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Publisher’s Note
It was 22 years ago when I arrived in Canada and chose Calgary, Alberta to be my home. Leaving my family and friends behind, it was a new adventure for me to be in a new country without knowing anyone. That was the time I looked for a Filipino community paper and never found any, [...]
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Page added on February 25, 2018

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Erwinism: Engines of Creation

By Erwin D. Maramat

The day of hearts is upon us soon, and undoubtedly, everything will be saturated with articles on love. If anything, anyone who is selling flowers, chocolates, jewelleries, and lavish gifts to exploit professing love will be on board to cash in on the Valentine’s day bandwagon. So, what makes people tick when it coming up with profitable ideas? That my friend will be the focus of this article.

Heroes are perceived as immortals; ever graceful in their field of expertise, and spectators applaud them for their flawlessness and when blemishes surface, they are condemned for their imperfections. Everyone associate success with luck, but what they fail to see is that they are infatuated with the result and not the process—the creative process.

The Importance of Being Earnestly Creative

“Necessity is the mother of invention and the nagging wife of creativity.”

—Erwin D. Maramat

There are far too many reasons to elaborate and stress on the importance of creativity. The future may belong to everyone. However; it is something designed and brought to life in the thinking lab of the creative. Sometimes when life itself is being a jerk, it hands out the opportunity that calls for people to be creative—to think outside the box with the intent of selling the box and not sleeping on it by a smog-friendly street.

We are now living in a world that embraces creativity and thinking, this was not always the case. Creativity is supposed to make lives better, it encourages people to see beyond existing standards in hopes of elevating our lives, people in the past where burned at the stake for thinking out loud. Copernicus who out of curiosity found out the world is round pretty much kept it to himself as not to rouse anger from blithering idiots. Parents used to bully their kids into submitting into the ideals of a money-driven planet, but now everyone is being encouraged to nurture the creative gifts of our children, after all, we are putting our bets on this generation to save the world from itself. Jokes aside, our resources are dwindling, and this planet which was once a well-oiled machine is becoming more inhospitable to life and unaccommodating to rapid growing population of Instagramers.

Many of the greatest things that now exist just spurned from imagination, and yet creative thinkers have been frowned upon by skeptics who are attached to their comfort zones, until they are proved wrong and until companies find the bi-product of creativity will surely put a hefty amount money in their pockets.

Creativity has helped people weather numerous bouts of ups and downs. It serves as inspiration for people to navigate around roadblocks that stand between them and their dreams. In the end, creativity is often exploited, but on a lighter note it also a means for people to be true to themselves.

Can’t Buy Me Love, Neither Creativity

No matter how people try, creativity can’t be taught. There is a fine line between knowing and creating. It doesn’t mean knowing how to use a paint brush means one is automatically creative. There are millions of musicians who are technically gifted, but when asked to write a meaningful song, you are bound to find that only those who have sense of creativity stand out above the rest.

When I was a second grader my teacher had a glimpse of the future when she asked us to draw creative ideas. We were divided in groups and after thirty minutes we handed our work to her and the whole class was asked to explain their respective drawings. The group I belonged to presented a drawing of a device that sent out messages of what is comparable to mobile phone of today and drawings of cups of food that only required hot water for instant meals. She dismissed our ideas as being outlandish and praised the other group who drew an underwater clinic. It’s not to say that she was stupid which I thought she was, but just because one cannot perceive a creative idea doesn’t mean it’s a bad idea. In a video of a speech delivered by renowned astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson, he cited a contrived example of an employer who was conducting an interview of two candidates who were both asked what the height of the spire is of the building where the interview is being held. The first candidate gave the quick answer; 150 feet tall, as he had majored in architecture and had memorized how tall the spires were. The other candidate was asked the same question and admittingly he said that he didn’t know the answer but excused himself out of the office to conduct measurements and came back with an approximation of how tall the spires were. Dr. Tyson said he will hire the latter as he thought that person knows how to use the mind in a way not previously engaged. The moral of the story is that people underestimate the power of creativity and analytics in favor of proven facts and methods which has garnered the approval of authorities.

Creativity is inspired by the world outside and it is something that we teach ourselves and the most others can do is share techniques and methods.

Nurture the Nature

Don’t get stuck in a pattern. Although there is nothing wrong with being dependent on what is given; it is always to our benefit to think, create, and fail. Yes, fail, because that’s what motivates people to overcome limitation. When one is creative, one is bound to share the pains of failure, but that’s how we learn and that’s what makes success meaningful and creations worth the while. It what’s make human sapient, rather than being spoon-fed and being grateful for deliberate mindlessness. Creativity is most of the time about originality. It speaks volume of how thinking can be a powerful tool to change the landscape of any industry.

Dreams are conjured by the imagination and once the blueprint is defined we become engineers of our destiny.

Erwinism: Engines of Creation

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