"Creativity can solve almost any problem. The
creative act, the defeat of habit by orginality,
overcomes everything."
- George Lois
As many of you know, I lived in New Orleans for ten
years. It was an amazing time and my memories of
the place are bittersweet. My son was born there. I
overcame my fear of public speaking and started
doing training there. I received my M.P.A. degree
there. But it was also the place where I was
mugged, my house was broken into, and where my
marriage fell apart. On top of that, a friend of mine
died from knee surgery after two months in intensive
care.
Maybe any city you live in for ten or more years can
bring about those radical highs and lows of life. But
for me, New Orleans will always be a city of
extremes.
Two of my friends (and their three dogs) came to
stay with me the weekend after Katrina. I’ve
watched the situation in New Orleans through my
own tear-filmed eyes, but also through theirs. As I
write this, they have gone back for the first time to
see if anything can be saved from their residences. I
can only guess at the pain they must be going
through and I’m so blessed to be able to provide a
dry,
mold-free place for them to stay until they decide
what to
do next.
I’ve read tons of news articles about rebuilding the
city. Mayor Ray Nagin this past week put together a
commission to rebuild New Orleans. I can’t imagine
the United States without New Orleans. If, however,
this city has a chance to survive again, the highest
need will be for creative minds.
Wynton Marsalis expressed it best. He said, “New
Orleans is a true American melting pot: the soul of
America....These people produced an original cuisine,
an original architecture, vibrant communal
ceremonies and an original art form: jazz.” For those
of you who have never been there, no words
can truly express the soul of this city. The people
are generous and kind in spite of, or maybe because
of, the sometimes adverse conditions – whether
hurricane or flood or abject poverty. There are
things to do in the city even if you have no money,
and that can’t be said about every town. (Try to
have a good time in Dallas without funds.)
It will take people who are not willing to settle for
the first ideas that rise to the top. It will take
people who can be visionary, who can see the
potential. It will take people who understand that it
takes all the people of New Orleans to rebuild the
city, not just the rich folks uptown. And it will take
people who can engineer pumps that work and levees
that hold.
Creativity can solve any problem. The first step is to
dream big, to see what you want the end result to
be, and then open yourself to the possibility that the
dream can happen.
Creativity is an interesting skill. It happens if you let
it. But if you take the first solution you encounter
just to solve the problem, you usually don’t get to
the good ideas. I hope the powers-that-be in New
Orleans will work toward the best, not just the easy,
solutions. I hope you can use that same model
to
solve your problems. Dream the big dream and then
blow past the first few ideas until you get to the
best solutions.
Last week’s contest was: 29, 57, 44, 128, 140, 379 –
What number (other than
1 or -1) can be divided into each of these numbers
without leaving a remainder? Any fraction with a one
as the numerator works. Maggie Seay came up
with 0.5. Maggie will receive a gift certificate to Entree's
Cafe and Catering.
This month, an easy one: Find the logic in this series
of numbers: 0, 1, 8, 10, 19, 90. Why can't the
series continue?
I have a gift certificate from Entree's
just waiting for the winner.
