People's talents vary greatly: Someone like Leonardo da Vinci seems to have had a whole continent of brilliance. Others of us have archipelagos. Some of us have gifts in language, mathematics, science, spatial relationships, or music.

How great or numerous your talents happen to be isn't the crucial thing.

What matters most is that exercising your gifts should feel terrific, provide a vehicle for personal growth, or even form the basis for a career. Why don't we always know about these islands? We may not be fully conscious of our islands. We may not have had sufficient time, opportunity or daring to follow our own inclinations. It's never too late for you to find new islands of brilliance for yourself or your loved ones. All you need is commitment.

Every day, you make many small choices that determine how you spend your time; as soon as the commitment is there, you can begin to exercise your will in a new direction.

The Creative Brain and the Whole Brain mythology has it that creativity is the exclusive domain of artists, scientists and inventors - a giftedness not available to ordinary people going about the business of daily life. Partly as a result, ordinary people often hold the creative person in awe, finding little gradation in genius. It's either the Sistine Chapel ceiling or nothing.

Creativity involves both generating an idea and making something happen as a result.

To strengthen creative ability you need to apply the idea in some form that enables both the experience itself and your own reaction and other's to reinforce your performance.

As you and others applaud your creative endeavours, you are likely to become more creative. Defining creativity to include application throws the whole subject into a different light, because:

What makes the difference for people who've moved into creative functioning? The keys are these:

1. An understanding of the creative process and its component stages

2. An understanding of what hinders each mode at each stage

3. A commitment to heightening one's own creative awareness and functioning.

Action Steps

1. set a measurable goal. Some goals might be: to generate 10% more solutions within 6 months to come up with an original solution for problem "X" within 2 weeks to practice generating ideas by brainstorming (for example, "find at least 100 ideas for a new pen") to find a new and effective way to relate to my children that results in them wanting to spend more time with me

2. Second, set up criteria to indicate whether or not you have or are reaching your goal.

3. Third, read and learn about creativity techniques. This information can be gathered from books, conferences, other people, software products and the Internet.

4. Spend time with people who you believe are creative and ask them how they did it. There are many paths to creativity.

5. Surround yourself with people who love and respect you; people who encourage you to take risks.

6. Celebrate your progress in reaching your creativity goals.

7. Begin thinking of yourself as a creative person. Surround that identity with beliefs about your creative abilities.

8. Act creatively every opportunity you get and find environments that support creative behavior.

"This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value too us."-Western Union internal memo 1876

Sometimes we stare so long at a door that is closing, that we see too late the one that is open. - Alexander Graham Bell

1. What needs to be done to go from here to there?
2. What resources are needed?
3. What is missing?

Gelernter, David The Muse in the Machine. Computerizing the Poetry of Human Thought
Macmillan, NY 1994 HB, 211pp, ex library else fair/fair. Bookseller Inventory # 5640
Price: US$ 3.01 convert currency
Presented by Blue Cat Library, Keene, VA, U.S.A.
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Hayes, John R. THE COMPLETE PROBLEM SOLVER
Franklin 1981. G+/G+. Tears to DJ, moderate soiling. Binding is Hardcover. Bookseller Inventory # 11396
Price: US$ 9.80 convert currency
Presented by Country Corner Books, Sheridan, IN, U.S.A.
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NELSON, VICTORIA ON WRITER'S BLOCK: A NEW APPROACH TO CREATIVITY
HOUGHTON MIFFLIN-1993 VERY GOOD IN WRAPS. Bookseller Inventory # 5109
Price: US$ 5.85 convert currency
Presented by Meador Books, New York, NY, U.S.A.
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Cameron, Julia THE ARTIST'S WAY
G.P. Putnam's Sons, N.Y. 1992 19th pr. wraps sl corner curls a spiritual path to higher creativity quarto 219 p. Bookseller Inventory # 20714
Price: US$ 14.40 convert currency
Presented by Backroad Books, Basalt, CO, U.S.A.
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Cameron Julia Artist's Way : A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity
1992/07/01 Christian, Philosophy, New Age, World Religions Paperback nonfiction - trade size. Bookseller Inventory # 0874776945
Price: US$ 9.60 convert currency
Presented by 2nd LOOK BOOKS, Spokane, WA, U.S.A.
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BODEN, MARGARET CREATIVE MIND
New York Basic Books 1990. FINE/FINE. 9 x 6 inches bound in cloth with dust jacket. first edition. Binding is cloth. Bookseller Inventory # 005167
Price: US$ 16.00 convert currency
Presented by Chandler & Reed Rare Books, Sunderland, MA, U.S.A.
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Csikszentmihalyi Mihaly Creativity
Psychology, Self Help (see also Religion) Paperback nonfiction - trade size. Bookseller Inventory # 0060171332
Price: US$ 9.00 convert currency
Presented by 2nd LOOK BOOKS, Spokane, WA, U.S.A.
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De Bono, Edward Lateral Thinking : Creativity Step by Step
New York, NY, U.S.A.: Harper Perennial Library, 1990 Hard Back. As New. 39th Printing. 5" x 8". ISBN:0060903252. 300 pages in 23 chapters plus Preface, Introduction and Summary. Thinking is a skill, and like a skill, it can be developed and improved if one knows how. Occasional illustrations and diagrams throughout. The underlying argument of this book is that there are two kinds of thinking -- vertical and lateral. Most of us are educated to think veritcally, to go from one logical step to the next, moving all the time towards the one correct slution of our problem. Bookseller Inventory # 4456
Price: US$ 8.75 convert currency
Presented by Dons Bookstore, Albuquerque, NM, U.S.A.
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Adams, James L., Illustrated by Drawings & Paintings THE CARE & FEEDING OF IDEAS: A Guide to Encouraging Creativity
Massachusetts: Addison Wesley, 1986 VG/VG edges bumped a bit/dj lightly soiled. Bookseller Inventory # 001789
Price: US$ 11.25 convert currency
Presented by Book Magician, Las Vegas, NV, U.S.A.
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Helmstetter, Shad What to Say When You Talk to Yourself
Scottsdale, Arizona: Grindle Press, 1986 Hard Cover. Very Good/Very Good. First Edition. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. ISBN:0937065056. Bright tight copy, light edge reading wear, light cover rubs, the dust jacket has a new clear Brodart protective cover. Great condition. Acclaimed Psychologist Dr. Shad Helmstetter shows you how to make positive Self-Talk a permanent habit. Give yourself the kind, loving, determined support you would give to your best friend. Foster and maintain a positive attitude, develop new skills for personal and people management, and reach your goals on your road to success! . Bookseller Inventory # 568260
Price: US$ 20.00 convert currency
Presented by The Book Quest, Inc., Moreno Valley, CA, U.S.A.
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Mattimore, Bryan W. 99% Inspiration; Tips, Tales & Techniques for Liberating Your Business Creativity
NY: AMACOM, 1994 Trade Paperback. Very Good/No Jacket. 7th Ptg. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. ISBN:0-8144-7788-7. 180 pp. with index. The book supplies a palette of tips, techniques, and tales that help you tap hidden, creative strengths. Bookseller Inventory # 5647
Price: US$ 8.00 convert currency
Presented by Paperback Recycler, Benson, AZ, U.S.A.
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Edwards Van Gogh and God: A Creative Spiritual Quest
Loyola, 1989; 219 pp. VG/G: Dust jacket is a bit mussed and has two mended rips; tight and unmarked. Bookseller Inventory # K8666
Price: US$ 55.00 convert currency
Presented by Kenner Books, Kenilworth, IL, U.S.A.
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Which one of the 3 are you?

1. The already creatives - people who actively exercise their creative gifts for pleasure and profit;

2. The sometimes creatives - people who experience moments of creative brilliance, but only occasionally;

3. those who can be creative, but who have yet to tap into that potential.

Note how these tests activate different types of thinking

Puzzles

1. What is the minimum number of coins you need to be able to pay the exact price of any item costing anywhere from one cent up to one dollar? The coins are pennies (one cent), nickels (five cents), dimes (ten cents), quarters (25 cents) and half dollars (fifty cents)

(logical reasoning, short-term memory and visualising)

2. One archaelogist reported finding a Roman coin with Julius Caesar's image on it, dated 21 B.C. Another archaeologist correctly asserted that the find was a fraud. Why?

(forming hypothesis, logical reasoning, critical perception)

3. Is it legal for a man to marry his widow's sister? (Analyzing verbal maps, logical reasoning, accurate description)

4. What was Lewis Carroll talking about in this poem?

John gave his brother James a box: About it there were many locks. James woke and said it gave him pain; So he gave it back to John again. The box was not with lid supplied, Yet caused two lids to open wide. And all these locks had never a key - What kind of box, then, could it be?

(Analyzing verbal maps, divergent thinking, forming associations, making inferences, verbalising assumptions)

5. Rearrange the following patterns to make familiar words: runghy flymia mulcica dornev lendraca

(Recognising patterns, memory search)

6. Why does the barber in Oatmeal, nebraska say, "I'd sooner shave ten skinny men than one fat man?"

(Divergent thinking, forming hypotheses, analysing verbal maps

7. The legendary runner Flash Fleetfoot was so fast that his friends said he could turn off the light switch and jump into bed before the room got dark. On one occasion Flash proved he could do it. How?

(Forming hypotheses, analysing verbal maps, verbalising assumptions)