It’s a very small section of the bookshelf compared to those other subjects. It’s not really a cut and dried step by step “here do this” kind of instruction book with rules and models.

And the field is sort of new and sort of small. It seems to be surfacing a bit more via popularization among babyboomers and self improvement literature, currently, too. “Find your bliss.”

Anyhoo, what you are saying here reminds me a little bit of Maisel’s thing about dualistic vs. holistic thinking. Sort of, why assume and limit yourself to one brain part or the other? Instead, you could look at your project at hand and ask “What does my project need now?” And then do that. Here’s the link fwiw.

http://reptitude.com/creativity/dualistic-and-holistic-thinking/

I must admit I utilized the Super Squirrel to get the residue of the redesign out of sight in the guest room since my sister arrived last night. As I’ve been working through the whole thing, I’m beginning to see I have these crazy internal rules about what skills are used for what task. Instead of using my whole brain for everything.

As a matter of fact, I’ve been thinking a lot about your recent posts about using books about creativity. I don’t read books about creativity much, and if I look at my bookshelf, there is only a small percentage of books on art and my creative work topics. That’s experiential to me— I just don’t read about it, I do it. Yet I have tons of books on business, marketing, training, facilitation and things that are more left brain oriented. Its like I have different ways of learning things. Never really noticed it until you started talking about it. Don’t quite know what to make of it yet.

I must admit I can still pack a closet with the best of ‘em. (That’s how I used to clean my room when I was a kid — roll it all under the bed or cram it into the closet. Willy nilly just get it OUT OF SIGHT. Ummm defs NOT what my mother had in mind.)

And no, I am not a tidy person by inclination, not at all. But I do appreciate orderliness. I am a split between left and right brain.

I prefer to think of a messy place as a “rich environment” — especially for kitty who likes to explore, and for the creative person in me who likes finding surprises and discoveries and unexpected connections. But sometimes I must have a tidy space, it helps me think straighter. And tools need to be in the right place so I can work efficiently.

So, yah-noooo.

@Eileen:

I wish I could say it was a quick process, in actuality it has been a journey of a thousand steps. And really, I can only take part of the credit. If I had not seen the Super Squirrel trying so hard, it would have been more difficult for me to muster up the compassion. Relationships, like small businesses are deep personal development processes!

I’m finding I’m getting better at the technique with practice. It was easier to get started with Havi helping me on the first one, and getting other people to help brainstorm the possibilities.

So you have the skill, but only use it for good? Wow!

I *know* this skill/talent/way of seeing — many years ago, my husband and I bought and sold antique furniture. We would often buy at auction. By the end of a long day of fast and furious buying — often jumping between multiple auctioneers and bidding alone simultaneously and never knowing in advance what we would end up with — we would have accumulated a random heap of stuff in all shapes and sizes. At the end of the day, it was my job to figure out how to load it into the truck. I always made it all fit, somehow.

Lovely delicious puzzle!! Oh my goodness, thank you for reminding me of those fun times. LOL

Love, Hiro