the challenge
I am on in an exploration mode again today, looking for things inspired by the Time Tunnel Seed. I have to admit, this is one of the Seed I use most in workshops. So I doubted my ability to surprise myself. Armed with the Seed in mind, I went out for some errands.
my insight
The immediate interpretation most people, me included, give to the Time Tunnel Seed is that of time travel. The association to the mythological TV series is not accidental. So I am used to see (and capture) Insights of either ancient things or some futuristic things. And if they seem out of context, as if they traveled in time, even better.
I was ready to discover such a thing when this empty swing caught me by surprise. It’s not particularly old, nor is it futuristic. And yet, when I saw it I thought of the Seed and knew that this is going to be my Insight.
I stood there in the park staring at the swing and thinking about my children. How fast time passes and how easy it is not to pay attention to these magical moments that will soon be replaced with something else.
As you move forward in time, you are seeing less and less of what you are leaving behind. It’s not just that you get farther away — your field of view becomes so narrow until you can see only a tiny point of light representing where you came from. I thought of me walking through time as if it is a tunnel.
reflection
The visual Insight I captured is pretty banal. I wouldn’t have shared it as a creative Insight as is. In fact, the photo of the swing is just a reminder for me — a reminder of the thought I had when I saw it.
It is that thought that I consider the Creative Insight. Whether it is “objectively” an original thought or not is not important. It caught me by surprise. It wasn’t trivial for me and hadn’t occurred to me before today. The swing was the trigger as much as the Seed was the trigger. From that point on it is far less important.
And that is the nature of so many examples of creative processes: you see something, then you see something else, a thought is being conceived which is somehow connected to these things and a few others maybe, one thing leads to another, and eventually you end up with an outcome which is hard to trace back to its origins. But it is a new and non-trivial outcome. At least for you.
mental notes
- The creative process is not a formula or a recipe. Anything can happen. We just need to prepare the setup (and our mind) for it.
- Try to break free from the common or immediate interpretation of things.
now it is your turn… be creative!