Photographer Chase Jarvis shared a video recently with some exciting news. He said that the oldest university in the world, Oxford, which has been teaching students for almost 1,000 years, has partnered with Chase and his Creative Live online education program. Oxford is now offering this program to all 24,000 students studying there, not just those in the arts.
Chase talks about how literacy used to be for the elite, for royals and the clergy. Then the printing press arrived and it was democratized. Anyone could learn to read and reading set you free. It changed the world.
Now, Chase says, creativity is the new literacy. Whether you are in engineering, medicine, management, finance or anything in between, everyone does a better job when they colour outside the lines.
The fact that a university like Oxford sees the value creativity brings to critical thinking and problem solving is a big deal.
Creativity allows you to create the life you want or change the life you have. What you do with your time, how you move your body, what you cook for yourself or your loved ones, what you read, the stories you share, the music you listen to or create.
As author Annie Dillard said, “How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.”
How can you inject creativity into your day? What creative solution can you find for your closet, your schedule, your pantry, your vacation, your weekend, your life?
As Sir Ken Robinson, author and education advisor, said, “Creativity is putting your imagination to work, and it’s produced the most extraordinary results in human culture.”
How can we harness our imagination and create the results the world needs? Think outside the box and add action to your ideas. You never know what you might create next.