On paradigms

The path to creativity...

I love the notion of a paradigm. It's a backbone to an idea. It is the structure that defines the expression of content.

A paradigm can suppress or enlighten. Is someone who travelled the world framed as a lost runaway or a glorious adventurer?

What are the paradigms that most define your daily routine? Perhaps it's a professional paradigm- do you see your work through the lens of economics? Do you frequently read spiritual texts and attempt to comprehend happenings through spiritual ideas?

I have a creative prompt for you. Try making two piles of index cards. One will have events or activities in your weekly routine listed out (i.e. get in car, go swimming, turn on work computer, etc). The other pile will have the many paradigms that impact your interpretation of your week listed on them (i.e. economic lens, IT lens, spiritual lens, sports achievement lens). Take a moment to list out the qualities of these lenses- for example, a sports achievement lens might involve qualities such as "success defined by speed" or "calories burned". Then, randomly choose index cards so that you match events with paradigms. Don't look. As a creative writing exercise, journal about what it's like to interpret an event through the paradigm that it is "not supposed to" be matched to. For example, what would happen if you interpreted your swim through your spiritual lens? What if you interpreted your morning coffee ritual through your economic lens?

What's the point of all of this? Paradigms can limit us. They can also empower us and bring us joy. It's in joy that creativity flows, and where we find the inspiration to be ourselves in a new way. And this, my dear reader, is how you will move forward.