1. We create the new not generally through some mad moment of inspiration in fictionalized accounts of ancient Greeks in baths (though the conditions for this can be forced into existence), but by putting things together that do not normally go together; from taking disciplines (or curriculum areas) and seeing what happens when they are forced into unanticipated collision. […] The mind, at its best, is a pattern-making machine, engaged in a perpetual attempt to impose order on to chaos; making links between disparate entities or ideas in order to better understand either or both. It is the ability to spot the potential in the product of connecting things that don’t ordinarily go together that marks out the person (or teacher) who is truly creative.

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    If only for this quote, the book Dancing about Architecture: A Little Book of Creativity byPhil Beadle is worth checking out.  /ht to Brain Pickings.

    Dancing About Architecture: A Field Guide to Creativity | Brain Pickings

  2. How do geniuses come up with ideas? What is common to the thinking style that produced “Mona Lisa,” as well as the one that spawned the theory of relativity? What characterizes the thinking strategies of the Einsteins, Edisons, daVincis, Darwins, Picassos, Michelangelos, Galileos, Freuds, and Mozarts of history? What can we learn from them?

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    An entertaining look at creativity and genius.  Enjoy the strategies.

    How Geniuses Think | The Creativity Post

  3. The War of Art identifies the enemy that every one of us must face, outlines a battle plan to conquer this internal foe, then pinpoints just how to achieve the greatest success. The War of Art emphasizes the resolve needed to recognize and overcome the obstacles of ambition and then effectively shows how to reach the highest level of creative discipline. Think of it as tough love … for yourself.

    — theWARofARTThe War of Art | Steven Pressfield Online

    1. Space (“You can’t become playful, and therefore creative, if you’re under your usual pressures.”)
    2. Time (“It’s not enough to create space; you have to create your space for a specific period of time.”)
    3. Time (“Giving your mind as long as possible to come up with something original,” and learning to tolerate the discomfort of pondering timeand indecision.)
    4. Confidence (“Nothing will stop you being creative so effectively as the fear of making a mistake.”)
    5. Humor (“The main evolutionary significance of humor is that it gets us from the closed mode to the open mode quicker than anything else.”)

    (via John Cleese on the 5 Factors to Make Your Life More Creative | Brain Pickings)