🌽 The most creative thing I’ve ever experienced was corn

What is creativity?

Seriously. I’m asking you.

Is it…

• Being artistic?

• Solving problems?

• Building things?

• Asking questions?

The point that I’m getting at here is that creativity is hard to define, and looks different through the eyes of different people.

So when you’re trying to help your kid discover their own creativity (which is awesome, btw), you might be inadvertently projecting your own interpretation of creativity onto them.

Oh dip.

Don’t wanna do that.

So how do you cut through your preconceptions about creativity and help your kid discover their own creative path?

Here’s my suggestion — let them do weird stuff.

Hear me out…

My hypothesis is that creativity occurs anytime a “new connection” is made. The more unexpected the connection, the more creative the outcome.

This can occur in abstract ways (like with ideas and philosophy) and tangible ways (like with music and food).

For instance, one of the best things I’ve ever eaten was this:

What does that look like to you? A piece of corn, right? 

It’s not exactly revolutionary — or particularly attractive to look at.

But when I tasted it, the surprise was so memorable that it has stayed with me for seven years.

Turns out, it wasn’t corn at all. It didn’t even taste like corn.

It was a deliciously sweet and crunchy meringue filled with a foamy mixture of smoke and salt.

I’ve eaten hundreds of memorable meals since then, but none of them have stood out in my brain like this weird surprising corn thing.

And it’s not because of beauty, or quality, or because it overcame some incredible culinary challenge.

It’s because it combined flavors, textures, and visuals that had never been combined before.

It was truly creative.

So let your kid get weird

Encourage your kid to combine things that you’d never dream of putting together.

🕺🎸  A tap dancing routine to heavy metal music?

🎾🏒 A new sport that combines tennis and hockey?

💍🖇️ Jewelry made entirely from office supplies?

Sounds awesome.

When they’re using a toy in a way it’s not meant to be used, don’t scold them — congratulate them for finding a new creative way to play.

Sure, not all of their creations will be successful. Most them will be just plain weird (like the time I thought it would be a good idea to dip my Oreos in OJ 🤢).

But every time they combine two unexpected things, they’re strengthening their creative muscles, and training themselves to do things like:

🍔 Invent a meatless hamburger.

🚆 Use cork to design an ultra-light public train.

🧹 Create a hit NYC show that plays music with everyday objects.

Let ‘em get creative. Let ‘em get inventive. Let ‘em get weird.

They’ll thank you for it.

—

Oh, the restaurant where I ate the corn thing was Minibar by José Andrés. Check them out if you’re ever in Washington DC!