Exploring Your Creative Genius

Last week’s show was another visit with John Swansey with more of his insights on creative organizations and work environments designed to help nurture the creativity of folks who work in them.

My guest last week was Teri Rider, the owner of Top Reads Publishing, and we talked about books and stories and her early creative childhood. It was as a child that Teri became entranced with books and especially storytelling.

In our most recent show, Mike Bittle talked about how individuals can leverage their creativity for their benefit and that of the organization. He also spoke about creativity and leadership which always brings my attention to servant leadership.

Last week’s show was built around creative sayings or quotes that I then riffed off of. One of my favorites is a quote from Picasso. “Bad artists borrow, great artists steal.”

I did something a little differently with last week’s show. I had a starting point and then let the thoughts I had in the moment drive the next bit of content.

One of the great things about showing up, intentionally, as a creative person is that people treat me as a creative person. Others’ expectations have influence on my choices, helping me be who and how I want to be.

My guest for last week’s show was John Swansey. I was struck by the physical nature of his creative journey, starting when John, as a boy, told his father he was bored so his dad directed him to head downstairs to the basement filled with tools and materials.

As Denise Rowson said during last week’s show, I’ve been trying to get her as a guest to talk about the vitally important work the Durham CDF Freedom School is doing: helping children fall in love with reading.

Our guest last week, Bill Fletcher, is the founder of NC Reads, a non-profit with a tremendously important mission: Helping children achieve reading proficiency by the 3rd grade.

Last week’s show was about your brain on music, specifically how listening to music impacts our creative growth and performance.