Uniformity and Homogeneity

I sometimes wonder what I would do if I were required to come up with something to write about on a daily, or even weekly basis.  Clearly I am not cut out for that type of job, and I have gained a very high level of respect for people who are.  My question is always, how do I make ideas come to me when nothing will?

Many years ago, when I was in college, when I had this problem, I had several strategies to cure this problem.  One of them was to take a real, live, pen and paper to a quiet spot and just start writing.  It almost seemed as if the actual process of moving the hand sparked creativity in ways that simply typing on a keyboard does not.  I also found this strategy useful in seminary, when the same thing would happen.

While I am very pleased with the advancement of technology, and will not argue that it has opened doors that we have never even seen before, I often wonder if the nature of such technology might be causing us to lose some of our creative spark.  Let's take a look at children's toys for a moment.  I would be surprised to find one that does not talk, ding, play music, or move.  It makes me sad when I see children pick up a toy and quickly put it back down again when they realize it doesn't "do" anything.  I remember this happening with my own children, who actually had little access to such toys, and explaining to them that the joy in toys that don't do it for you, is that you can make it do whatever you want.  They were very pleased with this answer for a long time.  Then Alex hit the video game age.  Luckily, Skylar never did get into them, and it appears that Alex is phasing out of it (thank you, God!).

Another example that comes to mind is musicians today.  It is difficult to find a song on the radio that has not been "enhanced" in some way.  Then, due to the fact that their recorded music has been altered, artists find themselves in the unfortunate position of having to lip sync in their performances, for fear of sounding less like the artist we know on the radio, or *gasp* making a mistake!  For awhile, the new sound was amazing and interesting.  Now, however, it makes almost all music sound the same.  Again, this is sad, because we are turning into a culture that values uniformity, not the unique talents of individuals. Technology is not completely to blame for this shift, however; it is largely us, as human beings, forcing this undistinctive nature of the world around us.

As teachers, when we are lucky to find students who we might label eccentric, they are likely our least favorite students.  Why?  Because they don't fit within the norm.  They challenge us, keep us on our toes, and make us think.  I have a love/dislike relationship with students like this.  Having too many of them throughout the day often leaves me tired and frustrated, but at the same time glad to have been able to successfully overcome that hurdle for yet another day.  These are the students I will remember most, probably because they are the ones that demanded the most attention. And, in the end, I surprisingly reveal them as some of my favorites :)

I am in Houston today, enjoying some very much needed time off.  I'm much more relaxed than I have been in awhile. Even sitting here in my hotel room, the different atmosphere has given me an entirely different outlook for now.  The change of scenery helped me re-kindle the creative spark that I have missed so very much.  So, in a couple days, when I return to my regular, every day life, and you see me sitting 'neath a tree, laying on a park bench, sitting in my car, or doing any other unusual thing, just smile and know that I am likely on my way to some ingenious idea, which you just might get to read here.