Creativity tip - Don't listen to other people

I hope not to disappoint those of you who came here every Sunday for a good laugh. I don't think you were too many anyway :-)

But I have decided to change my Sunday regular theme from laughter to creativity.

So welcome to the first Sunday creativity tip!

DON'T LISTEN TO OTHER PEOPLE

We all happen to have great ideas.

Or at least we think they are great ideas.

Until we talk to someone about it.

Because even (or should I say especially) our best friend, the one that loves us no matter what, can kill that great though in the bud. Floop.

Why is it that we pay so much attention to what other people think about our ideas?

We want validation.
We want people to love us.
We want them to agree with us.

We are really very, very insecure about whether this is at all a great idea and we'd actually prefer to just hand it over to someone else to test it out for us...

But real life doesn't work like that.

We really do all have great ideas. Actually, the more ideas you have, the more GOOD ideas you will have and the better you will get at sifting through the crappy ones.

But the biggest obstacle is the beginning phase, the budding  phase of our idea. Because the more we seek for approval, the more refusal we will get.

As my coach said it wisely: 'When you plant a seed, the first thing that comes up is the dirt.'

As long as we are prepared for the dirt, we're safe.
So go ahead, share your ideas with the world. Maybe even listen to people (some comments may even be valid and end up improving your idea).

But STOP listening to other people when it comes to whether or not you should go and do the think you have just come up with.

I am not saying that you should just jump up and do every silly little think you think about.
Where would we be?!
But you know what I mean by 'having an idea'.

You have this plan to change your workplace by introducing creative workshops.
You want to introduce community services to your very conservative, stockmarket focused workplace.
You have this vision of a new art project.

Yes, go ahead and use people as sounding boards.
But listen between the lines and only pick out the constructive stuff.
Sometimes you just have to ship to see what comes out of it.

Don't them tell you your idea is crap!!! Only YOU have the right to decide that!

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How to be unfriendly and have the best relationship with your mother

I live in a country where shop people are not particularly nice.

Let me describe a likely shop visit:

You enter a shop (lets say shoes) saying 'Bonjour' and the sales person either ignores you, looks at you scornfully for having interrupted her/his... reading, chatting with another sales person, phone conversation with her/his mother, nail filing/whatever the male (non gay) equivalent of that is..., or responds with a neutral, not at all engaging 'Bonjour Madame'.

Fine, I say to myself, I didn't come here to discuss the weather or my life, so I'm quite glad to be left alone to browse.

Trouble is, I found a pair of shoes that I would like to try in my size. I look up and the sales person is yet again ignoring me. I demonstratively clear my throat, 'hem hem'. Nothing.

I take the shoe and walk up to the counter. The reading/phone conversation/nail filing blissfully continues. 

I put the shoe on the counter with a slightly annoyed 'clink' (yup, high heels...) and the sales person looks up astonished, like she/he is seeing me for the first time. 

'Oui Madame?' she/he asks.

I'm thinking 'Do I need to draw her/him a picture?' but quietly ask 'Could I try this one in size 41 please?' (yes, I have big feet - unlike Barbie who I've read would topple over if she where a real life babe).

The sales person takes my shoe and vanishes in the back of the store while I sit down on one of those square, fake leather pouf things (not a poof! - a broad, backless, cushionlike seat).

After quite some time she/he comes back with a box and puts it down next to me to return to the counter. I try on the shoe, left, right, walk around a bit, admire my calves in high heels, decide the take the pair, put them nicely back into the box and take them to the counter again.

The sales person scans the barcode, gets my credit card, hands me the ticket and puts the box in a bag which she/he he hands me. Not a single word (unless I forget to enter my pincode in time, in which case she/he says loudly 'votre code s'il vous plaît!').

I leave the shop a happy owner of sexy high heeled shoes but flabbergasted at the treatment received.

Now, I am not a fan of the American opposite either, where they great you with a huge, white smile and yank out the 'Hi, how are you today?' at anyone who even slightly attempts to cross the entrance to their shop, but couldn't care less if you dropped dead right there and then - come to think of it, they possibly do mind because they'd definitely not make employee of the month if that happened on their shift.

But the real, honest and friendly welcome and care in shops does exist elsewhere (like Belgium, our neighboring country, for example - even in Germany, glaube es oder nicht...).

But in wealthy little Luxembourg, sales people probably don't have to sell that hard, or be nice for that matter. 

Because the money is there and whether they are nice or not, a woman needs a shoe when a woman needs a shoe...

Come to think of that then... Luxembourg probably has shop people that are well read (at least in the category of Shopaholic novels) and have the most nicely filed nails and best relationships with their mothers.

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Some pursue things, others create them.

I have told you before that I am participating in the Art House Co-op Canvas Project with the goal to create a visual encyclopedia.

I was sent me 3 little canvases and my randomly chosen words are:

• ready
• chart
• curvacious

I have finally finished all three of them - nothing better than an upcoming submission deadline (1st  September) to get me going :-)

Here they are:

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Does your room have a view?

A room with a view

that has no window

A heart filled with love
that no one seems to want

A worthy cause
that no one is fighting for

A splendid rainbow
that no one is seeing

A moment of happiness
that no one is witnessing

The success of a lifetime
that no one shares with you

The greatest idea
that no one is supporting

A room with a view
if you only break the walls down
to see through


(c) Mindful Mimi - August 2010
Thanks to Sunday Scribblings for triggering this post with their VIEW prompt. 

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Luxembourg in a time capsule

I recently told you about how I became a Guest blogger over at Expatica.

Since then, I have written 3 guest posts titled 'Luxembourg in a time capsule'.

Come and take a trip down memory lane with me, will you?

The childhood years.

The teenage years.

The working years.

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