Thinking Out of the Box, Or Totally Without It

When I’m not thinking about anything in particular, that’s’ when I can easily come up with some entertaining ideas and stories. It happens when I’m outside of my usual seriousness. I mean, it’s always. Well not really. It could be about the origin of things or an explanation of how things work. Or why some things are named as such. And all of them are just made up stories which don’t have any basis at all but sound like they have. It is like gossips. That could be one reason that makes these stories interesting.

A couple of years ago, I had this office mate who ate a lot but was not gaining much weight. Even up to now, she’s still as lean as she was. And during lunch, I observed that she’s taking longer to eat her meals compared to the rest of us. She was always the last to finish. I tried to come up with an explanation to this. It could be that she’s taking longer time to chew her food because her digestive process is almost in a complete cycle by doing that. She chews her food so much that what she swallows are just the nutrients.  And that could also be the reason why her body’s not growing.

Another explanation I came up with was about another office mate who never eats beef but came from a province where cows are abundant. The story is that when she was young, she had a pet cow. She loved it so much that she even gave a name to her. It’s “Rosette” (it’s a rip off from the “Nobody’s Boy” story, I know). Then during her 7^th birthday, her mom prepared lots of food for her party.  She was having a good time. There’s one food that she liked most and while enjoying this particular viand, she saw something familiar on her plate. An ear ring. She remembered suddenly whom she gave that ear ring to. Then she rose quickly to check on her pet cow outside their house. She didn’t find her. Her chest was pounded by strong heart beats.  Then suddenly, another guy officemate showed up in the story. He was wearing a bloodied apron and holding on a sharp knife.  ALAS, reality bit her. Rosette was gone. And she even ate her. She enjoyed the taste and it added to her guilt. With all of that, she promised herself that it would be the last time she’ll be eating beef in her entire life.  

Kasama si Joli Coeur

And these stories I made stuck. My officemates were not offended either and we actually have a good laugh every time someone mentions about it whenever we guys meet. On these occasions, I noticed that I was able to come up with a creative story in an instant. I was relaxed and in a very light mood. I had no fear of rejections on blurting out those ideas even if they're out of this world. Though as crazy as they might sound like, still, it entertained my friends even those who are the subjects of these stories.

Creativity seems more plentiful when we think without the boundaries and the fear of rejection. It’s when we see everything is possible. It’s that moment when we can think what’s truly outside the box. Or better yet, thinking as if the box does not exist. And then create a whole new reason of why the box is there. Then continues to describe how big that box is that it contains a lot but yet it can’t take a hold on what’s outside of it. Though I wonder who put those stuffs inside it and why he did leave those other things outside.  

This is creativity.

There are a lot of stories about people who succeeded by not listening to the negative advise of others saying that their ideas are ridiculous, stupid, impossible and too late. SM Malls, Honda, Google, Facebook, Apple and a lot of other major brands we know in and out of the country wouldn’t have existed if their creators listened to their critics. Beatles would have been just a bug. And Eminem would just be a chocolate treat.  All of them, they throw the fear of rejection away and just did what they had to do.  And they all did their best and became the world’s best.

Some couple of weeks ago, I was chatting online with a friend about the movie Breaking Dawn 2. It was the last installment of the Twilight saga. In case you’re hiding in some place not reached by civilization, Twilight story started with the love triangle scenario between a vampire, a werewolf and a human. Then an idea came up. If I would make another story on its genre, I will use the “Plants vs Zombies” game template. There will also be a love triangle between a lady human, a plant and a zombie.  The Sunflower and the Zombie will fight for the girl’s attention.  Then the girl got very sick and is nearing her death.  Then she has to choose. First option is to be buried once she dies and later on rise from her tomb and be one with the zombie. Or, she can opt to just decompose there to fertilize the soil so she’ll be absorbed by the sunflower and be with him forever. A hurting dilemma for the lady. And a very romantic one, isn’t it?

Plants and Zombies fighting to win your heart.

Right now, I’m working on a story and it’s a serious one.  It’s supposed to be a novel. But it might just be a short story. It depends. I don’t know yet but I already have the plot. I will try to finish it. I will. And I hope you will read it. Of course you will. Thanks in advance.