Hi, I'm Marelisa Fábrega. Here you'll find tips and resources to help you increase your creativity, be more productive, and simplify your life. You may want to start by reading "A Guide to Abundance Blog for the Uninitiated". Grab a cup of coffee or tea, sit back, and enjoy!
Michael Gelb argues in his book “How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci” that we should all aspire to think like Leonardo. To that end, he sets forth the seven principles that Leonardo embodied, which are:
1. Curiosità: Take a curious approach to life.
2. Dimostrazione: Don’t just accept what others tell you; go see for yourself.
3. Sensazione: The continual refinement of the senses.
4. Sfumato: A willingness to embrace ambiguity.
5. Arte/Scienzia: Whole-brain thinking.
6. Corporalita: The cultivation of grace and fitness.
7. Connessione: The ability to see the connection between seemingly different things.
Gelb goes on to explain that there are many ways to become more like Leonardo, and one of these is to adopt his habit of always carrying a notebook in which to jot down anything that catches your fancy: impressions that come to mind, favorite passages from books, observations, bits of interesting conversations that you overhear, and so on.
You can also include news of the day that you find interesting, quotes, stories that inspire you, the title of books you want to read, and notes about places you want to visit. Inspired by Gelb’s advise, I keep a notebook which I try to take everywhere with me.
Here are some of the things in my notebook:
- Pablo Neruda’s Poem N° 20, from “Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair”.
- An explanation of the Monty Hall Paradox.
- Add humor to your notebook. Laughter helps relieve stress, strengthens the immune system, stimulates the release of endorphins and other “feel good” hormones, and raises your mood. It’s good for the heart, improves blood circulation, and is even anti-aging. I have lots of clippings of the Calvin & Hobbes cartoon strip, my favorite cartoon in the whole world, in my notebook.
Many exchanges between Calvin and his stuffed tiger Hobbes go something like this:
Calvin: “You can’t turn on creativity like a faucet. You have to be in the right mood.”
Hobbes: “And what mood is that?”
Calvin: “Last-minute panic”.
- A cut out from a magazine of Bruno Magli ballerina slippers that I want.
- A recipe for bruschetta (tomatoes, coarsely chopped; fresh garlic; extra virgin olive oil; freshly baked bread; balsamic vinegar; basil; and red pepper flakes).
- An advertisment for the Principality of Monaco: “Dwellers of the silver screen, kings of commerce, reknown thinkers, the Monte-Carlo sun has kissed some of history’s most glamorous personalities. So when will you feel the enticing warmth of Monaco’s world-class spas, myriad cultural events, and legendary hospitality?”
- A picture of a beautiful, purple orchid (learning to grow orchids is on my bucket list).
- The poem “The Jabberwocky” by Lewis Carroll (we had to memorize this poem in the 6th grade and to this day I can still recite it).
- Lots of quotes, ranging from John F. Kennedy to Dr. Seuss.
“Each time a person stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he or she sends forth a tiny ripple of hope. Crossing each other from a million different centres of energy and daring: those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.” ~ Robert F Kennedy ~
“Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.” ~Dr. Seuss
- Photos of rooms decorated by Kelly Hoppen, which I cut out of a magazine. She creates simple but luxurious interiors that evoke serenity. In her book, “Kelly Hoppen Style” she says: “I am convinced that a calm, quiet and harmonious interior can be as beneficial to health as a sensible diet and regular exercise.”
- The first lines of books I love:
“Scarlett O’Hara was not beautiful, but men seldom realized it when caught by her charm as the Tarleton twins were.” From “Gone with the Wind” by Margaret Mitchell.
“What can you say about a twenty-five year old girl who died? That she was beautiful. And brilliant. That she loved Mozart and Bach. And the Beatles. And me.” From “Love Story” by Eric Segal
- A parable on forgiveness.
- Instructions for sculpting an elephant: “First, get a huge block of marble; then you chip away everything that doesn’t look like an elephant.” Anonymous
- Pictures of mandalas.
- Whimsical quotes that caught my attention: “This is a work of fiction. All the characters in it, human and otherwise, are imaginary, excepting only certain of the fairy folk, whom it might be unwise to offend by casting doubt on their existence. Or lack thereof.” Neil Gaiman, Books of Magic III
- The words to “La donna è mobile” from the opera Rigoletto by Giuseppe Verdi, as well as a summary of the story’s plot.
- Interesting facts:
An adult human is comprised of 206 bones.
The capital of Australia is Canberra (not Sydney, as most people think).
- There are thousands of grape varieties but only a few of these are used for producing fine wines. There are six whites and eight reds that oenologists consider “noble”. The six noble white grapes are: Chardonnay ; Riesling ; Sauvignon Blanc; Semillon; Chenin Blanc; and Gewurztraminer. And the eight noble red grapes are: Cabernet Sauvignon; Merlot: Pinot Noir; Nebbiolo; Sangiovese; Syrah; Gamay; and Zinfandel.
- Information I’ve collected on people who’ve had an impact on the world:
Muhammad Yunus, managing director of Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, is credited with inventing the practice of microcredit lending more than thirty years ago. Grameen’s strategy is to offer miniscule loans to very poor people, giving them the means to generate income and work their way out of poverty. Yunus and the Grameen Bank were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006.
- I also included an article I cut out of the newspaper on the day they reported the death of the former dictator of Chile, Augusto Pinochet. The article goes into detail about his life and his regime.
- Famous epitaphs:
“To save your world you asked this man to die: Would this man, could he see you now, ask why?” Epitaph for the Unknown Soldier W H Auden
There are many different ways to use your Leonardo da Vinci notebook. You can fill it with doodles; you can write down ideas for that novel you want to write; you can add interesting photographs that you’ve taken; write down the lyrics to your favorite songs; include a list of movies you want to watch; jot down an interesting ad you see on the subway on your way to work; the possibilities are endless.
Once you’ve been keeping a notebook for a couple of months you can look through it and see the landscape you’ve created of things that catch your interest, make up your days, and make you wonder.
(The “vitruvian man leonardo da Vinci” photograph is courtesy of Leonardo da Vinci Foundation Italy).
Recommended:
My ebook “How to Be More Creative – A Handbook for Alchemists” explains that creativity is not the sole domain of the arts but is important in any field, from medicine to business, and from engineering to developing a creative solution to a negotiation impasse. Whatever you do, creativity helps you do it better. Discover practical advice on how to be more creative in every life endeavor by reading my ebook.
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