Brainstorming is Loads of Fun!
Simple, fun and effective, you can brainstorm alone or with a group.
1) State your question. It can be about any decision you want to make. For instance, "How can I solve the problem of...?"
2) Pop out as many ideas as possible, as fast as you can. Include any and all weird ones. Remember, most new ideas sound ridiculous at first. Write down every idea as it comes.
3) No criticism or comment about any of the ideas is allowed. Being critical inhibits the imagination and crushes creative thinking. The goal here is to quiet your inner critic when it sneers, "That won't work," or "What a silly idea," or "That's already been done." The point is to postpone judgment in order to let ideas flow freely.
4) Generate as many ideas as possible.
5) When you've exhausted all possible ideas, sit back and look them over. Take some time to turn them around, combine, adapt, rearrange and play with them. Even the silly ones will contain the germ of a good idea. Have fun with the process. Laugh and play with it; humor triggers creativity.
6) Choose the best ideas to make your decision.
The benefits of brainstorming are enormous. Use it in your work or in your personal life. You'll find it not only helps you to live, think and work more effectively, as well as make better, smarter decisions, but it is also just plain fun!
Friday, June 12, 2009
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
I've been thinking about strength...
To be in their Midst is to Touch an Aspect of the Eternal
On a recent visit to Santa Cruz, California, I was walking the Redwood Grove Nature Trail at the spectacular Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park. The redwoods along this 0.8 mile trail are as large and as beautiful as any along the California coast.
The trail guide was full of interesting facts about these amazing trees. I learned that the scientific name for the Coast Redwood is Sequoia sempervirens. Sempervirens means ever-living because these trees have amazing survival adaptions which make them seem eternal.
In addition to being the world's tallest trees, often reaching 300 feet, they repel fire and disease. Most fires cannot penetrate redwood bark which is 7 to 12 inches thick, fibrous and heat resistant. Even if an intense fire burns through the bark and eventually hollows out the tree, the tree will continue to live and slowly heal the fire scar if sufficient living tissue remains undamaged.
A common sight in the Coast Redwood forest are large numbers of circular groups of trees called cathedrals. The trail guide explained that a redwood can sprout new trees from its roots on all sides. It is the only conifer or cone bearing tree to do so. These young trees eventually mature encircling the parent tree.
I learned that as the roots of the cathedral trees mature, they spread out, mingle and fuse together, which helps them to withstand strong winds. I couldn't help but think about the incredible picture of strength that emerges as these trees intertwine and grow together!
Nature once again provides a living illustration of Ecclesiastes chapter 4, verses 10-12, which says, Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him - a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
The Coast Redwoods are a powerful reminder that it is wise to STAND together and BAND together. Even when strong winds blow, there is safety in numbers!
On a recent visit to Santa Cruz, California, I was walking the Redwood Grove Nature Trail at the spectacular Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park. The redwoods along this 0.8 mile trail are as large and as beautiful as any along the California coast.
The trail guide was full of interesting facts about these amazing trees. I learned that the scientific name for the Coast Redwood is Sequoia sempervirens. Sempervirens means ever-living because these trees have amazing survival adaptions which make them seem eternal.
In addition to being the world's tallest trees, often reaching 300 feet, they repel fire and disease. Most fires cannot penetrate redwood bark which is 7 to 12 inches thick, fibrous and heat resistant. Even if an intense fire burns through the bark and eventually hollows out the tree, the tree will continue to live and slowly heal the fire scar if sufficient living tissue remains undamaged.
A common sight in the Coast Redwood forest are large numbers of circular groups of trees called cathedrals. The trail guide explained that a redwood can sprout new trees from its roots on all sides. It is the only conifer or cone bearing tree to do so. These young trees eventually mature encircling the parent tree.
I learned that as the roots of the cathedral trees mature, they spread out, mingle and fuse together, which helps them to withstand strong winds. I couldn't help but think about the incredible picture of strength that emerges as these trees intertwine and grow together!
Nature once again provides a living illustration of Ecclesiastes chapter 4, verses 10-12, which says, Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him - a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
The Coast Redwoods are a powerful reminder that it is wise to STAND together and BAND together. Even when strong winds blow, there is safety in numbers!
Friday, May 15, 2009
I've been thinking about motherhood...
Some of the Best Mothers I know are not Mothers at All!
I have been well loved over the years by many good women and I am thankful for the countless ways I have been blessed. However, I have become sensitized to the fact that some of the women who have loved me the best are not the women who most of us would expect to have "motherhood maturity."
I am speaking of women in my life without children of their own who have turned their loving nurturing toward me and expressed it meaningfully. What would we do without these women who selflessly serve us without expecting much in return in the natural sense of things?
I found a piece of art in a downtown Scottsdale store window that captured my interest. It is a brass faucet with glass spilling down like water into a small pool. The brass faucet is not visibly connected to anything. It is just a faucet spilling forth...
There is no connection to an earthly source so I automatically make a connection that there is an invisible source of water flowing through this faucet. For me, this piece of art is a picture of the outflowing of love from a life that is plugged into the amazing resources of God.
These same resources are available to all women no matter what our circumstances. What a wonderful - hopeful - satisfying picture of a life well lived because of the possibilities available to us as God's daughters. Today, I rejoice in being a woman who has the joy of knowing and experiencing this truth!
Because tomorrow is my birthday and I am turning 60, I have the privilege of once again reviewing and assessing my life. As I do, one of the things I MUST do is acknowledge the generous love of my friends who are not physical mothers but mothers none-the-less. This is a tribute to you Jacque, Mary Jane and Cindy. You come immediately to mind when I think of being well-loved. I am so very thankful for you all.
I have been well loved over the years by many good women and I am thankful for the countless ways I have been blessed. However, I have become sensitized to the fact that some of the women who have loved me the best are not the women who most of us would expect to have "motherhood maturity."
I am speaking of women in my life without children of their own who have turned their loving nurturing toward me and expressed it meaningfully. What would we do without these women who selflessly serve us without expecting much in return in the natural sense of things?
I found a piece of art in a downtown Scottsdale store window that captured my interest. It is a brass faucet with glass spilling down like water into a small pool. The brass faucet is not visibly connected to anything. It is just a faucet spilling forth...
There is no connection to an earthly source so I automatically make a connection that there is an invisible source of water flowing through this faucet. For me, this piece of art is a picture of the outflowing of love from a life that is plugged into the amazing resources of God.
These same resources are available to all women no matter what our circumstances. What a wonderful - hopeful - satisfying picture of a life well lived because of the possibilities available to us as God's daughters. Today, I rejoice in being a woman who has the joy of knowing and experiencing this truth!
Because tomorrow is my birthday and I am turning 60, I have the privilege of once again reviewing and assessing my life. As I do, one of the things I MUST do is acknowledge the generous love of my friends who are not physical mothers but mothers none-the-less. This is a tribute to you Jacque, Mary Jane and Cindy. You come immediately to mind when I think of being well-loved. I am so very thankful for you all.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)