Bonito Living

Although I have been doing this oracle for around 19 years, it only occurs to me that I should add the “creatiBe” dimension and share it with the world.

It’s been really busy time, to the point that the space for curiosity and imagination has been squeezed. I’ve managed to steal some hours for writing my book on Living Beautifully – Bonito Living, just before addressing the amount of work of this semester. And yet, it was thought my teaching that I started to enhance the power of the oracle.

I’ve been teaching an interdisciplinary module on Design Thinking and Creativity for under graduate students from all types of disciplines: engineers, sports, arts, humanities and business. I decided to use the oracle as a “prelude” (prior to play) to activating lateral thinking and reflective practice.

The oracle is a game we created with multi media artist Os Polo in Colombia many years ago. It is about finding “lines” in the newspapers that can illuminate a question or offer advice. Following the graphic nature of the Chinese book of changes – the iChing- we choose six lines that together compose an hexagram. The beauty of this oracle is the playful nature of the conversations that it sparks.

So back to the new Ruskin Module: it’s about embracing ambiguity and uncertainty. In this context, the oracle helped us to go beyond the “schedule” to co-create meaning and intention.

Likewise I would like to start this weekly post as a way to bring together different threads of our practice as artists, educators and creatives reading this blog. It’s a playful invitation for conversations about how to be creative in our practice as educators, artists, etc. So what is the line that jumps at you? Why?

This week for example, starts with the promise of a golden regeneration. A genuine desire for the Christmas break. It calls for time to regenerate, to recharge, to rest. This can be a playful time, and play and curiosity are at the heart of any creative endeavour: the new module you are designing, that article you itch to write, the application you know you can nail, if only you see it as a game rather than a chore!

This is the possibility of rediscover our poise, our centre and our flair. Because yes if we set our minds we can achieve anything, but we can’t do everything. Choose your dreams and projects, it’s the message!

For me the spirit of these days in which we try desperately to finish all sort of projects before the end of the year, is one of “small steps”. This is not the time for heading on to big changes, but getting there through nibbling and incremental progress.

As for the creatiBe oracle, the purpose is to find creative ways of being and living beautifully . That can only happen through practice.

So my creatiBe gym routine for you is the following: Feed your curiosity this week. Stay with a question about something that intrigues you, no matter how silly or instrumental it is. This can be an article, or a new project, or something you’ve feel encountering. Go and find clues and follow the trail. Draw your map of clues, associations and connections. Colour code them. Take a picture and share in social media as #creatiBeOracle.