Midful Mimi

I just wanted to remind you that this blog has moved. So please join me over HERE and subscribe to the new RSS feed or follow me via Networkedblogs.

Dear creative readers, Time has come to take you on a journey. The 'simply blogging for fun' era has come to an end. I am now taking things seriously :-) I have moved to a new blog and new website which I let you discover. This blog will no longer be fueled with creative posts. Therefore, please surf on over to the new blog to make sure you don't miss a thing. Both Blogger and Mindfulmimi.com will continue to direct to the new blog. Meet you there for some serious creative business!

When I spend an afternoon with my children (3 and almost 5) I am always and again amazed at their ability to play. EVERYTHING is play. Everything they do is for entertainment and learning only. Some examples of just one afternoon: My 3 year old: spent 15 minutes throwing a balloon into the air shouting 'wheeeee' and catching it (marveling at how it never falls back down the same way or place) then he got a plastic container in which he put the balloon and ran around the house with it going...

Creativity is killed by: office politics a boss who controls fear the hanging on to 'things have always been done this way' procedures and process etc So in order to protect your creativity from these viruses, you need to create a protective bubble. The bubble is an environment filled with things like: self knowledge curiosity faith, safety and trust allowance to make mistakes playfulness friends, like minded people and sounding boards etc Do you have a bubble' If not, how can you blow one...

I was listening to an audio book where an American student was describing his Guatemalan roommate as exotic. Sun on your skin, beaches, mosquitoes, colorful clothing, palm trees and lush green and blue scenery, sing song language. Exotic, yes. But normal, every day life when you're Guatemalan. It's the same with creativity. The things you do in your normal way may look exotic to someone else. And have you really looked at the normal, routine life you're leading' Is it really that...

How much time do you spend in front of the TV' Honestly. Give me a number if you can... One movie a night' That's 1,5-2 hours times 7... Not that bad you say. Well, statistics say that if you live in the US or the UK, you spend 28 hours per week in front of the screen. You're doing a little better if you live elsewhere. 28 HOURS! That's more than 3 whole work days! Wow! Just think about what you get DONE in 3 work days! And that's at WORK! This is your free time we're talking...

Whenever we have an idea, we would like to run it by some people to get validation. We want to hear that our idea is great. We don't want to fail. So we want others to tell us that we won't. We want to make it foolproof. Then again, we don't want others to think we (or our ideas) are stupid. And we often lack confidence in our own ability to come up with brilliance. So often enough, we keep our idea to ourselves. We work away on it, trying to perfect it. And when we think it's ready for...

Do Nothing is a technique described by Brian Clegg in his book Crash Course in Creativity. How often have you been in a meeting where a problem is being discussed and you think it's not really that important' How often do we spend working on something and afterward feel like we could have spent this time more efficiently' How often has someone rushed into your office with an urgent 'needs to be done immediately or else...' issue' We often assume that something needs to be done about a...

Some people are lucky: They find the penny (or even a bill) on the street. They bump into the right people at the right moment. Good things just happen to them all the time. They are seated next to Carl Lewis on the plane (yes yes, I know someone). They get to do the coolest things they love to do. They keep coming up with the best ideas. Why is that you think' Luck' And then why don't these things happen to me' Well, let me ask you a question: Do you notice every 'little thing'? No, of...

People tell me it's difficult to be creative every day. Of course it is. But if you set up a few systems to create a creative routine, you can easily be creative every day. Being creative does not necessarily mean you have to paint a painting or write a song. Here are a few ideas on how you can start (or end) your day with something creative: Buy the book "The Art of Looking Sideways" by Alan Fletcher. Put it on your desk at work and open it to a new page every day. You will not only...