Issue 2 (7/16/02)

Empty cups

It’s one of those “givens” in the creative world that children are more creative than adults. Making the link back to the time when our masterpieces hung on refrigerators and not in galleries is a continual process for creative people. Ever notice how the most creative people around also seem to have very child-like attitudes (or childish attitudes, depending on your perspective)?

One of the classic reasons that makes children so creative is the newness of everything. That sense of wonder that comes with discovering magnets for the first time. Children don’t judge new ideas against accepted theories. They haven’t “seen that one before.” Every new experience is greeted with excitement simply because it is new. They don’t analyze, filter and cross-reference these experiences anywhere near the degree most of us do.

It’s this lack of filtering in looking at the world that allows the brain to go off into odd directions and tangents. Because a 5-year-old doesn’t have any expectations to temper what a given experience should be like, he is free to explore it in ways that we can’t, and that exploration leads to fresh thinking.

Many years ago, the late Bruce Lee taught one of his students this same principal in the form of a parable.

The man had studied martial arts for many years when he decided to seek the tutelage of the great Master. As he met with the Master for the first time, he told the old man of all his accomplishments and knowledge, leaving hardly a space for the Master to respond. As the prospective student kept talking, the teacher got up and gathered cups and a pot for tea. Again, the man kept talking of all he had learned, hoping the impress the teacher with his skill and understanding. The Master began to pour the tea, starting in his guest’s cup. He poured very slowly, and when the liquid reached the top of the cup, he kept going. At first the student didn’t say anything. When the tea began to cover the whole tray he couldn’t stand it any longer.

“The cup is overfull. You must stop pouring!”

“This cup is like you. You are so full of the knowledge you have gained, you don’t have room for any more. If I am to teach you anything, you must first empty your cup”.

A child’s cup is empty by virtue of the fact that there just hasn’t been enough to fill it yet. By design, we all start off that way. The proverbial blank slate. Over the years, as experience fills our life and the synapses in our brains start to form well-traveled routes, the level of “tea in our cups” rises.

A major factor that determines how long it will be before that tea is spilling over the sides and onto the tray is how big the cup is. Those who aren’t subjected to negativity and excess criticism growing up actually end up with bigger cups to fill. Those who keep those things away from their brains keep their cups large. Negative, critical thinking reduces the space in our brain for accepting new ideas. I don’t need to tell you what that does to creative potential. I know a man who closely guards his every association and experience. He doesn’t spend time with people who will affect his attitude in a negative way. He carefully chooses books, movies and activities so that he can keep his mind fresh and nimble. And he’s a brilliant thinker because of it. He epitomizes my favorite definition of a genius: One who aims at a target no one else can see and hits it. He’s a man who is always thirsty because his cup is never close to being full.

What if you’re someone who’s cup isn’t a big as you’d wish. More than likely, it’s the result of many years of bad thinking. The bad news is that negative will always be a part of your brain. The good news is that you can fix it anyway. Imagine that all the stuff that chokes new ideas is a pot of black coffee. Add some water. Same amount of coffee there, but it’s not so black and overpowering anymore. Dump it into a swimming pool. Again, same amount of coffee, but you don’t notice it. Pouring things that are new, exciting, positive, uplifting and optimistic into your cup actually makes the cup bigger instead of filling it.

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