The Crow & The Pitcher [Aesop’s Fables]
In a spell of dry weather, when the Birds could find very little to drink, a thirsty Crow found a pitcher with a little water in it. But the pitcher was high
The Crow & The Pitcher [Aesop’s Fables]
In a spell of dry weather, when the Birds could find very little to drink, a thirsty Crow found a pitcher with a little water in it. But the pitcher was high and had a narrow neck, and no matter how he tried, the Crow could not reach the water. The poor thing felt as if he must die of thirst.
Then an idea came to him. Picking up some small pebbles, he dropped them into the pitcher one by one. With each pebble the water rose a little higher until at last it was near enough so he could drink.
~In a pinch a good use of our wits may help us out.
As creatives, the ways we create, solve problems, and make decisions are based on our individual mindsets and experiences. Our thoughts and imaginations are the fuel used to manifest ideas, strategies, and products that help the world move ever forward. But what happens when we get stuck? What happens when relying on what we already know just isn’t cutting it?
Like the crow in the fable, there are times that we face roadblocks and dry spells in our creative process. The words won’t come together, the paint won’t sit just right on the canvas, the usual constant melodies weaving through streams of consciousness suddenly muted without a sound. The creative tank is on E, the thirst for a solution is real, and the fear that all the momentum and creativity that got us here is dead is enough to paralyze the most seasoned of artist.
How we see the world, how we create, how we exist is mainly governed by one of two mindsets: a fixed mindset or a growth mindset. Anthony D. Fredericks Ed.D. of Psychology Today notes that “a ‘fixed’ mindset inhibits, quashes, and 