So How Does Creativity Really Works?

"Angst leads to better art. There is striking correlation between creativity and depressive disorders. Bipolar disorder is closely related with creativity. When people are manic, they are driven by an intense, overwhelming need to express themselves."

"Time steals ingenuity. 'Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up,'"

"The most creative ideas don't occur when we're alone. Rather, they emerge from our social circles, from collection of acquaintances who inspire novel thoughts. Sometimes, the most important people in life are the people we barely know."

"It is the human friction that creates the sparks."

"You can't have creativity without chutzpah (Yiddish word for audacity). It takes enormous chutzpah to believe that you have an idea that will change the world and make a lot of money. But unless you believe that, you will never become an entrepreneur."

Those are just some of the quotes coming from the book of Jonah Lehrer, author of Imagine: How Creativity Works. That being said, this isn't a book that directly gives you guidelines on how to improve your creativity, but it helps you understand it so you can discover how to improve it. Lehrer traces back the biological origin of creativity to how we use it in our everyday lives and ends with how time and our society influence it. Creativity is not just a single gift confined to the lucky few. With the right knowledge, determination, circumstances and exposure, one can utilize the gift which immortalized the likes of Bob Dylan, Pixar and Shakespeare.

Ever wondered why most artists act peculiar or "weird"? By reading this book, I was able to understand the diverse people that we work with. It gave me an explanation why I was never really that interested in what they mechanically teach in school, and why we experience bursts of Eureka moments in the face of daunting problems.

A few years back, representatives from Singapore's Department of Education were sent to the Philippines to study how our students think. You hear that right! Singaporean students may be getting the highest ratings in international standardized tests in Math and Science, but when it comes to thinking outside the box, they scored very low.

On the other hand, we Filipinos are known to be madiskarte. Strategy is more of an art than a science, and Filipinos are very good at it. We are naturally creative and it would be a waste if we cannot capitalize on it. So if you wanna know more how creativity really works and if you want to optimize the use of this gift, don't hesitate to buy Jonah Lehrer's book.

Photo credits: muckrack.com

All Over the Place

Ever since we started having these classes in Greenhills, I became more productive and connected with my friends. Maybe it's more accessible, my house is nearer and there are more places to eat there compared to Binondo. I feel more at home there. And because of that, my schedule was all over the place. 

Last week, our Soya Ice team met again for a little get together in a restaurant that has a "Kangaroo" in its name. I can't say we missed each other very much since Olivia, Joanne and I belong to one class these days. Lyndon has been reaping cash in IBM, Isaac has just transferred into the life insurance department of Pioneer, Rachel is busy running their fabric and real estate business while Tom is not in the picture below because he's stuck in the office doing the finances of Alphaland. 

Everything turned out well for the seven of us. What made me more glad was that we still believe in our brand and we hope that we can bring it back in the market. Whenever we taste milk teas from let's say Gong Cha or Chatime, we'd often say "Mas masarap pa Soya Ice dito." Why not get back on track now? Because we still don't have the dedication and focus. We still have a lot to learn, but we'll get there eventually.

Just yesterday, I had a meeting with James and Mike in Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf to concretize more our plans for I'mAB next school year. We are planning our production with three schools taken into consideration. Before we only considered selling in Mandaluyong, but since people are getting more aware, we opened in Makati last year. Now, we are adding another location - either in Laguna, Pampanga or Tarlac. Since I'm the one responsible for marketing, I'll try to contact Pampanga for a deal, and our distributor in Makati because we still haven't collected from them.

We went to Bannapple after for dinner. A concern that keeps on popping is the major perception of our market to us. They think that we're just a profit hungry business. That can't be farther from the truth. If you know James, Mike and I better, you'd know that profit isn't our top priority. I personally prioritize the image that we generate through our products. And because of that, I'm planning to make our ads more dynamic and reflective of what we stand for.

Okay, so what happened earlier? My classmates and I went to Cafe Monnaco for lunch which is just in front of Ash Creek. I have to warn you, their service is very slow, but the food tasted good. I especially love the view there. 

One of our topics earlier included their different experiences during immersion in college (since most of the people I was with earlier are Ateneans). They say that immersions are very life changing. Since I went to an international design conference during the time I was supposed to stay with some fisherfolks in Bataan for 3 days, I kept wondering how different my life would be if I joined the immersion... 

I got a massage after answering a Herculean exercise for our class earlier. I then went to Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf to read. During that time, I realized a lot of things - which will be written in a separate blog because it's 1:03am and I'm a bit sleepy.

By the way, if you're wondering how the pre-nuptial photos look like? Well below is a preview! Both of them are involved in social causes - the girl an NGO focused on education while if I'm not mistaken, the guy works for Red Cross International. They weren't very maarte, but I wish that they have worn their on-the-day-itself-wedding outfit. 

By the way, I missed two brand launches this week!:( One from Smart and the other is from Forever 21. Though I'm glad that PR agencies are emailing us more once again!

Holy Week, Birthday, Pre-Nups, Luneta and... ACCOUNTING!

Post dump! Haven't really blogged for the longest time. Yes there were posts but I felt they are a bit impersonal. So allow me to engage you in a litany of experiences which dates back to Holy Week.

This was where I spent my Holy Week - in 7eleven stores from far flung locales. It's my comfort place, a cool and clean oasis amidst the hot urban jungle outside its glass wall. If I was not inside our hotel room trying to edit articles from our online magazine, I was in the convenient store. And yes, that's convenience with a capital C.

Of course, my mom did not let this season pass without forcing us to attend some Catholic services like going to mass and joining her in a procession with some village folks. I would be a hypocrite if I say that I enjoyed this penitence (well, you're not really supposed to enjoy it anyways). People weren't really sincere with the procession. It's just an event where people who want to see and be seen are present.

We passed by my lola's property which I plan to convert into a bamboo farm. I'm just having a difficulty with the capital and man power since I couldn't be the one planting the bamboo seedlings, for obvious reasons. The transportation is also a bit difficult - you either go there by foot or through this gas powered micro train. 

The place was very barrio looking and far from "civilization." So you can't believe how struck I was when I saw this kid wearing our high school PE uniform! We have this in different colors, but I can't remember having a light blue like the kid was wearing. I'm quite curious how it got there.

And this was where I spent my birthday! Last year, I celebrated it in Boracay so I was relieved that the beach where we went to is almost isolated (except for a few crabs and starfishes). Too bad I was in a ballistic mood  that time (must be the weather) so I didn't stay long and asked to be sent home to my hotel room.

Several days ago, I had our first prenuptial shoot with my brother. He's the photographer and I'm the one instructing the couples. We shot it in this park near Quezon City circle. The couples weren't that romantic at first but they warmed up eventually. Like hello, you are about to be married a month from now?

Lastly, just this Sunday, we had to meet some relatives who just arrived from the US. And of all the places where we had to a meet up, they chose Luneta! Kung sinu-sino ang tao dun! My sister called these people "commoners." I was really hesitant, but was surprised when I arrived there. They had these cool fountains and fire breathing things on the surface of a tiny pond. The show reminded me of pyromusicals, except that they're using water instead of fire power.

So basically that's my life for the past few days.

Oh! Regarding the finance and accounting classes I'm currently taking: Well, I'm struggling to get a point in every quiz (which we have every day). It's been giving me nightmares, like literally. Last night, I had a dream about zombies trying to chase after me! Come to think of it, my dream was very metaphorical since I buried accounting six feet under back in college and it's slowly resurfacing back from the grave, ready to devour my brain.

Also, when I got the some of the scores from our previous quizzes, I felt so depressed. It's as if I hadn't taken the quiz at all. I shouldn't be surprised because even though I had tutors back in college, I always got a grade of D or C. I just hope that I can last until the last day of May in this class!

PS: I took all the photos with my tablet. My SLR is still alive, I just find my tablet more handy to carry around:)

Walking on Sunshine

I figured that I won't be able to afford being photographed by Adrian Gonzales maybe 1-2 years from now, so for my birthday, I asked him to take some pictures of me in an editorial-ish way. Hindi naman ako masyadong vain:)) The original plan was for him to give me only 4 photos, but he said that he enjoyed the shoot so he edited more than a dozen photos!

I had to jump in a strip of sunflowers, climb a tree branch and lie down on freshly drizzled grass, but it was all worth it! I'll shut up now and let the photos speak for themselves.

Career and Purpose

I just came home from a night out with my best college buddies - Kevin, Dondie, Julius and a quick appearance of Jet - and most of the stuff we talked about was related to our work. There was a strong positive correlation with the amount of stuff we said with how happy we were at our offices, so basically, I didn't say much.:))

I wasn't really paying attention when the word "career" suddenly popped out of the conversation. So listened more intently because this was a subject that I haven't considered. To build a good career, you must love what you do and the atmosphere for growth (promotion) and support (salary) must be conducive. A worthwhile career is something a decent citizen would aspire. But I found something odd with associating the word career with my plan of world domination. Kidding!

As with the word office, employee and salary, I find the word career a bit stifling, no actually I find it mediocre. It's too selfish and traditional, or maybe I haven't really explored that word well. Kevin made me realize that with my personality, it's really difficult to find a field where I can fit because I have this tendency to be always right. I can't work with people well and I set the pace and direction. So it was just fit that I started Manila Kid.

I want to make a dent in the universe. So instead of the word career, I'm leaning towards the word purpose. It weighs and appeals more to me. When you talk about Shakespeare, Einstein, Da Vinci, Martin Luther King or Steve Jobs, you don't say that they had amazing careers. You talk about their works and contributions to mankind. We talk about how much they have influenced how we think. We learn and get inspired from their anecdotes. The world remembers them because they dared to be different, to move, to dream a little more - something which a mere "career" cannot capture.

A Million Stuff to Write About

One of the major fears of a blogger is to be back blogged by several days. I've been posting random micro blogs over facebook and twitter to compensate for this.

Well first off, I just started a class with one of the world's leading credit analyst. This spells eight hours worth of finance and accounting class from today until end of May. Speaking of classes, i'll be enrolling back to the Ateneo next week for a course in social entrepreneurship which will be taught by a guy from Harvard! The exciting part is looks like i'll be classmates with James and his friend, Patch.

Speaking of social entrepreneurship (seems like the topics of this post are inter related) I met Dave who is so passionate about sparking social change. He has this site called INspired Nation which we will feature in manilakid.com sometime soon. He knows a lot of organizations and he'll be one of the reasons why I feel more inspired to do our best for our online magazine. That is all im saying for now. Just watch out for his feature:)

Still blogging from my tab.

10:41pm

We'll be going to the church in a few minutes for the easter mass. It will also be my birthday. I still remember that I spent my birthday last year waiting for the sunrise in Boracay after a night of partying, then I had lunch on the plane and arrived home just in time to take a rest before the family celebration.

Tomorrow, we'll go to the beach and island hop a bit. Can't say that I'm looking forward to it since I have always been a city person. I just hope I won't get dark since we have a wedding to attend next month.

Oh I almost forgot, Adrian Gonzales finally showed me the photos from our shoot. I was blown away! It might take some time for me to get used to his technique, but the photos are very beautiful. Will post it here once I get home.

12:40am

This trip isn't turning out to be as fun as I expected. The very humid weather is to be blamed. So as the hotel where we are staying at, hello internet Siberia.

We joined the procession earlier at the request of my mom since it was good Friday. I tell you, most of the people there don't even know what was going on. Instead of praying, they just chattered away wondering what's for dinner later. As for us, we were there to take pictures and be beside our mom. Sorry, I wont pretend that I felt the people's reverence.

I've been living on coffee and soy milk. I need it so I can focus on editing our online magazine for its release this Sunday! All the manuscript have been edited and the pictures are all in place. Tomorrow, I just need to write the introductions and fix the placement of the ads. Hope everything will all be wort it.

In case you are wondering, I'm still blogging from my tab with its medyo slow internet.

2:46am

This going to be a short post since i'm blogging from my tab. It's the start of our South trip and the hotel we are staying in has very weak signal. It makes me concerned because i need to edit our online magazine, which will be relaunched this Sunday - might even do it in a beach resort. For the past years, I've been celebrating my birthday out of town.

I find it cute that my mom and her sister were talking about their high school crushes while we were on our way.

Not sure about the schedule for our trip but looks like we will see Mayon volcano in a few days.