Creativity

I shall preface this by saying it’s my own fault, by publicly declaring I hadn’t had a cold or bug for more than a year. So from my semi-sick bed I’m writing this after leaving work early. I didn’t feel great but I was more worried about kaste op-ing in full view of my workmates.

But this piece isn’t about me (not everything is). It’s about creativity.

I work in advertising so it’s full of creative minds. We had the creative department’s annual seminar last week in Sweden. Set in an area not dissimilar to New England or Vermont in autumn (of fall if you’re a US-er). Unfortunately, we didn’t see much of it except from the bus because the seminar was very intense apart from the place we stayed at: a ‘four star’ spa-resort that, I have to say, reminded me much of the hotel in The Shining. Pics on that later.

In the middle of two full days of presentations of what everyone had been up to for the year, about half of us had to do a five minute presentation on something creative. The theme was ‘I like this because…’. For me, it was undoubtedly the most fascinating part of the seminar because I gained insight to people I work with every day but know not much about.

What it did show me was how many creative minds are about. One had taken a photograph everyday of somewhere in Copenhagen, for a year. Another, a keen surfer and skateboarder showed an amazing film of skateboarders in action. An art director picked apart a bit of old print advertising which was hysterical, someone read some clever prose, another displayed a sporting arena they had designed. That’s just some – but they were all amazing.

One person showed this piece. A talk by Sir Ken Robinson. It was not only funny but poignant. It’s a talk at a seminar called, ‘Do School’s today kill creativity’. What he says is so true. As we age, life can really suck the creativity out of us. We push people into boxes and for so many, in the end, daily life just becomes a goal of survival, rather than following dreams and talents.

Have a look and see what you think. There are some really funny bits around the 3.49 minute mark – but the whole video is worth watching.