Skip to main content

Creativity: Stifling vs. Channeling

From the perspective of the creative, direction (channeling) and stifling look very similar. Ultimately, it's the end goal that determines the difference. Channeling is about helping the creation be the most effective, most powerful it can be. Stifling is about eliminating a threat, whether that threat is direct (ie: being offended) or indirect (ie: fear of your child's career because they're "wasting time" on the arts).

One challenge for the creative: finding the right mentors. As youth, our mentors and leaders are chosen for us. Think teachers, pastors, camp counselors...you get the picture. Generally, finding the right mentor to trust is act of pure luck. As we get older, and (hopefully) wiser and more aware, we are able to be more direct about choosing who we let into those positions of trust. But even as youth, it's often possible to determine the difference, and, thus, put the stifling actions off to the side.

On the other end, it's important for us leaders to direct, to channel, to help the creatives around us maximize their voice. Part of that is getting the right challenges in front of the right minds. Part of it is to relax our egos and hear the voices of the different. And, the biggest part, is to focus on that caring, compassionate core and focus on bringing the best out in everyone around us.

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Driving along in Kirkland , home of the modern yuppie, I’m passed by a new Mercedes. Lovely, silver, shiny, new, bling-bling; a part of me loaded with insecurity twinges while I purr along in my Toyota. Why? How come this is a metric of my self-esteem? Am I being unfair to myself, being upset by this train of thought and it’s influence? Consider, please, how much this viewpoint is drilled into us. Look at how often this imagery gets pushed into our faces, and how long that’s been going on. It shouldn’t surprise me, really, that I sometimes feel this way. Though my conscious values oppose this, the lingering thread of this programming has threads into the depths psyche.
4 comments
Read more

Oh, A Meeting We Will Go

This post gives me pause. Meetings, the infernal overwrought obsession of our lives. It's not just corporate America, but the various groups and org's I've dallied with over the years suffer from meetopia, too. No one I know likes the blasted things, yet I don't know anyone offering up a successful resistance. Related to this, methinks, I have noted that I do a great deal over my workdays (check off a ridiculous number of to-dos) and accomplish little or nothing. The mass of tasks don't roll up to anything. And I've noticed a lingering sense of frustration lately. I spend precious little time reflecting on my goals, and how I can link them to what I do over the course of any given day. I'm so divorced from this, I really wonder what I really want to do, to accomplish any more. Within a recess of my brain comes a niggling thought. Perhaps this passion for meetings offers up a substitute for reflection. Knowing that we must account, personally, face-to-face f...
2 comments
Read more

Seattle, The Viaduct, and Life In The City

Here’s my response to this article/survey ( online at the Seattle PI ). The Question: What's the best option for the viaduct? Gov. Gregoire seems to have resuscitated the possibility for a tunnel to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct. Have you decided what transportation option you want on the waterfront? If not, what information do you need in order to come to a decision? Looking over the debate, the mayor only seems to be concerned about the beautification aspects of this whole debate. I'm bothered by the fact that few folks are mentioning the economic impact of tunnel construction, how we will mitigate the effects of this roadway being inaccessible for nearly a decade, or, of course, the justification of the extra expense. The tunnel hasn't been sold to me, at least. Personally, I’m worried that this project has not been thought through. The economic impacts for areas such as Ballard and immense, and haven’t been publicly addressed/discussed. May...
2 comments
Read more