the challenge
Every now and then I play with a seempli eXperience instead of a creative challenge. Experiences are essential to creativity. They provide raw material for creation, for new thoughts and ideas, and for surprising connections.
The major difference between playing with an eXperience and a creative exploration play mode is that we are not expected to create anything. In fact, we are not even expected to imagine or come up with an insight. All we need to do is to be present. To be connected to the experience and flow with it.
Today, I am going to walk in the rain.
my insight
So, first I have to confess. I didn’t plan this. The experience I went through today just happened. And that’s perfectly OK. The best experiences won’t come from playing seempli — they will just happen. It is up to us to be open, to identify the opportunity for a new experience and to flow with it.
So, we were having brunch with friends. It was a perfect autumn day. It had been raining throughout the weekend, but for the past few hours it seemed like the rain was behind us, at least of the rest of the day.
We went out for a walk. Spoiler alert: none of us took an umbrella.
We went to a nearby park and let our children lead the way. For some strange reason, they went off the main path. We decided to flow with it (well, if “flow” includes calling after them that this might not be a very good idea). The sky became darker as we were walking farther from home, and then (surprise) it started to rain.
At this point we had two choices: fight it (with no real chance of getting out of this fight drier), or enjoy it. Well, I guess you can see what we chose:
reflection
You already know my mantra: inspiration is everywhere. Surprises are everywhere. All we have to do is open our senses.
And the same applies to experiences — we don’t have to go far to experience things. We just have to be more open to the possibilities. And a long walk in the rain without an umbrella, whether it is planned or not, is a great opportunity to experience things we don’t normally do. It is a chance to be a child once more.
What does that have to do with creativity? Just about everything. Creativity feeds on anomalies and things which fall out of pattern. Creativity feeds on triggers our brain does not mask just because we’ve been there and done that already. And any new experience — even a walk in the rain — is a great source for that.
Throughout our creative exploration we are working on seeing things differently. Sometimes, things can actually be different if we are willing to embrace them.
mental notes
- Plan to experience.
- Be open for unplanned experiences.
now it is your turn… be creative!