Perhaps the reason why creativity is given short shrift in academia is because it has a light, playful energy, rather than the heavy, dense energy of facts, charts, research….and heavy books that have been sitting in dusty corners of the library for a hundred years.
I got my Ph.D. from the University of Chicago and I love research. There’s definitely a time and place for immersing ourselves in facts and data.
But once in a while, we want to explore something new…. stepping out of what we know and into what we don’t know. And for that, we need an attitude of play.
Play is effective because it takes us beyond the bounds of what our minds think is reasonable.
Play engages our curiosity and allows us to create in the moment.