Creativity is the act of combining seemingly unrelated fragments of information and ideas into something new.
It is the collision of experiences, images, and knowledge.
And we all want to have more of these “collisions” – to be more creative more often. After all, it is the job of an agency to come up with creative ideas, day after day.
There have been a lot of studies on how to be more creative – walking, taking naps, meditation, etc. But first you need a foundation of experiences and knowledge to draw from. You need the raw material to be the basis for inspiration.
Albert Einstein said, “I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.”
This passion for learning, reading, and experiencing new things is what prepares the mind for creative inspiration.
But it is too easy to rely on the same sites, authors, and Twitter accounts for your daily reading. If you’re looking for a few new sources of interesting information, subscribe to these seven newsletters to satisfy your curiosity.
5IT (5 Intriguing Things)
Alexis Madrigal puts together a daily newsletter featuring interesting articles from around the web. I’m always surprised by the variety of articles – one issue featured an article on painting human viruses, the use of Internet in North Korea, self-driving cars, virtual reality startups, and the finding of a 10 million-year-old megalodon tooth on the coast of California. This newsletter's contents will expand your mind.
Brain Pickings
Brain Pickings’ weekly newsletter is a round-up of blog posts written by Maria Popova, who find, reads, and summarizes the ideas of interesting people -- from Henry David Thoreau to Maurice Sendak to Marie Curie on everything from mindfulness to creativity to walking. Her writing is good for the soul.
Gray Matters
Virginia Hughes writes and curates this weekly newsletter on science, medicine, and technology. It’s an interesting mix of information for those of us who just tried to survive chemistry.
Dark Matter
This newsletter from Almighty, a Boston-based design strategy firm, is a gem when it comes to agency newsletters. Dark Matter is a great resource for links to the best writing on technology, systems thinking, and experience design.
Farnam Street
Shane Parrish reads three to five books most weeks, and he teases out the interesting and instructive points for subscribers to his newsletter and blog. Parrish covers subjects such as decision-making, innovation, and leadership.
Barking Up the Wrong Tree
Eric Barker's newsletter features science-backed advice for becoming a better person, such as how to make better decisions, stop procrastinating, improve your relationships, and be healthier. It's full of insight on what people struggle with and what motivates us.
Strands of Genius
Put together by husband and wife creative duo Faris and Rosie Yakob, this weekly email is a source of interesting and fun links from around the web on a variety of topics. The content is expertly curated, and if you can’t find something inspiring in each edition, it will at least make you a more interesting dinner date.
