Now that I have your
attention …
I hope your summer has
gone well
I’ve taken a break from blogging over the last
six weeks as I search for new material, catch up on lots of administrative
matters in my “guilt pile,” and take some holidays.
For those of us who
live in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), a sure sign of summer coming to a close
is the opening of the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE.) The CNE has always
been the cacophony of rides, shows, concerts, livestock, and outrageous food
with the mandatory dose of odd carneys, stadium rock pulsing through the
grounds, and teenagers on the prowl. This year’s version, the 135th
annual, features a very special Appleby tie involving a colleague, Darren Chow.
It is a perfect example of something we talk about all the time in education –
creativity.
One of my wife and my
favourite conversation starters with couples we don’t know well is asking them
how they met and, if they are married, how the proposal went. The stories usually provide interesting (and often
funny) insights into the individuals and their relationships. It is also fascinating
how their perspectives of “truth” are often very different.
A wise friend and
former colleague of mine always talks about how the definition of success in
life having to include success in relationships – with spouses, partners, children,
other family members, friends, etc. Another former colleague helped me
understand the nature of creativity in its broadest sense – that while it is a hallmark
of the arts, creativity is also the central driver of innovation in all human endeavours,
including science, business, sports, relationships, etc. Whatever the area, it
is clear that giants of those fields – Bill Gates, Wayne Gretzky, Albert
Einstein, Marie Curie, Mohammed Ali, Steve Jobs, Shakespeare, Da Vinci, the
Beatles - got there because they could imagine things differently, and because
they had the courage to pursue those different ideas.
Very few people will
transform arts or science or sports or business. But we can all look to bring a
little creativity into our lives and relationships. Take a look at this
clip of Darren at the CNE to see what I mean.
