"LIFE IS LIKE A BOX OF CHOCOLATES"

                                        THE ADVENTURE OF CREATIVITY

     I LOVE THE MOVIE FOREST GUMP, AND HIS ABILITY TO USE HIS MIND TO SHARE ALL THE DIFFERENT SCENARIOS HE ENVISIONED. FOR THOSE OF US WHO HAS SEEN THE MOVIE, RIGHT AWAY, WE SEE HIS DISABILITIES, THOSE OF HIS BODY BUT HIS MIND WAS UNLIMITED. FREE AND CLEAR TO WONDER WHEREVER IT TOOK HIM.

     DO YOU EVER WONDER WHY DOROTHY IN THE WIZARD OF OZ FOLLOWED THE YELLOW BRICK ROAD? SURE, THE MUNCHKINS’ SUGGESTED IT BUT IT WAS HER SENSE OF ADVENTURE TOO THAT TOOK HER ON A REMARKABLE JOURNEY.

CREATIVITY IS VERY MUCH LIKE THAT. THE MIND IS A WONDROUS LIVING, THINKING, ORGANISM ALL OF ITS OWN, THAT CAN TAKE US ON OUR OWN PERSONAL TRIP TO WHEREVER WE WANT TO GO.

     AS A CHILD I WAS A DAYDREAMER, ACTUALLY, I STILL AM. I FIND MYSELF SOMETIMES JUST STARING OFF INTO THE UNKNOWN. MY MIND IS NEVER A BLANK SCREEN; EVEN WHILE I SLEEP, I AM EXPOSED TO MANY FACETS OF THE IMAGINATION.

     THE QUESTION WAS ASKED ONCE TO A GROUP OF INDIVIDUALS I HAPPEN TO BE IN THE MIDST OF, AND IT WAS DO YOU DREAM?

THE RESPONSE FOR MOST OF THE OCCUPANTS IN THE ROOM WAS; NO, NEVER. OF COURSE, I’M ALWAYS THE ODD ONE AND I REPLIED; YES ALL THE TIME, IN VIVID COLORS.

     WHILE THEY STARED AT ME AS IF I WAS THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM, I MARVELED AT HOW THE MIND WORKS. WHILE I DREAMT IN TECHNICOLOR, THEIR MINDS WERE A GIGANTIC VOID. I’M NOT A SCIENTIST, THEREFORE I HAD TO RESEARCH WHY SOME PEOPLE DREAM AND OTHERS DON’T. THE CONSENSUS IS EVERYONE DREAMS DURING SLEEP, BUT NOT EVERYONE RECALLS THE MENTAL ESCAPADE THE NEXT DAY AND EVEN SCIENTIST AREN’T SURE WHY SOME PEOPLE REMEMBER MORE THAN OTHERS. (THIS INFORMATION CAME FROM LIFE SCIENCE.COM.) IN CASE, YOU WANT TO READ THE ARTICLE FOR YOURSELVES.

     I AM NOT THE TYPE OF PERSON WHO ENJOYS TRAVELING, ESPECIALLY ON THE HIGHWAY AND BYWAYS. I HAVE A PHOBIA THAT’S RELATED TO BEING ON THE INTERSTATE WITH “BIG TRUCKS”, AS MY GRANDSON SAYS. BUT THROUGH IMAGINATION I CAN GO WHEREVER I DESIRE, SEEK OUT NEW WORLDS AND NEW CIVILIZATIONS, TO FULLY GO WHERE NO MAN HAS GONE BEFORE! IF YOU’LL ALLOW ME TO CHANNEL STAR TREK FOR A MOMENT.

     SERIOUSLY, AGAINST MY WILL MY MIND HAS FREE REIGN TO GO WHEREVER IT TAKES ME. THUS, I GATHER IS THE PROCESS OF A CREATIVE MIND. IF YOU LACK IMAGINATION THEN, IN MY OPINION, YOU ARE STUCK IN A BOX WITHOUT WINDOWS AND A VIEW TO THE INNER AND OUTSIDE WORLD OF YOUR MIND.

CREATIVITY IS A GIFT FROM GOD, WE ALL HAVE IT IN ONE FORM OR ANOTHER, BUT IF YOU NEVER TAP INTO THE WELL SPRING OF YOUR IMAGINATION, THEN IT STAGNATES AND EVENTUALLY DRIES UP.

     CREATIVITY IS AN ADVENTURE, A VIEW OF THE UNKNOWN, UNTRAVELED, AND A ROAD TO IMAGINABLE DISCOVERIES.

JUST LIKE DREAMS, I WONDERED WHY SOME PEOPLE ARE MORE CREATIVE THAN OTHERS ARE. PLEASE UNDERSTAND I’M NOT IMPLYING THAT THERE IS SOMETHING LACKING IN ANYONE WHO’S MINDS AREN’T AS HIGH FUNCTIONING AS OTHERS. BECAUSE WE ALL HAVE THIS ABILITY, BUT IT’S HOW YOU USE THE POWER OF THE CREATIVE MIND THAT MAKES THE DIFFERENCE. 

     ALWAYS CURIOUS AND EAGER TO LEARN I ALSO RESEARCHED THE WHYS AND HOW’S OF THE CREATIVE MIND. MY JOURNEY LED ME TO DISCOVER WHY SOME ARE MORE CREATIVE THAN OTHERS ARE ONCE AGAIN.

A 2013 STUDY IN THE CREATIVITY RESEARCH JOURNAL HELPS SHED SOME LIGHT ON THE SUBJECT. RESEARCHERS THINK THAT CREATIVITY IS RELATED TO TEMPERAMENT, TRAITS SUCH AS INTROVERSION OR EXTROVERSION, DIVERGENT THINKING: THE PROCESS OF GENERATING IDEAS BY EXPLORING MANY SOLUTIONS.

OKAY, THIS IS A VERY SCIENTIFIC EXPLANATION OF WHY THE BALANCE OF CREATIVITY IS STRONGER IN SOME INDIVIDUALS MORE SO THAN OTHERS.

HOWEVER, I LIVE MY LIFE ON A MORE SPIRITUAL PLAIN, WHICH SUGGEST AS I SAID BEFORE, GOD INSTILLED MANY OF THE SAME TRAITS IN EVERYONE, BUT HOW WE USE THEM IS ENTIRELY UP TO US BECAUSE WE ARE QUITE SEPARATE WHEN IT COMES TO PROCESSING INFORMATION.

YES, WE ALL WERE CREATED EQUALLY AND OF ONE RACE AS HUMAN BEINGS, BUT CREATIVITY IS A JOURNEY IN ONE'S MIND AS IT RELATES TO WRITING, ART, AND ACTING, WHATEVER THE CASE MAY BE. 

     I WANTED TO LAY OUT A CASE SCENARIO FOR YOU AS IT APPLIES TO BEING CREATIVE. HOWEVER, MY MAIN GOAL IS TO SAY THAT WE SHOULD NEVER STIFLE THE PROCESS. WE SHOULD ALLOW OUR MINDS TO FLOW ON A POSITIVE STREAM. IT'S GOOD FOR YOU FOLKS AS WELL REDUCES STRESS, WHEN YOU CAN RELAX, RELATE, RELEASE.

AT THE SAME TIME I KNOW SOMETIMES OUR MINDS CAN TAKE US TO PLACES WE SHOULDN’T AND DON’T NEED TO GO, BUT CAN ALSO LEAD TO A PATH OF WONDERFULNESS TOO.

     I LOVE READING AND WRITING, AND HOW THE MIND WORKS. ALTHOUGH I WRITE FOR A LIVING, I AM STILL AMAZED BY A GREAT STORY WRITTEN BY ONE OF MY FAVORITE AUTHORS OR A BOOK THAT I’M READING FOR THE FIRST TIME. I LOVE THAT, THAT PART OF ME WHICH IS STILL CHILDLIKE, INNOCENT, AND PURE, CAN STILL IMAGINE, AND SEE THE STORY INSTEAD OF JUST LISTENING AS IT UNFOLDS.

     CREATIVITY IS LIKE A BOX OF CHOCOLATES, FILLED WITH VARIETY AND THE ANTICIPATION THAT EACH ONE HOLDS ITS OWN SWEET SECRET JUST WAITING FOR YOU TO BITE INTO IT AND TASTE.

IT REMINDS ME OF TIMES PAST WHEN CIVILIZATIONS AROUND THE WORLD WOULD TRAVEL TO UNCHARTED COUNTRIES TO SEE WHAT THEIR SECRETS HELD AS WELL. IMAGINE IF PONCE DE LEON HAD NEVER TRAVELED WITH COLUMBUS NOT IN SEARCH OF A NEW WORLD, BUT THE FABLED FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH, HE WOULDN’T HAVE BECOME FAMOUS IN HIS OWN RIGHTS OR GOVERNOR OF PUERTO RICA. THERE ARE SO MANY OTHERS TOO NUMEROUS TO MENTION THAT ALLOWED THEIR IMAGINATION TO LEAD THEM ON THEIR OWN DISCOVERIES AS WELL. WE ARE CAPABLE OF THIS SAME FEAT IF WE ALLOW OUR MIND TO COURSE UN-TETHERED OF ITS OWN ACCORD.

     GOD GAVE US A WONDERFUL AND MIND BLOWING GIFT. NOT ONLY TO THINK AND PROBLEM SOLVE BUT TO USE IT AS A REMARKABLE INSTRUMENT JUST LIKE A PAINTERS BRUSH OR THE PAPER AND PEN OF A WRITER, TO CREATE THINGS ONLY THEIR MINDS EYE CAN SEE. THE WONDERFUL PART IS THEY ALLOW US INTO THEIR WORLD EXPOSING THEIR MOST INNER THOUGHTS AND IDEAS.

CREATIVITY IS THAT YELLOW BRICK ROAD THAT LED DOROTHY TO NEW DISCOVERIES, THE EMERALD CITY, AND EVENTUALLY BACK HOME.

MUCH LIKE DOROTHY, WE CAN ALSO LEARN HOW TO BE COURAGE’S, SHOW HUMANITY THROUGH OUR GIFTS, ALL THE WHILE USING THE POWER OF OUR BRAINS TO CARRY US TO WONDERFUL NEW PLACES.

     THE QUESTION IS, WHERE DO YOU WANT TO GO TODAY? IF YOU TAP INTO THE NATURAL RESOURCE OF YOUR MIND, YOU CAN BE TRANSPORTED TO WHEREVER THE JOURNEY LEADS.