Chaos Puts the See in Creativity
Monday: Chaos is fertile soil for creativity
Chaos allows us to see outside the box and thus creates opportunity. As the proverb says “Necessity is the mother of invention” which is attributed to Plato. This tends to mean that historically when there is a need for something to be made or created someone comes along and gets the job done. I think that then “Chaos is the fertile soil for creativity has to be a close relative.” We just need to look at the past year.
The world is still grappling with Covid19. A virus that has caused great devastation worldwide. Eighteen months ago few people had much knowledge about it. A year ago few people had heard about an mRNA vaccine. Several were developed, tested, and distributed worldwide because the world was in chaos and we needed to think outside the box. This new technology can be used on other viruses to do vaccinations. There was of course a vast amount of money for corporations to find an effective vaccine. Had there not been chaos would the world have responded so quickly with effective treatments and effective vaccines? Think of other diseases that are still looking for answers. Chaos helped people look outside the box.
Chaos being soil for creativity is also, I think, part of the reason for the massive growth of KTHT. A year ago it is likely that the number of published posts each week on KTHT is less than the number published daily now. Diana C has been a major factor with her tireless efforts but people have been in chaos. Some people are looking for new sources of income or new career paths. Many people’s lives have been disrupted and they are looking for healing and growth. KTHT had been around for almost a year last June, but chaos was just catching up. What better fertile soil could you find than a publication where people are united in finding those answers? There are now almost five thousand and a half followers. This in a short time after Diana announced there were five thousand. Of course, the outstanding and courageous writers have had a great impact on that growth but is it not the chaos that had them searching for this and chaos not in the lives of the people following? The ground was fertile and other publications are not growing as quickly.
Many of you reading this are still working from home. Many people lost jobs. Other people found themselves in new territory. They were doing their jobs from home. Last March most people did not know what a zoom meeting was. Now there are many ways to have meetings and connect with vast numbers of people at the same time. Why? The soil was fertile for creative solutions. The working world was in chaos. Do you think so many of you would still be working from home if businesses didn’t find it was working for them? Don’t you think that creativity would have brought forth a more efficient way? The world of work has undergone more change in the last year because of chaos and creativity than it has in many decades. Do you think you would be working from home if chaos hadn’t struck?
How many people reading this have eaten a potato chip? The story goes that a customer kept complaining and sending back the French fries he had ordered because they were too thick. In the kitchen the chef was angry and there was chaos. He grabbed a straight razor and shaved slices off a potato. He then put them in hot oil and salted them. The customer was delighted and because of that chaos in the kitchen, you can blame him for not being able to eat just one.
Historically, a chaotic situation eventually leads to inexpensive electricity. From ancient times season flooding has been and continues to be a major problem. Dams have been erected worldwide for centuries. From that chaos with creative thinking, we now have hydroelectric plants built-in with many dams. The same water that was creating chaos is now being used to generate cheap electricity. I could go on and on about how chaos and creativity have been involved in a waltz since the beginning of civilization but instead,
Peace be with you