Rationalists, wearing square hats,
Think, in square rooms,
Looking at the floor,
Looking at the ceiling.
They confine themselves
To right-angled triangles.
If they tried rhomboids,
Cones, waving lines, ellipses —
As, for example, the ellipse of the half-moon —
Rationalists would wear sombreros.
— Wallace Stevens, Six Significant Landscapes
So far, we’ve looked at how the creative thinking process can be applied to academic as well as everyday life, the risks involved and examples of people who’ve changed the world because they dared to think outside of square rooms, as Wallace Stevens puts it. Let’s now look at the benefits of wearing a sombrero!
Problem solving is one obvious benefit of creative thinking. A creative thinker is able to find a quick, clean solution to a problem by exploring different methods of approaching it.
As they say, nothing succeeds like success and a creative thinker soon develops a confident and balanced approach to life and living.
The personality of the person goes through a marked change for the better. This makes dealing with failure that much the easier because a creative thinker does not take a stumble or a fall personally.
They know that failure is part of the process and that it does not mean that they are no good.
In other words, a sombrero will fly away sometimes, but creative thinkers will laugh with the wind and catch it again!
This ability not only benefits creative thinkers in the outside world, it helps them grapple with inner conflicts as well. Creative thinkers are likely to have high emotional intelligence because of their ability to think from several perspectives. Instead of wallowing in self pity when faced with a personal problem, creative thinkers search inside for viable solutions and are able to control their minds.
You cannot find happiness anywhere but inside yourself and the self awareness of creative thinkers helps them figure this out. They develop a positive attitude towards life and their role in society.
Another big plus in creative thinking is the boost it gives to self-expression and individualism. A creative thinker’s unique approach to the mundane will undoubtedly carry a strong mark of his or her personality.
As this approach begins to pay off, a creative thinker becomes more and more communicative about ideas, thoughts, and instincts with others. Such sharing with other like-minded individuals can lead to increased productivity and discovery.
Creative thinking is not just for passing exams or climbing up the corporate ladder. It will help you understand yourself better and open up parts of your personality that you never knew you had! So how about wearing that sombrero? Wear it with pride and remember to wear it at an angle!