Is “echieve” a typo? Nope! Every achievement worth significance comes from acting on your most creative expression. Most of us have left creative expression in the sandbox or on the desk of our second grade classroom.

Our kindergarten teacher and elementary school art teacher let us make anything we could think of. We painted with fingers, pasted weird figures, and turned the images of our young minds into refrigerator masterpieces. We did it so well, our teacher let us head on to the next grade.

Do you remember your kindergarten class? Most likely, you have forgotten. Ask to visit the kindergarten classroom in your community. I did; bright green and yellow walls, pictures on the walls, yellow footprints on the floor, colors hanging from the ceiling with rugs on the floor. Fish, gerbils, guinea pigs, and parakeets fed and watched. Everyone is expected to talk and laugh, and sit on the floor for “circle time” with a feast of milk and graham crackers.

On Parent night, I visit my son and daughter’s classroom. Two posters on the wall, drab green paint, dreary gray tile, with desks in neat rows. Everyone is expected to stay at their desk, talk when given permission, and never talk to their classmate during class. They seldom get “circle time”, and cookies and milk are for special occasions.

Sir Kenneth Robinson says “creativity is one of the casualties of education”. As we age, we abandon creative thinking; we might do something wrong, or “step out of line”. Robinson reminds us that “children are not afraid of mistakes”. No one has told them to be quiet; they are cute, and every idea is special.

As we grow older (not the same as maturing), our eccentricities and off-the-wall ideas get squelched. We are told to “get in line”, “behave”, “do what you are told or you won’t succeed.

Cultures suffer when wet blankets are thrown over creative fires and passions. Committees seek solutions within tightly constructed protocols. Bringing groups together for “no holds-barred” brainstorming happens rarely in business, community, or family. Where childhood imagination prevails, ideas flourish. You can learn more from Alberta S. Johnson’s article Creative Kids Make Intelligent Adults: A Must In The Business World

Given the social, economic, political, and ecological problems confronting us, encouraging creative thinking or “outside the box” ideas should be taught, encouraged, and rewarded. Remembering how to think creatively challenges all of us.

Picasso said, “All children are born artists”. Robinson says, “The problem is to remain artists as we grow-up.” Listen to his humorous insights here (I’ve heard him speak: his content is plugged with belly-rolling humor). Sir Kenneth Robinson explains how to get those creative juices flowing in his book Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative

Creative thinking solves problems with some concurrent challenges. The Flowing River blog delves into these issues with helpful insights.

You can evaluate your creative strengths by taking the free 40 question assessment of your creative ability.  CREAX.com provides the 40 questions for “your level of creativity”.  Questions help us find answers, and this series of questions could be life-changing for you.

December 30, 2007 is the last recorded-day for Donald Murray. His “Now and Then” columns are read by all ages. Bryan Marquard (Boston Globe, December 31, 2006) writes, “For Mr. Murray, each column, each sentence presented an opportunity to teach….” Donald Murray wrote well, but never considered it an esoteric task, or specialized work. He believed that “Good writing may be magical, but it’s not magic. It’s a process, a rational series of steps and decisions that all writers take.”

Disciplined steps are not achieved by using short-cuts (software, formula, ghost writer); they are learned. Murray writes, “The flow of writing is always a surpirse and a challenge. Click the computer on and I am 17 again, wanting to write and not knowing if I can.” He did because he did it.

The Internet truism, “It’s all about content” deserves mention. Content matters, but truth matters more. Donald Murry writes about the truths of his life as he perceives them. His daughter Anne says, “He basically lived through his writing….Everything had to be sifted through his writing-the good and the bad. His whole life was writing.”

If we lack the drive and focus of Donald Murray, we cannot avoid the commitment to finding the truth within any topic, idea, concept, or sales pitch. When seeking truth, something passionately magical takes place with pen in hand and fingers on the keyboard.

Talent does not matter either. Trying does. Murray said, “My parents and teachers got together and decided I was stupid. My response was to develop a private mantra: ‘I’m stupid but I can come in early and stay late.’ Surprise. It worked. Good work habits will beat talent every time.”

Read more about him at Fosters On Line

You will find his books listed on Amazon.com such as: Write To Learn