Possible Futures: Creative Thinking at the Speed of Life

After I read Possible Futures: Creative Thinking For The Speed of Life, I canceled my Twitter account. No, seriously, it’s true! I did! (Truth be told, it didn’t require that much motivation, but it did provide a nice kick in the pants to actually DO it.)

The main message of this book is that we, the human race, are so busy texting, twittering, Facebooking, etc., that we have no real time for face-to-face relationships and creative development. If you think about it for even half a second I believe you’d have to acknowledge that that is a true statement, however, if you are like me at all than you are willing to make the initial sacrifice to deep relationships and creativity for the conveniences of the modern age.

Written by Jude Treder-Woff, who is herself a licensed clinical social worker, creative arts therapist and certified group psychotherapist, this is a thought-provoking look at human interactions. According to her studies and claims, more people today bemoan the fact that they do not really have anyone to share life with in a deep and abiding sort of way. There is a huge push for convenience as we fly from one activity to another, barely taking the time to sit down, breathe and figure out what is best for our hearts, souls and minds when it comes to true interaction with other human beings.

I know when I joined Twitter I wondered at the amount of time some people spent updating me as to what they were doing every second of their lives. Hold tight before you think I am unleashing judgment on Twitter (although, truth be told, I sort of am!). I had a Twitter account but 140 symbols really hasn’t felt like it’s done a bit of justice to anything and I haven’t built one REAL relationship because of it. However, it DOES take an extra 5-10 minutes out of my day. All of you parents and – well, HUMANS – out there know that 5-10 minutes a day adds up. Let’s say 5 minutes a day. That’s 35 minutes a week. For me that’s a couple scrap book pages, one meal prep, 35 quiet and uninterrupted minutes to read or to have a sit-down-face-to-face conversation with my husband or playtime with my children. (I’m not saying Twitter is evil. I’m merely saying that when I’m listening to the arguments of this book and evaluating my priorities, that was one that could go!)

Treder-Wolff focuses a lot on this book on the importance of being creative. She talks a lot about how the brain reacts to art and how beneficial it is to give ourselves time to plant a garden, cook a complex meal, paint on a canvas, etc. To explore our world, take dominion and be creative might just be a bigger deal than we think. When we give our time to the internet, Facebook and Twitter (I am not going to address blogging because I have a weakness) then we need to think about what we are sacrificing in its place.

Possible Futures is very well-written and engaging. Treder-Wolff draws from a number of philosophies to make her point and she does write in such a way as to make her point well. She really has challenged me to think about the activities and online things I am involved with in relation to how beneficial they are to me. My personal question for myself is, “Does doing X foster relationships?” (My answer for blogging is, “Yes”, btw.) The second question is, “Does blogging foster or cramp my ability to be creative.” These are healthy questions to ask ourselves in a day-and-age where anything goes and what does go, passes us by so quickly as to make our heads spin. At the end of my life, am I going to count up my Twitter followers and see how many updates on my day-to-day activities I can give? No, I really won’t. So for me Twitter goes the way of Facebook for me but Jennifer, you’ll be happy to know I’ll still give you book reviews.

We can’t rewind the clock and go back in history before all of the latest technological “advances.” However, we can choose which ones we use wisely to foster better relationships with those we care about and to help mold us into the type of people we ultimately want to become.

It’s worth a thought, no? I have to give this a 5-Stars in my book because this book prompted so much thought, sneaking up and surprising me with its arguments. I think this book is worth a read (and some consideration).

Carrie comes by her book obsession honestly, having descended from a long line of bibliophiles. She blogs about books regularly at Reading to Know.