The creative faculty becomes more alert and receptive to factors originating outside the individual’s subconscious mind, the more this faculty is used, and the more the individual relies upon it and makes demands upon it for thought impulses. This faculty can be cultivated and developed only through use. Napoleon Hill in Think and Grow Rich.
Changes in technology
Have you ever noticed that businesses are always changing their advertising tactics, products, methods of presentation and retailing? Fast food restaurants come up with new menus even though the old ones are still selling well. Why is that? Creativity stirs up consumer interest. Consumer interest produces sales. Sales generate income.
Technology is constantly changing. First came the phonograph cylinder ‘records’ from over 100 years ago. Then came thick 78 rpm flat disc records, also introduced more than 100 years ago. These evolved into 33 1/3 rpms as 45rpms. Then came reel-to-reel tapes followed by 8-tracks. Soon cassettes took over only to be outdated by CDs. Now it’s MP3s, Ipods, MP5s and on and on into the future. Television became more popular than radio. Then videos were the big thing. It didn’t take long for DVDs to appear, then Blue Ray, now HDs. Silent movies became talkies. Black and white movies became full color. Then came IMAX, and 3D. What’s next? Computer technology changes almost monthly. Buy a computer today and in six months it’s been replaced with something better, something that does the job faster, has more options.
This creativity is a power to be harnessed not only by business owners and inventors, but also by homemakers, teachers, parents, children. It is a power that resides within, not something you can purchase or collect from without. But it has to be developed by use.
Mr. Edison tried out more than 10,000 different combinations of ideas through the synthetic faculty
Very good creative invention
of his imagination before he “tuned in” through the creative faculty, and got the answer which perfected the incandescent light. Napoleon Hill in Think and Grow Rich.
Creativity, as Mr. Hill said, must be put into practice. We start small, then use that to increase our creative ability. Without applying this ability to create, our lives will cease to grow. Whether it is our lives, our marriages, our relationships, our work or our business, we must continue to expand our creativity.
Do you think you do not have this faculty? Listen to what Mr. Hill had to say about that in the same book: I discovered, from the analysis of over 25,000 people, that men who succeed in an outstanding way, seldom do so before the age of forty, and more often they do not stride their real pace until they are well beyond the age of fifty. You’ve still got time.
I love the poetry of Edgar A. Guest. When I was a teenager my father listened to one of the Detroit radio stations at dinner time. I fondly recall listening to Bud Guest reciting his father’s poems. I have since acquired some of his books of poetry and cherish them. One poem always brings a smile: I Ain’t Dead Yet. It portrays the attitude of some people who have given up on the possibility of success. But it also gives hope that things don’t necessarily have to remain as they are now.
I AIN’T DEAD YET
by Edgar A. Guest
Time was I used to worry and I’d sit around an’ sigh,
And think with every ache I got that I was goin’ to die,
I’d see disaster comin’ from a dozen different ways
An’ prophesy calamity an’ dark and dreary days.
But I’ve come to this conclusion, that it’s foolishness to fret;
I’ve had my share o’ sickness, but I
Ain’t
Dead
Yet!
Wet springs have come to grieve me an’ I’ve grumbled at the showers,
But I can’t recall a June-time that forgot to bring the flowers.
I’ve had my business troubles, and looked failure in the face,
But the crashes I expected seemed to pass right by the place.
So I’m takin’ life more calmly, pleased with everything I get,
An’ not over-hurt by losses, ’cause I
Ain’t
Dead
Yet!
I’ve feared a thousand failures an’ a thousand deaths I’ve died,
I’ve had this world in ruins by the gloom I’ve prophesied.
But the sun shines out this mornin’ an’ the skies above are blue,
An’ with all my griefs an’ trouble, I have somehow lived ’em through.
There may be cares before me, much like those that I have met;
Death will come some day an’ take me, but I
Ain’t
Dead
Yet!
Let’s learn a lesson from this gentle poet who looked at life in the slow lane. If we’ve still got life in us, then we have creativity within, because we were created in the image of the Creator Himself. If we have creativity, we have the ability to put it to use. We can be successful in every area of life if we stop moaning about what we don’t have, what hasn’t happened, what we can’t do, how everything seems to be against us, that we will only fail again. Let’s move ahead to create a life of success and prosperity. If you’re reading this, you ain’t dead yet!
I hope you enjoyed this little piece on creativity. Thank you so much for taking time to stop by. I would really appreciate it if you would leave a comment in the box below before you leave. And if you aren’t following, please click on the “Follow” button at the top to receive e-mail notifications of new posts. God bless. Have a wonderful day.
What a difference a word makes! In 1882, George Matheson penned the words to what later became a well-loved hymn: O Love That Will Not Let Me Go. One line, “I climb the rainbow through the rain” did not pass the judgment of the hymnal committee of the Church of Scotland and so they voted to change it, saying it just wouldn’t do. But by doing this, they changed Mr. Matheson’s message. To those who know the hymn, they will recognize the line as: “I trace the rainbow through the rain”.
gradually fades into nothingness? If you are following it, where do you go when it disappears? But if you are climbing it, that means you have actually reached it, touched it, and are using it to reach the heights.
