Welcome to our brand new newsletter. We know you value creativity, and we value your time, so here’s the deal. Each issue includes three creativity-boosting ideas. It’s a three-minute read, but reading is only the first step. The real value is in experiencing and experimenting with these ideas. It is also the fun part. So, I invite you to invest just a few minutes reading each issue, but then dedicate some time during the week to play with the ideas, see what works for you, and maybe come up with new creativity-enabling ideas of your own. If you come up with such ideas, we’d love it if you shared them, and perhaps we will introduce them in a future issue.
Ready? Let’s have some creative fun! Here are three unexpected places in which you can practice your imagination.
The Elevator
Most people will look down at the floor when sharing an elevator with others. Some will look at the tiny electronic sign to verify they are moving in the right direction. But this short and standard ride can be an opportunity for us to imagine.
Imagine what’s on every floor. What happens right now in each office or apartment you pass by as you are on your way up or down? Imagine it as a scene from a movie where the camera moves from floor to floor and catches a random collection of micro-scenes.
Don’t try to get it right. Let your imagination go wild. Imagine ordinary, everyday scenes, but also bizarre, out-of-this-world scenes taking place just now outside of the elevator’s doors as you move from floor to floor.
The Grocery Shop
Can a grocery shop turn into an imaginarium? Sure it can! All you need is a couple of, well, groceries.
It doesn’t matter if you love to cook or if you find even preparing scrambled eggs a challenge. In your imagination, you can do whatever you want. Look at some random groceries around you and imagine the craziest dish you can come up with. See it in your mind, smell it, and taste it. Let all your senses be part of this experience.
Now, try to replace a couple of ingredients with others. Imagine the new variation of your dish. Is it better? Stranger? Will you try preparing it for real?
The Street
Next time you walk on the street, turn off the music or your favorite podcast and listen. Listen to what people you walk by are saying. Don’t stop walking. You will hear nothing more than tiny bits of conversations, or maybe even a fraction of one side of the conversation, and that’s exactly what you need to get your imagination into gear.
Pick one such fragment, and imagine the context of the conversation, who is on the other side, what it is about, and how it evolves. Don’t try to guess “the right” answer. Let your imagination lead the way. Imagine how the conversation has started and how it will end. Imagine the conversation as part of a grander story because it really is.