Creativity in Non-Creative Places

I have discovered that the most creative places in the world most people the most uncreative places in the world.

If I were to ask you what were some of the most creative places in the world are you might mention Walt Disney World, some movie studio, or a record label. You might mention an arts school of some kind. Those are all great creative places, but they are not where you can be the most creative. In those places you just see the results of creativity. You do not see the work of creativity. You might even mention a church or two if you are a minister of some kind.

The work of creaivity is in the humdrum places, the ordinary places that you visit on a weekly, if not daily basis.

For example, one of the best places for me to get a creative spark is the grocery store, especially one that has a wide variety of products. All you do is take a stroll through the store, slowly. As you stroll through the store you take the topic or problem and start comparing and contrasting with the products on the shelves. What insights could you get from the butcher concerning the sacrifacial system in the Old Testament? How is Jesus, the bread of life, like the different kinds of breads in the store? What character traits of Jesus do they reveal? How is ice cream like heaven? How do the spices relate to the beattitudes in Matthew 5?

You can do this at different stores as well. I have found Lowes, Home Depot, Peebles, and even the library to be useful. Check out the magazines. Not Time or Rolling Stone but the niche ones, Quilters Today, Hunting, and the like. You would be amazed at the fresh insights that can come from paging through some unfamiliar territory.

So take a stroll through the grocery store. Just be sure you're not hungry!