101 Activities For Teaching Creativity And Problem Solving

(Joyce) #1

42. Imaginary Mentor


Background
Did you ever have a secret friend to whom you told all your problems? Do you have an
inner voice that helps you solve problems? Are they out to get you?
If you answered yes to all three questions, you may want to obtain professional coun-
seling! If you answered yes to the first two questions, you may want to delay treatment.
Apparently, many people listen to an inner voice for guidance. For instance, General Dou-
glas MacArthur supposedly conjured up his hero-father for advice on military strategy.
The poet Milton called his inner guide “Celestial Patroness” and described how she
helped him compose his writings.
I’m not suggesting that we all have a little person living inside us. Instead, I believe
we all have subconscious motives, impulses, feelings, and images. All this material has
tremendous potential as a vast, untapped reservoir of creativity.
The problem is that we can’t always access our subconscious on demand. We have no
set of commands or buttons to push to enter our subconscious minds. Instead, we have to
enter them more indirectly. One way to access our subconscious thoughts is to create a
personal, internal mentor.

Objectives



  • To help participants generate as many creative ideas as possible

  • To help participants learn how to use the activities to generate ideas


Participants
Small groups of four to seven people each

Materials, Supplies, and Equipment



  • For each group: markers, two flip charts, and masking tape for posting flip-chart
    sheets

  • For each participant: one sheet each of three different colors of sticking dots
    (^1 ⁄ 2 ” diameter) and one pad of 4 x 6 Post-it®Notes


Free Association Activities: “Blue Skies” 193


101 Activities for Teaching Creativity and Problem Solving.Copyright © 2005 by John Wiley &
Sons, Inc. Reproduced by permission of Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley. http://www.pfeiffer.com

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