Creativity and playfulness (having fun) always exist together. Children at play create. They experiment with whatever is at hand. They invent new roles and try them out. Creative people talk about ‘playing with ideas’. Artists and writers, cooks and gardeners all experiment. They try out new ways of doing things. Albert Einstein is quoted as …
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Can we nurture creativity, our own or that of our children? It’s a pity we even have to ask the question. Pre-school children show intriguing powers of creativity. They invent and experiment as they play. They imagine what it would be like to be another person – Mum, Dad, teacher, doctor, ballerina, helicopter-pilot. Their drawings and paintings are free and uninhibited. …
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My life without lists is unimaginable. I don’t know how I’d operate without them. Some of my lists are ongoing. Others spring up whenever there’s a new need, or simply because I feel like making a catalogue or a record. Mostly my lists are about the future. Occasionally, they’re open-ended records. My lists have been quite furtive, …
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Everyone knows about commercial brands. We have all experienced the way they assault our senses from television, newspapers, the internet and billboards. We instantly recognise brands like Coca Cola, with its images of youth and fun; McDonalds with images of families and fast food, everywhere; and the quality of BMW. We can easily differentiate between brands of beer, perfume, personal products and …
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There’s been a state of chaos à chez nous for the past few weeks. Chaos isn’t usually a state I embrace readily; my mind demands external order, quiet and peace. But this mess has been for the sake of a worthy cause. Believing passionately as I do that lifelong learning is not only a right for everyone, but an …
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One hundred-and-one books make a reasonable reading list. ‘We could start a book club,’ my new friend said. ‘That way we’d get to read a lot of different books.’ ‘Good idea,’ said another friend. ‘We could each invite one other person to join,’ I suggested. ‘That way we’d meet new people, too.’ That was eleven years and one hundred-and-one books ago.
