The Sun Is New Each Day

Let's check in with Heraclitus, the ancient Greek philosopher whom I consider to be the world's first creativity teacher. His thought for today is:

"The sun is new each day."

Like just about all of Heraclitus' insights, this one can be interpreted in a variety of ways. But today, the creativity strategy I see in his words is:

Think Again.

Life continually surprises us.

Problems spring up in places that were trouble-free only just yesterday. Opportunities arise in long stagnant arenas. Routines that yielded predictable results stop working.

Heraclitus reminds us that nothing is permanent and we shouldn't become slaves to our assumptions.

We should also remember that like the sun in Heraclitus' epigram, our own state of mind is also continually changing.

Some days you may be alert and lucid, while others you may be angry or mentally exhausted.

Sometimes you're optimistic about what's just around the corner, and sometimes you're filled with melancholy about the past.

All of these states of mind "color" the way we think about the problems and opportunities before us.

What issue do you need to rethink? Is the idea you reacted against yesterday really so bad? Does the idea you fell in love with last week still shine? What would benefit from a fresh look?

Comments

[John S.]

Roger,
What if we rethink the idea that the sun has days
--is new with a new day?
--that its changes are related to days?

Might we think
the sun shines on a new earth each day?

The boiling pot is new each time we lift the lid
yet the bubbles change whether we open the lid or not.
The sun changes while Mercury keeps the same face to the sun.

John

[Roger von Oech]

John: What a great "reverse." Fun. Thanks!

[John S.]

Roger,
What if we pull a reverse on Roger von Oech (and the multitude who have followed on your mindleaps) and say: “Enough Creativity, what we need is Betteritivity.” Not selectivity. Betterivity.
In at least three senses we already have it. In Childrearing. In Education. In Experience. But that is also true of creativity.
What I am not aware of is exercises like the exercises in Whack and Kick that get us to better ideas in brief sessions. And encourage us to use those methods in the hours and days beyond those sessions and throughout our careers.
(But I suppose I’m just not thinking of the ones I know about and just don’t know about the ones available.)
John

[Roger von Oech]

Hello John: I like the idea of "pulling a reverse," saying, for example, "what if we had no more creativity . . . what would the consequences of the be?" I think that would be fun.

I'm not sure, though, what you mean by "betterivity." Is that like the Japanese concept of "kaisen" (continuous improvement)? Or something else?

[Randy]

The new day and life itself require perserverence. "Perseverence is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did"(Newt Gingrich!) sets the tone.

[John S.]

Roger,
"Betterivity" is a nonce word for a but partly formed idea.
An idea in need of betterment. Which makes it self-reflexive in a Douglas Hofstadter (Gödel, Escher, Bach) sense.

But even half-formed (and without regard to self-reflexivity) let me try: the art, science, and engineering of improvement.

Or: how to think up improvements.

Or: What Roger von Oech would do if he were not interested in new ideas but only in improvements on old ideas. (As though an improvement on an old idea wasn't a new idea. -- like I said, "half-formed.")
John