Bored But Never Boring - Media Evolution: The Conference 2013

Bored but never being

boring

http://www.flickr.com/photos/vmcamposjr/3630714365/

Denise R. Jacobs Media Evolution: The Conference

Malmö, Sweden 21 August 2013

Boredom, creativity, power, disruption, and lies

I am @denisejacobs

We’re at

#theconf @mediaev #mediaev

And I’m talking about #boredcreativity

OMG, @twitter is so #boring

Speaker + Author + Creativity Evangelist

Photo: Derek Kearney

POWER

Giving it away

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/6D-O5ECr5EUow5jrck2A2A

Distractions

http://www.flickr.com/photos/generated/2084287794/

Addicted to hyperconnectivity

http://www.flickr.com/photos/andersdenken/2082816707/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jepoirrier/422469526/ | http://www.flickr.com/photos/kristoferbjorkman/6910216819/ | http://www.flickr.com/photos/foreignoffice/2671039488/

Intermittent reinforcement

Unclosed mental loops

http://www.psychwiki.com/wiki/Zeigarnik_Effect

“Hyperconnectivity gives us the perception of getting more done, it makes us feel like we're doing more, because we're using every free moment of every waking hour.”

- Jonathan Fields

Afraid?

Photo: Denise Jacobs

We’re powerful

http://www.flickr.com/photos/89927155@N00/2144275209/

Overwhelmed

http://www.flickr.com/photos/freeflyer09/7574540716/

Instead of using it fully

http://www.flickr.com/photos/h-k-d/3310336516/

Try to contain it

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gc_photography/4662878037/

Unleash it?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/shanekemp/6152286326/

Bored =

http://www.flickr.com/photos/irrezolut/2311904560/

Seeking distraction/entertainment

http://www.flickr.com/photos/modenaroid/4103509077/

Something else

http://www.flickr.com/photos/djgarage/3680441291/in/photostream/

DISRUPTION

The in-between

http://www.flickr.com/photos/aguslepe/5512044294/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/beigephotos/16139687/, http://www.flickr.com/photos/beigephotos/16139685/, http://www.flickr.com/photos/beigephotos/16139686/

Allows creativity to blossom

“Genius is the offspring of the in-between.”

- Jonathan Fields

Maximize

http://www.flickr.com/photos/44568283@N02/4097561067/

Integrate

http://www.flickr.com/photos/47691521@N07/4639590640/

Neurons firing well

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lorelei-ranveig/2294885580/

“When your brain is supposedly doing nothing, it’s really doing a tremendous amount.”

– Marcus Raichle, Neurologist

Spacing out

http://www.flickr.com/photos/frinthy/4680321558/

Daydreaming

http://www.flickr.com/photos/fuzzylittlemanpeach/4633972431/

Mindless activity

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rabi/2499381396/

Being prone

http://www.flickr.com/photos/snazzy54/4581347651/

Showers

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevendepolo/3762676524

Walking

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rcsaxon/542566756/

Meditating

http://www.flickr.com/photos/guiniveretoo/1573049301/

Laughing

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wickenden/3644297054/

Playing/Fun

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kkendall/3613416741/

“When you are playful, you are activating the right side of your brain. The logical brain is a limited brain. The right side is unlimited. You can (do and ) be anything you want.”

- Madan Kataria, The Laughter Guru

Instead of this

http://www.flickr.com/photos/danielsilliman/4489863368/

Intend Alpha

http://uniteunderfreedom.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Brain-waves.jpg

LIES

Natalie

http://www.flickr.com/photos/barretthall/3036598475/

From the mind of a 4yo

Photo courtesy of Laura Bohill (@LauRARbee)

Imaginary friends

“Sometimes dabbling in mysticism can be a fun way to understand and solve a problem.”

- Carl King, So You’re a Creative

Genius, Now What?

Helpful delusion

Travel our internal lands

http://archivingthecity.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/maps_of_the_imagination.jpg

Genius

Muses

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archivo:NAMA_3_Muses.jpg

The three original muses: Mneme - memory Melete – practice or occasion Aoide – voice Muses were thought to be the true speakers for whom an artist is merely the mouthpiece. Muses inspire people to do their best.

Muses

Mneme (Memory)

Photo: Denise Jacobs

Melete (Practice/Occasion)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kayray/4069381837/

Aoide (Voice)

Photo: Denise Jacobs

The spirit of the idea

http://www.flickr.com/photos/generated/3152875826/

“The world is being circled by ideas and creativity that wants to made manifest and are looking for portals to come through…”

- Elizabeth Gilbert

Needs us to bring it into form

Ideas use us (not vise-versa)

Listen

http://www.flickr.com/photos/theory/3193684688/

Converse

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tojosan/181249465/

Voila!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bohman/174718774/

CHOOSE

power + disruption + lies =creative flow

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sgeithner/5290115839/

True.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stealingsand/5563317146/

The goal

http://www.flickr.com/photos/opensourceway/6005503875/

Embrace the space in-between

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cdoublew/2663137942/

Thank you

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wwworks/4759535970/

Articles for further reading (mine) netmagazine.com/features/ four-secrets-enhancing-creative-productivity alistapart.com/articles/ reigniting-your-creative-spark/ alistapart.com/articles/ banishing-your-inner-critic/

DeniseJacobs.com

denise@denisejacobs.com

twitter.com/denisejacobs

facebook.com/denisejacobsdotcom

slideshare.net/denisejacobs

How to find me

Photo used with permission: http://www.flickr.com/photos/aarronwalter/4629078087/

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