INSPIRATION

Where does inspiration come from? Do you know? I certainly don't. Today I got inspiration from a chance link on a page I was perusing for an entirely different reason. I followed that link which presented another and following that link I came across a YouTube video of Peter Diamandis giving a TED talk and I was inspired. What he said was essentially that we are living in an age of abundance and that our lives are so much better today than they were 100 years ago. He also talked about how there are going to be 3 billion new voices heard from in the online community over the next 10 years and how we are going to see new innovations and exciting changes because of this. This got me to thinking about our present society and how we can help to create innovative and original thinkers. This then started me thinking about our current educational system and environment with its reliance on standardized tests and conformity and the lack of the arts in schools today due to budget cuts, etc. and I start to get worried. I'm worried that we are trying to fit everyone into neat little pigeonholes, all the same. I'm worried that we are stifling creative voices because we want everyone to perform the same. We need to be encouraging creativity and providing outlets for this creativity and original thinking. Let's face it, so many of the people who have changed the world were those who didn't fit in with the "norms" of the day. Many of them were considered a little crazy because they didn't conform. These are the individuals we need to be nurturing and helping to explore and build their unique voices for the betterment of us all. I believe it would be a sad day if we actually got everyone to follow all of the rules and not think outside the proverbial box. If it weren't for the great men and women who bucked the norms of society we certainly wouldn't have made any of the progress we've made.