination.

While we once unfolded our maps and plotted our courses, now our navigation systems handle all the unfolding and plotting and even re-routes us when the odd reindeer is blocking our path. And this is fine for ordinary destinations, but for those less traveled mountains, remote beaches, or arctic expeditions — we don’t exactly know how we will get there or what we will find — and that’s part of the point of going.

Creativity treks far into the less traveled, the out-of-the ordinary, and uncharted. Creating is often messy, and the muddy footprints we leave show that our path isn’t always a straight one. If we do have a map and neatly follow the path to the end, it may leave us blind to some opportunities along the way – however, on the other hand, with no general direction, we may never leave the grid — And we can’t rely on others to unfold our map and plot our course. Whether we start by planning or not, we often don’t know our final destination until we get there.

Ralph Waldo Emerson said: “Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” We can make resolutions and plan for the year ahead but our final destination is not on a digitized map. I’m thankful for all your support and wishing you a creative and wonderful New Year!

Growing Your Creativity

September 20, 2013 By David Goldstein

Standing out

Farmers can’t depend on weather but they can control what types of fruit and vegetables they plant. By knowing their soil and plant hardiness zones, they sow the types of seeds most likely to thrive on their land. We can’t control our environment either, but by knowing yourself — you can find conditions you need to grow.

As farmers would be foolish to bet their harvest on crops not suited for their zone, being creative isn’t about leaving your comfort zone, it’s about finding your comfort zone. When you are most comfortable and doing what you prefer – you are most engaged, most willing to take risks, and most creative.

Shopping at your farmer’s market, you may come across a mushroom tent, bakery, stand with organic produce, vendor selling jams — and also stall-after-stall of the same produce: cherry tomatoes, multicolored squash, and peppers. How do you compare apples with apples when they all look the same? Who do you buy from? What can merchants do to stand out?

They can stand out by being creative and so could you. The way for us to do this is to understand how we are unique. We all have unique experiences, special skills, and our own personality type. There is an infinite amount of creativity that can sprout when you find the conditions that are right for you. And, your greatest strengths and most creativity come from being yourself. In what conditions do you find yourself to be most creative?

Who are the Geniuses in Your Neighborhood? Take a Neighbor to Work day!

July 1, 2013 By David Goldstein

Otto Kroeger

Do you remember the song on Sesame Street “Who are the People in Your Neighborhood?” How much better would it be if we changed the words to “Who are the Geniuses in Your Neighborhood?”

My book CREATIVE YOU launches today and it wouldn’t have been possible without a genius in my neighborhood. About 15 years ago, I met Otto Kroeger my co-author at a neighborhood gathering. It was clear that he was the life-of-the-party and I was surprised to learn that he was also a foremost leader in the field of personality type. Soon after he sized me up he said: “I don’t have enough time, and you don’t have enough money for me to fix you.” We became friends anyway.

Otto spent most of his career teaching people to work together and collaborating on our book was a natural. New ideas often spark when wires cross and this happens when people meet too. We all have specialized knowledge in certain areas and as neighbors we shovel snow side-by-side, wave while taking out the trash, and chat about our cars — running in parallel like the overhead power lines but unfortunately without ever touching on our neighbor’s real knowledge.

It takes some kind of crossing for us to exchange and generate sparks and these sparks are where innovation happens.

In our case our wires got tangle up when, Otto, invited me to a Myers-Briggs seminar he was

crossed wires

giving. As an artist, I connected what he was teaching about personality type with what I knew about creativity. Of course Otto is one-of-a-kind – but it’s the cross-disciplinary concept itself that is repeatable. The best thing we could do is get to know our neighbors and ask them to teach us about what they know – about what their work is like – and in return to share what we know – I propose a:

Take a Neighbor to Work day
1) Find a neighbor who is knowledge in a field that you know little about.
2) Ask if they could use some help and if they are willing to put up with you for an afternoon.
3) Ask yourself: How does their work intersects with your work?

Widely known, charismatic, always surrounded by people, socially Otto threw huge parties, and professionally he was invited to speak all over the world — I’m extremely grateful and fortunate that he took the time to collaborate with a friend. As our book is now complete we are hoping to show a wide audience how to use their natural creativity. My suggestion is to find the genius in YOUR neighborhood and find a way to work with them – it will benefit you both!

Finding Courage to be Yourself from Looking at Flowers

May 7, 2013 By David Goldstein

Tulip Envy?

Jogging past the Boathouse, the XM radio app on my iphone lost its satellite signal so without music to escape into, I was forced to start paying attention to my actual environment.

Opening my eyes, the first thing I noticed were the flowering Magnolias in full bloom. As they grabbed the spotlight, I started thinking about the contrast with the other plants that were refusing to participate. The evergreens remained green as ever, the oaks barely sprouting any buds and many of the tulips were waiting their turn to be next.

Those purple buds won’t open before they’re ready and the inevitable truth is: they will never become red tulips like their flashy neighbors no matter how much they may want to or how hard they try. Similarly, our own power comes without comparing ourselves to others but instead from knowing ourselves – our uniqueness is our strength. After those red tulips have gone to seed, the purple blooms may have their day and we will too.

Just as the plants cycle, we develop in harmony with nature and we all shine at our own times – we can make contrasts without making a comparison. This is so important with different stages of creativity, as we are developing our talents, trying new things, sometimes we shine and other times we see others shining.

Just as I was thinking that nature reminds us to avoid comparing ourselves to others who may be in different stages of their life-cycle – at that moment a woman pushing twins in her stroller – jogged past me as if I was standing still. What differences do you have that you have found to be your unique super powers? or what are your favorite flowers?

Inspired by Allergies

April 23, 2013 By David Goldstein

Do you ever feel like you are practically the only one facing some real challenges that don’t seem to affect many others? When I think of difficult limits from our environment, the line

“it was bye-bye for Shanghai – I’m even allergic to rice”

from Doris Day’s old song comes to mind. Whether you suffer from allergies or not, there are lessons to be learned about finding creative solutions within limits from JD Simone as she discusses her new book: Allergy Safe Cuisine; Cooking Without the Top 8 Food Allergens, Plus Corn, Gluten and MSG Like exit polls before memories fade, a great time to see the inside of the creative process is to ask people immediately after they complete a work. While often creativity is thought to be inspired by infinite possibilities, Simone’s inventiveness came through experimenting within strict limits.

What inspired you to write this book?
I have several family members with severe food allergies. The summer before last was a perfect storm of eating disasters and that experience spurred me on to write this cookbook. The whole family went away on vacation together and, no matter what we made for food, there was always somebody who couldn’t eat it. Compound that with the fact that there were so many people in one kitchen that keeping “safe” food for one person separated from the “safe” food for the other was nearly impossible, especially with a houseful of kids running around. The final straw was when we had a birthday party and one of my granddaughters could not eat the birthday cake. Can you imagine being a child, and having never eaten a single slice of birthday cake? Normally she takes it well, but her tears that time did me in. I decided that from now on, any food I make would be safe for everyone to enjoy. What is your favorite recipe? Lime Parfait. This was one of my own inventions. It tastes surprisingly like custard, is very easy to make, and is very decorative. Great to serve for company! How did you come up with the recipes you used?
I adapted some recipes, and invented others. Since life is complicated enough with multiple food allergies, I decided that every single one of my recipes would be free of the 8 major food allergens, plus corn, gluten and MSG. For people with multiple food allergies, flavorful, mixed dishes and seasonings are usually off limits. That was why I spent a lot of time on spice mixes, dressings, gravies and sauces. My mock Worcestershire sauce took months of experimenting to come up with, but it was well worth the effort. I also included a wide variety of meals and deserts, from the most basic of dishes to a small handful of more complicated ones for adventurous cooks.

I’ve always been involved in something creative. Right now I’m illustrating “Mommy’s First Picture Book: What Nobody Told You About Parenting,” which should be done by mid-summer.

Have you ever found yourself with some real limits and a need to find solutions for yourself or your family? Like the situation that spurred the idea for this cookbook. Please pass this on to anyone you know with food allergies!

Can Your Final Thoughts Spark Fresh Inspiration?

April 11, 2013 By David Goldstein

Pleasant surprise!

Have you ever discovered one last piece of candy in a bag that you thought was empty? Or found a five dollar bill in your jacket pocket left over from last winter? In a way this happened to me when thinking I was completely done with my book CREATIVE YOU. The final manuscript is submitted, the Facebook page is up and I even noticed it’s already listed for preorder on Amazon when the publisher surprised me by asking for 5 more words to balance out a page. If you were given one last chance to write or speak about something you cared about what would you say?

What would you say?

While first impressions are very powerful, so are our last thoughts. Do you ever sense something is going to be the last time? I still remember 16 years ago: knowing the moving van would be coming in the morning and instead of packing, I was standing in the dark, squinting at a stopwatch, scooping my test strip from the developer and submerging it into stop bath. I wanted to get the exposure right since I knew this was going to be one of the last black & white prints I would ever make before boxing up my enlarger and trays.

Sometimes we see the end approaching like the final episodes of a sitcom or the last sip of wine and other times we are taken by surprise – as we unknowingly have a last casual conversation with a friend before they unexpectedly disappear from our lives. Foreseen or not, ends can produce strong memories and provoke powerful inspirations.

Our final impressions are often the cumulative of our experiences – like learning just the right place to watch the last sunset while on an island vacation or just the right meal to order in a favorite restaurant that is going to close. When things end we are left with our memories – and for some people memories become sources for inspirations.

They did for Edvard Munch, most know for “The Scream” who was inspired by his intense childhood memories. He said “I don’t paint what I see but what I saw.” While, there are many ways to be creative – reminiscing isn’t what inspires everyone. Picasso said “All I have ever made was made for the present and with the hope that it will always remain in the present.” And he continued: “I have done it without thinking of the past or of the future.”

When you are aware a chapter will inevitably end, do you try to preserve your memories? What do you keep? And how do you plan to use them for future inspiration? Or do you prefer to let go of the past and gain your inspirations from what is happening now? What will you do with the very last piece of candy?