Are you creative?

14 year Ahmed built a clock that was suspected of being a bomb and was promptly arrested and suspended from school. This same clock issued him with an invite to the White House, whilst simultaneously Facebook asked him to get in touch. President Obama tweeted “Cool clock, Ahmed. Want to bring it to the White House? We should inspire more kids like you to like science. It’s what makes America great.”

#StandWithAhmed was trending. This was an indication that his unfair arrest happened due to his religion. 

Are there barriers to our creativity, or is it an open playing field. If there are restrictions, are you then not limiting the creativity that you are trying to enrich? At what point do you say that ‘this is right and this is wrong?’ 

Albert Einstein once said “The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination.”

There is a myth that people are either ‘left brained or right brained’, with creative people being right brained. Certainly the different sides of your brain emphasis different things, but overall,neuroscientists have found that the two sides of the brain collaborate to perform a broad variety of tasks and that the two hemispheres communicate through the corpus callosum. Everyone therefore is creative, and has the ability to explore that creativity. 

Nick Skillicorn is a graduate from Durham University and he helps companies and individuals improve their creativity. Last year he was voted #7 in the world for his innovation blog and he has spoken on ‘Ted X’. He affirms that everyone is creative and that all parts of your brain are used. However, generating an idea is not enough, the idea needs to be executed. He speaks out that children in primary school believe they are creative, but as they ascend into high school this creativity decreases due to a standardization. We are taught to give the right answer. We are taught to do something ‘properly’ and are awarded with good grades. When we fail to do it, correctly, we are punished with a fail. This allows the creative side of our brains to become stagnant and lazy.

He asks the question if “art is the solution to creativity?” His answer is no. Although it is important, it is not the solution. He draws on an example of a composer and a violinist. Is the violinist creative? Or are they merely performing someone else’s work?

Everybody has the ability to think of an idea. At an initial attempt, this idea is draw from memories, but as we push ourselves beyond what we think we are capable, we emerge in new territory and our ideas have the potential to be meaningful and valuable. 

So why does society not allow creativity? Why has society categorized who has the authority and the means to be creative and who doesn’t?

Skillicorn describes that when we contain our impulse actions, this is the work of the dorsolateral pre frontal cortex. This is also part of the brain that prevents our ideas from extending their original form. If we learn to control this, we have the capability to ‘become’ more creative.  

Joseph Campbell expresses that “To live a creative life, we must lose the fear of being wrong." I think this piece of advice needs to be taken on board at every point of our lives and we mustn’t allow ourselves to block out our creativity. Naturally, we need to learn the work at school and put that in practice in order to progress to the next educational level, but we should focus on creative exercises such as improvisations, creative challenges or merely opening ourselves up to accumulate more knowledge. 

Should 14 year old Ahmed have been arrested as a precaution because his teacher felt threatened, or do you think there was more to it? Did the White House and Facebook do the correct thing by supporting him?

Ahmed’s advice to others was, “Go for it,” he said. “Don’t let people change who you are.”

We should all listen to Ahmed and delve into our creative side. 

What are we waiting for?

The Silent Killer

Only over the past few days I can say I understand the effects of stress, and even then I know what I have experienced is a lot less than many. Sporadically over the last few months I have had moments of dizziness, and some days I had blurred vision, but over the last week, it happened every day.

On Monday, I almost dropped a laptop after I almost fell over as I got up from my desk, having to hold on to my chair to stabilize me. Tuesday, I felt (although sober) that I was out of my mind drunk and had had too much shisha. As I walked home, I almost walked into the fence because I couldn’t stand straight. Wednesday I went to the Doctor and was sent for blood tests and for a CT scan.

I have never had a CT scan before. A brain scan. Why did I need a brain scan? Generally speaking I am not neurotic. I hate using Google as a tool to look up symptoms because it gives you the worst possible thing, but in this case, I was scared. Surely you only have a brain scan if there is something to be worried about, and apparently my dizziness, light headedness and blurred vision equated to needing a scan. No matter how blazé I was being, all I had in the back of my mind was that it was a tumor. When the Dr didn’t want to give me the results over the phone and insisted I came in to see her, I thought I was doomed. I was mentally preparing myself for the worse possible news. In actual fact, the scan was fine, my tests were fine. Turns out I have something called Vertigo, an in balance of fluid in the inner ear which was causing my symptoms. This was most likely triggered by stress. I was ordered to spend the last couple of days resting.

Think about the times you were drunk; so drunk that you couldn’t lie down without the room spinning. Imagine that happening at work, when you are sober. When you are walking home and you can’t walk straight- yet you know you are sober!! It is awful. It is not something that makes you look sick, but is rather all internal. It sucks..

I am not that surprised though that it was stress. Last week, I cannot even describe to you how I felt. Every day was more difficult than the day before dealing with issues at work and trying to make everything come together. I was coming home almost in tears because I felt I was hanging together like a piece of thread. The day I felt I was cracking, I had dinner with a couple of my good girlfriends. Those few hours helped my stress fade away a bit. 

Having had my blood pressure tested every day since Tuesday; it was very high during the week. I was worried and so was mum. Today, after a couple of days rest, it is back to normal. I have only been employed full time for a month, so I am almost certain that my body (and mind) is not used to all of this yet, and this was just its way of telling me to take it easy. I’m sure that as I get more used to it, I will adjust, but in the meantime, I have realised what stress can do. I’m only 25 and should not be having medical problems relating to stress!! After a motherly lecture this afternoon, I know I need to change a few things to find ways to de stress so I can avoid this again! ...

Wine anyone? :)

Another year ends

As 2014 comes to an end, I can’t help but look back on this year. In more ways than one it’s been tough. I was unemployed, I moved back home with a challenge of reconnecting with old friends and making new ones, I went through heart break and I lost my uncle. It’s been a year that for these personal reasons that I look forward to starting 2015. Bigger events have also been happening around the world; Journalists being beheaded, terrorist attacks all over, ferries sinking and catching on fire, 2 missing planes, and 1 shot down- just to name a few. With the recent Air Asia plane crashing into the Java Sea, there will be 162 families that will start their year in mourning- my heart goes out to all of you.

Each year has tragedies and each year we all say we can’t wait for the year to end and to start again. I think that part of the problem is that we forget the good things that have happened and our mind focuses on the bad.  I am not saying that we should forget, but rather try and see some positives to help us get through the bad.

In my year of challenges, there were some happy memories made, and it wasn’t all terrible. I have to admit though that I wasn’t expecting it to go as it went. Now, as 2015 approaches us in a few hours, I do feel like I wasted a year. I didn’t achieve what I wanted to and my resolutions were never fulfilled. I have every intention for 2015 to make this year about me and to stop focusing on silly small things and trying to make other people happy. I am going to stop expecting so much of others in every aspect because I always end up disappointed. I am going to focus on my writing and my career as this needs to be my year. This is the year that I will prove to myself that the path I have chosen was right for me and there are better things for me out there.  I am going to do more of the things I love to do and I am going to start singing and acting again.

I feel that I went to sleep on the morning of 2014 and woke up and it was New Years Eve again; that this year was all a dream. Time is so precious and it’s too short to waste it. I close my chapter on 2014, as an individual who is a tiny speck in this world, and open up a new page tomorrow in a new light. I want bigger and better things for myself.

“Just because you fail once, it doesn’t mean you are going to fail at everything. Keep trying, hold on, and always, always, always believe in yourself because if you don’t, then who will? So keep your head high, keep your chin up, and most importantly, keep smiling because life’s a beautiful thing and there is so much to smile about” - Marilyn Monroe

Alarms

I have spent the last two weeks house/ dog sitting for a friend of mine. It is a beautiful, five bedroom house and I loved every minute of it. My last night there however was 'interesting'.

I was lying in bed watching Scandal; house alarm on, dogs inside and downstairs, safe haven locked and I was drifting off to sleep. Suddenly I heard an alarm go of. I pause my episode, and I listen. It doesnt sound like my house- what a relief!. Earlier on in the evening the alarm went off somewhere in the compound, so I figured it was the same one.

I was wrong.

I got all comfortable again, then I heard a knock on the front door and the doorbell ring. The dogs started growling and barking. I felt sick. I tiptoed to the bathroom window so I could open it to look outside. There at the door is the askari (security guard). He asks me if everything is ok as my alarm is going off. I freak. I didnt realise it was mine. All sorts of things are going on in my mind now. The stupid thing though, is that to turn the alarm off, you need to unlock the safe haven and go downstairs where the potential danger is. Now, because the dogs are downstairs and are barking at the guy outside (and it was most likely them that set the vibration sensors off), I figured that I was ok. I asked the askari to wait by the door just incase while I grabbed a bottle of doom. At least I could blind someone if I was in danger! All was fine though. The dogs were bouncing around, no-one was inside the house and I turned the alarm off. 

I will admit though, I had trouble sleeping that night! 

Day 6: Kayaking

The only day of the whole trip that I was able to sleep in a little! It was a relatively go slow and relaxed day; late breakfast, got some reading done, and recovered from my pounding headache. We decided to head into town for a late lunch and see what Jinja was like. As we were about to leave, we found our car battery had died; so we jump started it and had to go find a garage that sold them. In and out of the streets, down some one ways the wrong way, and through some crazy matatu (mini bus taxi) drivers we eventually found a place that sold some. It wasn’t exactly what we wanted, but we didn’t have much of a choice. This whole saga unfortunately took over an hour.

We were trying to find a restaurant that overlooked the lake; somewhere peaceful and pretty, somewhere where we could order something other than burgers or wraps. I had heard of this place called Gately from a friend, so I looked for it in ‘The Eye’ magazine. The guest cottages looked out onto the lake, so I assumed that the restaurant would too. It didn’t. That didn’t matter though; we ordered stir fry and it was delicious.

We were now worried about timing, it was close to 5 and we wanted to take the kayaks out on the Nile and do some fishing. We got back in time, but decided not to worry about the fishing. My brother and I shared one and my parents the others. As we headed down to the water, we saw a group of kids having lessons. It was really sweet to watch, and the instructors were worth watching for a few minutes! Trying not to make a fool of myself (or let my brother aid in it), we paddled away from the group as quickly as possible. It was so peaceful out there. We paddled close to the shore line to see the birds and we had a bit of fun with the go pro. It was a lovely hour out on the water.

A very quiet evening it was. Although the next game was on, it was cold and I was tired. It was a long drive in the morning to get back to Nairobi, and seeing as I was driving, I thought I had better get some sleep!

Day 5: Rafting & Boozing

The Rafting...

Today I faced one of my fears; White Water Rafting. When this trip to Uganda was being planned, I swore that I was not going to get on the raft due to the fact I was totally and incomprehensibly terrified. I used to love being in the river and in the sea, then, all of a sudden I became afraid of the water; of the currents I guess and how powerful it is was. I think it might have something to do with the Tsunami. I wasn’t directly affected by it; I was at the Kenyan coast when it hit but I gained this huge amount of respect for the water and how much damage it can inflict. A couple of weeks ago, my friend in Australia posted something that inspired me. She said that life is about conquering your fears and for the rest of this year, she would tackle something that she was afraid of. When I read her posting, I booked myself for the rafting.

I was nervous when we got onto the red truck that was taking us to the ‘base camp’ where they would brief us, give us a light breakfast and sort us out with helmets and life jackets. I was trying my hardest to think of all the positive things that people have said about rafting.

Ian arrived on the shuttle from Entebbe only a few minutes after us. He was bubbling with excitement, ready to capture all of our faces on his go-pro (which he attached to his helmet). Mum and I were quiet, nervous and unsure. My brother was in his element, and very excited to get in the water. Finally, the time had come and we made our way on the truck to the entry point. There was a guy sitting in front of me on the bus who I had briefly spoken to at the base camp. He was intending on river boarding down the Nile- mad if you asked me (although he loves it!). He was calm and collected and I’m sure bursting with excitement. We reached the spot. I think I had a minor heart attack.

On the banks of the river, the guides were explaining to us the rules and what we must do. As I was sat listening to him, I felt like I was turning pale and I had that sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. I was terrified. I was questioning my own sanity and why I would want to do something that scared me so much.  It was time to get into our rafts.

The instructor on our raft was showing us how we must paddle, what we must do when we approach a rapid and explaining to us what we must do if we flip. He asked if we wanted to do trial flip, but mum was adamant that she didn’t want to get wet.We started paddling, and as I heard the rapid I panicked. I looked to the shore and wondered if they would take me back. I didn’t say anything, but my family saw the terror in my face. I was focusing on my breathing and going over in my mind what I needed to do. I could see the rapid. “Forward paddle... hard forward paddle... get down” our guide shouted as we went over the drop of the first rapid.

I closed my eyes; I didn’t want to see the rushing water. I could feel my foot slip under the seat and hit something as we landed. My heart was in my mouth. We made it- one down! Once we were out of the rapid and back on the calm water, I looked down. My foot was blue and turning black. The instant bruise was incredible. At that point I couldn’t feel anything, my adrenaline was pumping and I was in shock. Of course it would be me that would get hurt!! As I calmed down, it started to throb and amazingly the colour started to disappear. We then approached the next rapid. It was fine, no drops, and again I had my eyes closed! I then received injury number two and sliced the side of my baby toe open.  What else can happen? We had two more rapids to go before we called it a day. As we neared rapid 3, our guide asked us what level of difficulty we would prefer. Mum and I shouted "easy" but we were outvoted. Medium it was, with a 50-50 chance of tipping. 

Eyes tightly closed, crouched down in the raft as we hit the rapid, and the next minute I am in the water gasping for air. I didn’t see us flip, I don’t even remember it happening; one moment I was in the raft, the next minute I was in the water.  It all happened so quickly, and I know that I bumped into someone.  As I came up for air, coughing and spluttering, I felt the back of my lifejacket tug. I had a moment of panic as I thought I was caught on a rock and being pulled down, until I heard my name. It was the guide who had grabbed me and was pulling me back to the raft.  Once back on the raft and out of the water I breathed a sigh of relief. I had survived the flip. One more to go. The last was a level 6; therefore we had to get onto to the shore and walk around it, and only join up the last section of it (thankfully!). The river boarder wanted to go down it, but he too was made to walk around. I cannot describe to you the relief I felt as we completed the last one, and made our way out. The whole experience was not as bad as I had imagined it to be, I was glad to have faced and survived one of my fears, but I don’t think I will be going down any rapids any time soon!

                                            * Photos courtesy of Nile River Explorers*

Booze Cruise...

This is exactly what it sounds like and it was bloody amazing.  We had paid for ½ day rafting and the cruise, so once on board it was an open bar. We all decided to make the most of this and began with our gins and bitter lemons immediately. There were some lovely people on there; the group of Aussies from the overlander truck, a couple from America/ China and a couple from Cape Town (the boyfriend went to Stellenbosch and stayed in Academia, and the girlfriend was studying at UCT).  Music was playing, snacks were provided, and the company was great. The cruise was about 2 hours long and by the time we got back we were all pretty sloshed! More drinking and sambuka shots followed suit. It was a great fun evening, but due to my total intoxication I missed the Brazil-Germany game (but with the total walkover it was probably for the best!).