Winter Scooter Riding is Confusing (but Beautiful)
Comfort with ambiguity caused me to think about riding the Vespa scooter in winter because at best all the elements are in play and in flux conspiring against you. A slight change in weather has great influence over how you ride. The uncertainly clearly leaves you in an ambiguous situation that defies the best planning. No wonder most riders stay at home.
Comfort with Ambiguity
That phrase, comfort with ambiguity, has been with me for days. Today, it’s there again before I physically start to move. My mind is already in another county. I heard that phrase while watching a TED TALK by Cindy Meyers Foley , Executive Assistant Director and Director of Learning and Experience at the Columbus Museum of Art.
In discussing the challenges of teaching creativity she postulates that artists employ three essential tools that are critical to creativity — in art, business, engineering, medicine — any field.
They are:
- Comfort with Ambiguity
- Idea Generation
- Transdisciplinary Research
Think about the people you know, the work you do and look in the mirror. How do you score with these three?
No Snow
While today won’t look like this of my poor Vespa caught at work on a snowy day, it is supposed to rain. Ride to work? No. Why? Don’t want to. I have a lot to do and don’t need an extra dose of ambiguity.
Today, I’ll save the Vespa for another day.
While I’m not going to watch 14 minutes of that angry looking lady talking, I know myself well enough to know that I can’t stand having to deal with things that don’t make perfect sense to me on a level which I can understand.
I was raised in a home that ran better than a conscientious railroad conductor’s pocket watch could ever have managed. Time was always of the essence, and TIME is NOT ambiguous though too many persons I know and have to deal with treat it as though it’s a relative thing. When we get our scooters to the speed of light, then, according to Einstein at least, we might have to worry about the distortion of time. Until then I’ll expect (with that Odie-like tongue wagging idealistic hopefulness) everything to be sensible, reliable, systematic and CLEAR!
Perfect sense gets boring too me. I often want a puzzle. I did grow up with a healthy respect for time but I’ve learning as I’ve grown older how plastic it is and how arbitrary the events connected to it often are. More times than not, I feel a slave to time. The Vespa and I are going to do something about that condition!
Oh, how I love and miss the woods in winter. Sigh…
I watched about half of the video. Busy day!
This whole prompt thing is really an exercise in Comfort with Ambiguity, isn’t it? I mean, “today” is pretty ambiguous. My post is still in the works, by the way.
I actually score high on all three, depending upon the situation. While working, on a daily basis, ambiguity can infuriate me. I have to ask an awful lot of people questions, and I don’t have the time or patience for ambiguous answers. I prepare proposals and budgets under tight deadlines. I try to carefully word questions so I get direct answers, but it doesn’t always work.
Speaking of deadlines, I gotta run. Good choice on no Vespa today. It’s raining buckets here, as I suspect it is or soon will be in your neck of the woods.
Great job on interpreting “today.”
The woods are lovely when there’s snow on the ground. Just wet here now. My wife called to me to look outside — after midnight and fog rolling in. She actually said, “You like riding in this don’t you.” as if inviting me to go for a ride in the dark. Too tired though. Answer a few more comments and then I’m gone.
Ambiguity was on my mind and was the first thing that came to mind. Never thought of it as a commentary on your prompt. But I can see now how that works.
Look forward to seeing what everyone does for the next 26 days…
I have yet to watch the TED piece, but I will say that I’ve had to deal with a lifetime of ambiguity and uncertainly on a fundamental level (perhaps a symptom of being a born ‘n bred New Yorker?), so you could say it’s been a constant companion. However, while I can often embrace it, and frequently thrive in it, I do savor certainty and stability in certain things, including relatively small things. Music, photography, cycling, reading…and a scooter that starts right up despite being left in the shed for nearly two weeks. Seriously, it’s reassuring.
Steve ,
Thanks again for doing what you do. ‘Am a lover of TED talks/ the podcasts are always thought -provoking. This one links nicely with an opinion piece from the NY Times, http://nyti.ms/1OXC6OP, on raising creative children. Very “Montessori- like”.
Be well
Great article T. Creativity is easily thwarted. I’ll have to share this with my daughter. thank you.