Creativity is a buzz word we hear all the time. Like most people, I too want to be more creative in my work and daily life. This is one of the motivating factors in building my first website. I want an outlet which extends beyond devising solutions to numerical and programming problems in my research. My current advisor, Ken Caldeira, often says he is really good at thinking up many different ideas. He acknowledges that most of them are not gold. But, by having many ideas, he creates more of those rare gems which lead to fascinating research and exciting exploration.
By exercising my creativity outside of the specific research I pursue, I hope to quite simply stimulate my flow of ideas and willingness to share them throughout my life. There must be thousands of “creativity” self-help books available. Maybe I should read the intro of one or two of them. For now, I will stick with doing instead of reading. I have always learned and enjoyed myself more by doing rather than reading about doing.