Mark Zuckerberg

Who out there hasn’t heard of the insanely popular social network that is called Facebook? Everyone has, am I right? Well thanks to one extremely creative genius we have this incredibly easy way to keep up with our friends. But what is it that makes someone a creative genius exactly? First we must determine what it means to be creative. With lots of thought and consideration I have found that creativity is the amount of ideas, imagination, and inspiration awarded to a person at birth. It is a concept that is limitless and intangible and is totally unique to each person. Being a creative, original person means that you must come up with an idea on your own, creating something that no one has thought up or claimed before. This idea must come from inside and in the case of Mark Zuckerberg, the creator of Facebook, it can grow to be something more than you could ever imagine. The Facebook sensation started out at HarvardUniversity when Mark designed a program from his dorm room called Face Mash. The purpose of this program was for his fellow classmates to judge other students based on their appearance. It didn’t take long for the site to be shut down but either way Face Mash was just the beginning. Face Mash was just the seed of what became the Facebook take over . Mark’s youthful knowledge of how students would like to communicate combined with his wisdom of computer programming gave him the creative ability to come up with what is biggest social network on the internet. Now let’s talk a little bit as to why we see Mark as a genius. Is it because of his success of becoming a billionaire or is it because he was so intellegent? I see it as though if Facebook had not become as popular as it has that we would not see Mark as a creative genius, in fact we simply wouldn’t know he existed. So maybe we should alter our way of viewing a genius. It is not just the intelligence an individual has but also the fame that comes along with it.

The Genius Sensation

When I hear the word genius the very first person who comes to mind is Mark Zuckerberg. He is the creator of the immensely popular social networking cite that has come to be Facebook. He has made a name for himself not only in the United States but all over the world. If there is internet, then you better believe they know about Facebook. More recently there has even been a release of a movie based on his success which is called the Social Network. Once the movie came out it was a popular topic amongst all and he quickly became known as the youngest, most successful billionaire in the world.

What makes Mark Zuckerberg a genius is his natural talent for intelligence. After seeing the movie it was obvious that his knowledge of working with computers and their programming was way beyond his years. He applied his wisdom of computers to how young adults would like to interact with one another. However if we take a closer look, would you say that it was his knowledge alone that declared him a genius? Would all of the world still see him as a genius if Facebook never blew up and became the sensation that it has? Does being a genius mean you have to have a great success and become some famous and incredibly known individual? Is it about making a name for yourself or is it based on the knowledge alone? Think about it. If no one knew what was going on in that magnificent brain, then we would declare you a normal average thinker. Being a genius is not only having a massive amount of creativity and intelligence but also being able to have others see you that way. It requires a perfect balance, thus the reason we have labeled Mark Zuckerberg the genius that he is.

Shortage of Creativity in School Systems

It is my personal belief that school systems are slowly but surely killing creativity. I have come to this conclusion due to the fact that each year more schools around my high school are taking away classes that allow students to express themselves. There is a school in the conference right next to mine called Rootstown High school. I heard through many of my friends that go there, that their budget won't support some of their art classes along with cooking, child development, and a couple gym courses. Now I realize this may not seem like a huge deal to you or even me for that matter because it doesn’t effect our education; but if you take a closer look, you would see what a huge impact it has on those students. Think about all the kids in the Rootstown school system. They are being cut classes that get them away from thinking only about the core classes such as Math, History, English, and the Sciences. At what point in their school day do they get to use the other half of their brain? Rootstown isn’t the only school in their conference, in Ohio, and even in the nation that is being forced to drop creative classes. Without these classes, we are eliminating the practice of creative thinking. How do we expect kids to be successful without that skill?

            Other than the fact that many schools are dropping classes involving art and music, why is it that people don’t make a big deal about how core classes dominate all students’ schedules? My school in particular only required two credits in an “art” class.  But before you graduate you had to have four years (7 credits) of an English class. This does not seem fair to students whose strength is in the creative classes. They should have the freedom to take classes that will benefit them and their future plans. Then for students who thrive in the core classes should be put in the art classes specifically to strengthen their weakness and improve their creative thinking. Their must be a way to solve the slow paralysis of creativity.

Revision

For me, revision is definitely the most crucial part of writing a paper. I could sit and ponder what I feel the best sentence would look like for hours and where does that get me? Instead, whatever comes to my mind, I lay it down on the keys of my laptop. Most times I repeat myself, or I will finish a thought and then later on in my writing I will bring it up again and continue to elaborate on something that I have already beaten to death.  I have found that if I just start writing and turn around and start revising, I am much more successful. At that point, I am involved and dissecting what I have said and can organize my thoughts so that any reader is able to understand what I am trying to convey. I have confidence in saying that without revision I would never complete any of my projects because I’m never satisfied with the first words or thoughts that come to my mind. I don’t know anyone that ever is, and without revision my thoughts would never be well rounded and complete. Without this step it would be hard coming up with a final product that I could be proud to call my own.

Considering Henry Darger

It can go without saying that Henry Darger was without a doubt a very creative individual. But where did it all begin? It turns out his story begins simply at the beginning, where everything that could go wrong, did.

 Henry lived an interesting life filled with more turmoil than the typical person has to experience. Starting at a young age his mother passed away so his younger sister was forced to become an orphan, leaving Henry with his father. Unfortunately soon after, Henry's father grew ill and was admitted to a nursing home Henry was enrolled in The Mission of Our Ladies Home boarding school. Once Henry’s father passed away Henry was brought to an asylum for feeble minded children. He attempted to run away multiple times and was eventually successful and that’s when he moved back to Chicago at a mere age of 17.

Henry’s childhood showed that he had no other choice but to get through almost impossible obstacles not only at a young age but also by himself. If all your life you were told that you were crazy and treated separate from society at what point would start to believe that maybe you were? My view on Henry’s creative genius is that it stemmed from a mental illness. Throughout his stressful childhood he was forced into a schizotypal personality. According to PubMed Health a schizotypal personality disorder is a mental health condition in which a person has trouble with relationships and disturbances in thought patterns, appearance, and behavior. After looking at the later years of his life its obvious he preferred to stay closed away from the outside world due to the way he had been treated. Henry instead invested most of his time creating a new world where he could focus on things that were absent in his present life. His creations reflected many children, girls more specifically. In my opinion he did this be because he was deprived of a youth and even a female figure.

Henry’s 30,000 pages of work including “The Realms of the Unreal” is creative and unlike any other work seen before. It is important we focus on his work because it has potential to answer questions such as: where does creativity begin? It seems that many artists who were perceived as successful, lived troubled lives much like Henry did. Some examples are as follows: Michael Jackson, Albert Einstein, Vincent Van Gogh, etc. Can we consider Henry Darger in the same category and as influential as the people previously listed? In many ways, I can. Can you?

Cleese on Creativity

According to Cleese the open mode is a “relaxed, expansive, less purposeful” and childlike mode that you are capable of bringing yourself when looking to find your inner creativity. The reason someone might claim this place more inclined for creative thinking is because there is less pressure to get things accomplished. So the million dollar question is; how would one find this spacious "open" place?

In the video Cleese goes into depth about a five step process to help you get into the “open mode.” These steps are as follows: space, time, time, confidence, and humor. You must be able to put yourself away from reality in an oasis like space where you can not be disturbed. Sitting in this place for a specific, allotted amount of time will help you loose the feeling of being rushed. It is often found that when you first try to free your mind, all it will do is race on about other, more important, things that you feel need accomplished. Once those thoughts eventually float away, you can reach into a suspension of thoughts thriving with creativity. The second step of time is not a typo. This time, time is meant for you to stray away from settling with your first good idea and continue thinking until you come to develop the newer, and greater idea you never knew you had in you. With more time under your belt you are able to establish a sense of confidence. Being confident is important so you are fearless of how others may react or what others may say about your new, outside of the box idea. And lastly, you must bring humor. Having humor in a situation doesn’t make you a less scholoarly, serious person. It instead makes you a far more interesting and creative individual.
The steps above make it seem like this "open mode" place you can go if you try hard enough is just too good to be true. And as great as it seems, sometimes finding this mode is harder than you would think. A while back, during high school, I knew that I had an English assignment due within the next couple of days. In fact, it had been weighing on my subconscious to figure out what it was I wanted to do. So one night when I had planned on dedicating my time to this paper, I just couldn't do it. I was getting so frustrated I decided to move onto my least favorite subject, math. Then without thought I began to drift from the mathematical problems on my paper to an abundance of ideas for my project. It is amazing how just removing stress from the equation helped me expand my realm of possibilities.
Just because I found difficulty in being creative once doesn’t mean all my experiences with creativity have been this way. I have come to find in my long eighteen years of life, that if I set my mind on being original and creative, I am able to do so. Although it doesn’t always happen in the most ideal of ways and with the best of circumstances, I somehow find a way to complete whatever project it may be in ample time, with the perfect dash of creative spice. If there is one thing I can tell you, it is that it takes plenty of time and practice to find and explore creativity at will, but it is indeed possible and always worth it.

What is Creativity?

Creativity represents the amount of ideas, imagination, and inspiration instilled in a person. It is a limitless and intangible concept that is individualized and unique to each person. Not only will creativity set someone apart from the next but it allows all people, no matter who they are, to express themselves. Sometimes being creative means finding ways to breakout beyond the limit or loss of words to show others how they feel or what they think.

But as crazy as it may seem, being creative does not come easy to everyone. It takes practice to be able to dig deep inside yourself and discover who you are and what separates you from the pack. The best way I can describe this is like a bag of sour patch kids. There are many ideas floating around in your head but where do you begin? You must pick one. At the start you might find that it is sour and hard to endure. But if you can find it within yourself to keep going your reward is much greater than your sour pucker of frustration. Finishing the bag, your creative idea, will always be worth it, allowing you to stand out beyond comparison with a full stomach of satisfaction. You never know, your creative inspiration can stem from anything and lead you anywhere.

Hello my name is...

Elizabeth. That's my first name but now that I'm a freshman in college and have to introduce myself at least six times a day; my nine letter, four syllable name is just too much of a hassle. So over these last couple of weeks I've gotten used to saying "you can call me Liz." And so Liz it is.

This past summer I spent lots of time working, painting, and hanging out with my friends. I work as a cheer instructor for a company called UCA (Universal Cheerleading Association). This summer was my Rookie year on staff and I loved everything about it. The job requires us to travel all over Ohio and teach cheers, stunts, jumps, and tumbling to high school teams. Not only do the girls leave with new tricks up their sleeves but they also bring with them new friendships and amazing team bonding memories.

I came to Mount Union from another college town about forty minutes from here, Kent, home of the Golden Flashes. Why Mount Union and not Kent State University? Well, last spring I tried out for the Raider cheer team. I made it and that was about it. From that day on I knew Mount was the one. Now you are probably wondering "why would you base your entire college career on cheerleading?"... I know you are asking this because I ask myself the same exact question everyday. But it turns out I have no clue what it is I want to be when I grow up. Maybe teaching, business, journalism, or something art related. Who knows? I'm just trying to figure out this thing called life...