How To Rekindle Things

The popular digital readers from Amazon, the Kindle, is getting a revamp. If you thought of ordering one for Christmas it’s too late. They are sold out completely. That is bad news if you were holding out for one for the holidays. It is great news in that the new version will be released around February 1 and the price will perhaps be a bit lower than the current $350 U.S.

Since Kindle is refashioning their design at the end of the calendar year, maybe the handwriting is on the wall for the rest of us as well. We need to rethink our ways as well. We need to “ReKindle” if you will.

I have labored for years over the colliding topics of originality versus effectiveness. I ran a piece on this blog two years ago this week that parlayed its way into a front page article on the Wall Street Journal. Suzanne Satteline penned the eventual lengthy piece as an interview take with me and a number of other voices who have input about matters that have been relegated in the past to the catch-all of “Plagiarism.” But all of that is changing. Creativity in the Information Age is a new animal. “There is nothing new under the sun” has more relevance now than ever since Solomon first penned those wise words thousands of years ago. Complete creativity is difficult to claim by any of us these days in light of our exposure to such a vast array of things at various places hither and yon.

The original piece was something that appeared on this blog. That small introduction ended up being cut down and posted on Rick Warren’s Pastors.com site. I made the mistake of taking a mere blog entry and allowing it to be used as a representation of my thoughts on a very complex issue. Not surprisingly, the critics came out of the woodwork. As well the fans of my line of thinking gathered around to warm themselves by the fireside and found that there are lots of people who don’t necessarily think in a bifurcated way regarding the origins of creativity. I was not surprised to discover that nearly all of the critics came from the realm of theological institutions, specifically professors of preaching.

The original intent of the blog I did was to take a deep and long look at creativity. I still hope to encourage the greater look at this by each of us. If you are stuck in the middle of a drought of creativity lack look the below over a bit and see what comes of it. You may just snap out of it.

1. If you’re not ADD already become that way immediately.

That is, began to practice thinking quickly with fast and cogent thoughts. The day of slow, deliberate and drawn out thought-processes is long gone. We are not returning to the age of left brain thinking. If you’re a left brained thinker — if you’re way of coming to conclusions is by slow deductions and continual non-intuitive constraints that are long and drawn out and take enormous amount of time your future is sealed. You are going to be listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as an extinct species probably in the next two or three issues of that large and ever-increasing book.

2. Start to hang around idea people and you’ll probably become an idea person.

At least it’s more likely you will become an idea person. For Pete’s sake stop criticizing idea people just because you are not to the same degree an idea person as they are. Resist the temptation to come against those who are different (sometimes the opposite) than us. This is at times as difficult as not blinking when air is blown into our eyes.

The rule of thumb is we all become like the people we spend time with — both for better and for worse. That is a scary reality check. The “For Worse” part does not necessarily mean harsh, degraded ways. I wish it were that simple. We can be drawn down in ways that are simply not for our betterment. At the same time those ways are not going to stir us up to love, good deeds and expansion in the ways that God has called us to walk out our lives. In other words, are you spending time with people that Jesus has brought into your life to cause you to grow? Or are you spending time with people that are simply comfortable? If the second is more your case, stop here and pray for one thing: Courage. God loves to bring courage to those who are willing to receive it. He will certainly answer that simple plea in an instant.

3. Stop paying attention to matters of criticism — start paying attention to matters of encouragement.

It is a universal truth that what we become what we pay attention to. What we talk about with our mouths is the manifestation of our inner conversation. If we are critical of others we are making it clear that we have first been critical with ourselves. There is no momentum to be gained with self-criticism. We do this naturally enough to at least a small degree. What’s the point of becoming even better at this toxic task?

If I had all to do it all over again I think I would start today to give everybody I know a much wider break in life.  Pretty much everyone I know is trying about as much as they can in an effort to do as well as they can in life. Today especially it is true that most can’t do a whole lot more or a whole lot better than the job they are presently pulling off. Let’s join forces in giving one another a break in the journey and see what comes of it. I think together we can begin to make a difference.

Creativity is gained by God showing up in our lives.  Let’s give God the credit in advance for what he alone can do.