improvarama

  A business call that takes too long. A meeting that's rambling. Waiting for the copy machine. There must have been times when an odd doodle showed up and grew into something collecting, something expressing. Here's an idea -- the next time you reach for your device to idly scroll, instead pick up a pen and some paper and doodle. It does not need to be anything at all. Doodle. Poke it. Prod it. Dress it up in your favorite doll house.  You will not have wasted your time. Think Tank Leakage - collage/mixed media/sketch by douglas brent smith, 1997.

  The imagination likes to dare you to go deeper. Go ahead, but buckle-up. -- doug smith

  Improv Activity: Draw a map. Pay no attention to accuracy, simply represent some area with your own original map. Write three lines describing your map. Next Level: Improvise a scene based on your map, or, write a short piece (poem, story, description) based on your map. Materials Needed: Paper and pen or something else to construct your map.

Challenges? Of course! Problems? Everywhere! Improvisation gives you and advantage: you can think on your feet in the moment, fearlessly. Creativity gives you an edge -- what you try that doesn't fly shows you a better way to get by. Don't stop creating until you stop breathing.  Don't stop improvising until you die. Keep the fun alive. -- doug smith  

One of my favorite questions is "how do you develop creativity?" because there are so many answers. Here's my favorite answer:  Developing creativity is easy -- just start creating and never stop. Make sense? Feel right? Try it! -- doug smith

  "Madness likes to call itself creative, but that doesn't mean that it is." -- doug smith OPTIONAL ACTIVITY: 1. Draw a picture. Keep drawing until you fill the page, no matter what develops. 2. Say something about it in one sentence.

  Drawing: Street Scene Purple , by douglas brent smith from Journal #7, The Eclectic Trance Dance , 1974