When I was growing up, the space race was in full flight, NASA’s Mercury and Gemini missions were on every front page and every TV newscast.
The sofa in the front room of our home was my personal rocket ship. It took me on orbital flights and trips to the lunar surface.
When there was no mission, it became my pirate ship, or my fort.
It was anything I could imagine, and believe me, I can imagine a lot!
I firmly believe that our imaginations are at their peak when we are seven or eight years old.
We have no restrictions on where our minds can take us, no limits on what we can adapt to use to win battles, seek adventure and conquer new worlds.
Now, well into my adulthood, I strive every day to be creative. My clients ask me to come up with new ideas, new concepts, new ways to sell their products and services.
And just about every day, before I tackle the challenges of client demands, I play.
As I write this, I look across my desk and see my yo-yo. I can pick it up, walk around my home office and try a few tricks, like “walk-the-dog” or “rock-the-baby.” I concentrate on each new trick and release my mind from concepts and copy.
That’s when the lightning strikes.
I have my toy 747 jumbo jet. I imagine piloting that plane to far off destinations, with tricky landings on icy runways that only I can accomplish. Again, I release my mind from words and grammar. Again the lightning strikes.
I have other games on my desk. Nothing elaborate and nothing electronic. Card games, puzzles.
I play. I don’t look for solutions for my clients’ challenges, and that is when they come most easily.
So, I ask you, do you play? Do you have a way to release your inner, childlike imagination?
And this question is not only for writers and for designers (the creative folks.”) This question is for anyone who needs to create new solutions to the daily challenges that arise.
Thanks for reading…
Peter T. Britton
Idea generator. Wordsmith. Resultant. (Big Kid!)
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