David Usher - Let the Elephants Run: Unlock Your Creativity and Change Everything

THIS IS THE THREE-YEAR-OLD ME. THIS PERSON, STANDING POISED WITH A BOW AND ARROW WEARING NOTHING BUT HIS UNDERWEAR HOLDS THE KEYS TO CREATIVITY. HE HAS ENDLESS CURIOSITY AND LIMITLESS IMAGINATION. HE ASKS A MILLION QUESTIONS AND LOVES TO LEARN. HE IS A SPONGE TO THE WORLD AND AN OPEN RECEPTOR TO ALL THE AMAZING IDEAS AROUND HIM. THIS IS THE ME I MUST ACCESS TO HAVE A DYNAMIC CREATIVE PROCESS. But LIFE changes us.

Layer upon layer of life begins to separate us from our childs mind. We become experts at our jobs and we become more experienced. We shut ourselves off and focus on the important things. Slowly, over time, we forget to be curious, to keep learning, to imagine and maybe our dreams begin to fade a bit.

But the childs mind still exists. Its somewhere near the back of our heads, waiting just below the surface. If you spend a little time searching, you can still find that person; it is still possible to reconnect with your curiosity and wonder. To be more creative, you need to find this version of you: the person who can still imagine the impossible.

For as long as I can remember, I have loved making things. One of my earliest memories is of driving with my family across Canada to Nova Scotia on holiday. I was four years old and I spent the entire trip standing on the hump between the two front seats, one hand on each, making up songs about anything we passed on the highway and singing them at the top of my lungs. This was in the era before seatbelt laws, or even seatbelt awareness. The horsey in the barn, he could be on the left was one of my first hits. That burning desire to sing and write songs has stayed with me for my entire life. I have a great career in music and it has allowed me to tour all over the world and meet some incredible people. Music has been very good to me, but the creative bug that started with songwriting has led me to work in all kinds of creative disciplines: music, technology, consulting, speaking, entrepreneurship, and activism. To some that might sound like an unmanageable, dizzying number of areas in which to live, but for me, it just works. And the reason is clear: beneath the surface, the creative process utilized by all of these different disciplines is remarkably similar. Once you identify and engage these essential elements of the process, the rest is simple. When you start to see creative thinking as independent of genre or discipline, suddenly you can work on almost anything.

There is something magical, almost indescribable, that happens in the moment of creation the moment of bliss, surprise, and wonder when all forces of the universe come into focus for just a split second. Suddenly, you can see something that no one else can see. Its like a drug, really. Once youve tasted it, you can never turn away, and you find yourself continually trying to recapture that feeling.

This book is about getting to that moment. Not by luck or magic, but by stripping away the myths that surround the creative process and tackling the work and discipline that it really takes to get there. Popular myth would have us believe that a few people are born creative while the rest are not. Its much easier to believe in magic than in work, or in divinity than in struggle. But look a little closer and you will find that creativity is an intrinsic part of being human, and it is written into every persons DNA. Many people live their lives oblivious to and alienated from their inherent creative nature. Creativity is not just magic; it is a learnable skill that any person or company can acquire. I have spent my life refining that process, and I can tell you that it really is possible to reconnect with your creative self. You just have to take the time, make the commitment, and learn how. Within creative thinking lives the power of transformation. It can create objects, change habits, and transform people. Through creativity you can change everything.

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ACTION
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Throughout this book are small tasks designed to put your ideas in motion. The trick to learning the skill of creativity and creative thinking is through action. This is not a passive sport. Only through actions will you actually be able to reignite your creativity.

Want to download a printable copy of the action tasks found throughout this e-book so you can get active? Go to http://site.houseofanansi.com/let-the-elephants-run/

Look around you, wherever you are. Take it all in. The sights, the sounds. Now imagine a world without creativity. First, lets take away music. All the music. The heavy metal you loved in your teens and the pop music you listen to on the radio at work. Now lets take away dance and theatre. Poof! Gone! The art, paintings, sculptures, and drawings. Subtract movies, all the great TV shows, and video games. But it doesnt stop there. Lets take away writing: the books, magazines, articles, blogs all the things you love to read. Then the spoken word, the ability to formulate sentences and complex thoughts, all language. Now move to the world of things. Start with your computer, your fridge, the medicine you give your kids, the clothes you wear, the car you drive, and the house you live in. Then the infrastructure starts to disappear. The roads, the bridges, the heating, the buildings, the power grid, and, finally, the very floor you are standing on.