Creativity GYM

or how to train the crazy creative inside us

Back at the beginning of this year, I bought the “Steal like an artist journal.” And I have been filling it in every now and then. This is like my creativity gym. Beside the stuff I do at work that requires a lot of thinking and reading, and coming up with interesting ways of addressing certain issues. I also try to be creative outside of work. Of course I paint. But I do other gym-like activities for the big organ in my head. I believe this is quite important and it helps keep more than just one area of the brain active.

One of the pages in this Journal had no instruction. Or rather it had the instruction to ask someone what you should do with that page. My partner suggested I thought about the objects and things that people will be using in 10 years’ time. Come up with a name and a short description. So this is what I did.

> The key is to write whatever comes to mind first. And most importantly, direct your mind to the very obscure and crazy bits.

I came up with 5:

1. **Connector** – this is what people will be using to find each other for any reason. After the wave of specialization where social apps like LinkedIn, Opportunity, Facebook, Twitter are used in parallel, a tendency to integrate all of them will start. We will only login in one place and customize the appearance based on time in our life, interest and mood.
2. **Nutrifridge** – this is a smart fridge with a compartment that pulls together all the fruits and veggies that are about to go bad and mixes them in an awesome smoothie, ready after our morning exercise. Oh yes, and everyone will wake up early and do some exercise in the morning, as this has been proven unanimously to improve quality of life, plus you get free stuff if you do it!
3. **Mobile garden** – beside morning exercise and awesome smoothies, people will become super obsessed with organic stuff. So everyone will have a portable garden, that they would move from house to house or even take with them everywhere they go. Also garden walls will be super popular and will replace some art inside the flats. Super easy to set up as well.
4. **Gymfest** – this is not an object, but more of a tradition. People’s obsession with gyms will start being celebrated; like a gym heritage month. During this month, going to gym will be free if you convince someone to go. There will obviously be the non-conformers. I was already thinking that my friend Kady could start it up. She has done the first step: onetoptrainer.com. Next year, all the trainers and the gyms will come to the festival at an exhibition centre in London; they will bring goodies and have some ad-hoc classes. People will pay £5 to get in. Okay now this is a bit on a tangent. But watch out this space. We are rocking it!
5. **Chameleon** (or smart coat) – my last one is close to heart. This is a coat that gets thicker or thinner depending on the temperature outside, so you are always just warm enough. If it rains it obviously becomes waterproof and has a nice little hoodie that looks like a baseball hat at the front so you don’t get any rain coming in your face. If it’s very sunny, you don’t need to take it off, it automatically creates some holes for air circulation in the right places.

Here we go. Now it’s your turn. Get those creativity juices flowing! And thank Austin Kleon!