In case you’ve not heard the Post-it Note story…Spencer Silver, an organic chemist, was trying to create a superglue but instead invented a reusable glue. He knew it had the potential to be useful but couldn’t quite imagine in what way. A scientist named Arthur Fry was attending a seminar about the new glue. An avid church choir singer, Fry was often frustrated when the scraps of paper he used as bookmarks escaped from his hymnal. The two men got together and you can guess the rest of the story. The point is that the “aha moment” was the result of Fry connecting seemingly dissimilar interests: science and music.

Unfortunately, by the second year of university students are strongly encouraged to pick a major and stop pursuing subjects unrelated to their discipline. I completely understand how time constraints can prohibit detailed study in areas outside of a particular field, and I respect the need for specialization, especially in certain professions.  Yet we all know it’s important not to forsake all interests, and to keep developing new ones. But not just for health reasons.

Daniel H. Pink, author of the highly successful, “A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers will Rule the Future” says that if we want to be successful we need to “understand the connections between diverse, and seemingly separate, disciplines. (We) must know how to link apparently unconnected elements to create something new.” And that’s the essence of creativity: making connections between two or more seemingly unrelated thoughts.

But the making of art can sometimes mean day after day in front of a canvas or hour upon hour at a potters wheel.  Our passion for our art can sometimes be at the expense of all other interests.  We can forget that if our art s to be worth doing, we need to occasionally not do it. The more wide the scope of your interests, the greater the opportunity for inspiration. Just a friendly reminder!

If you’d like to hear more about the Post-it Note story, take a look at this: