Developing creative thinking skills an introduction for learners 1st edition brad hokanson book PDF
Developing Creative Thinking Skills An Introduction for Learners 1st Edition Brad Hokanson
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Intersections Across Disciplines: Interdisciplinarity and learning Brad Hokanson
Based on over 15 years of groundbreaking research, Developing Creative Thinking Skills helps learners demonstrably increase their own creative thinking skills. Focusing on divergent thinking, 12 inventive chapters build one’s capacity to generate a wide range of ideas, both as an individual and as a collaborator. This innovative textbook outlines a semester-long structure for the development of creative thinking skills and can easily be utilized as a self-directed format for those learning outside of a classroom. Readers are stimulated to maximize their own creativity through active exercises, challenges to personal limits and assumptions, and ideas that can help create powerful habits of variance.
Brad Hokanson is the Mertie W. Buckman Professor of Design Education at the University of Minnesota, USA. He has received multiple teaching awards and has a diverse academic record, including degrees in Art, Architecture, and Urban Design, and a Ph.D. in Instructional Technology.
Developing Creative Thinking Skills
An Introduction for Learners
Hokanson
Brad
First published 2018 by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
and by Routledge
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The right of Brad Hokanson to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
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Acknowledgments
I would like to acknowledge those who have given me opportunities to develop the classes, ideas, and directions to encourage people to become more creative, and now to write this book.
I begin by thanking Gerry Allan for introducing me to the idea of creative problem solving, as well as my colleagues Kim Johnson and Becky Yust at the University of Minnesota, who have supported my teaching and research efforts. They saw the vision of a class on creativity and helped it develop to become an important part of the curriculum. I also owe a debt to my students, who have helped me better understand creativity and learning and who have provided countless moments of joy in their own creative work.
I am grateful to Alex Masulis for his support in developing this book and to the great staff at Taylor & Francis for their help, wisdom, and direction. Most substantially, I’d like to thank my wife Betsy Henderson, who helped make this book possible with her support and optimism.
1
An Introductory Story
Imagination is more important than knowledge. For while knowledge defines all we currently know and understand, imagination points to all we might yet discover and create.
—Albert Einstein
One weekend years ago, I rode my bicycle 12 miles over to where I was working. My parents and friends were out of town, and I was using the time get a little more work done. On the way home, I had a flat in my rear tire down the street from a drug store. I didn’t have a patching kit to fix it, and neither did the gas station on the corner. I remember thinking that I needed to be very inventive or I would have an extremely long walk home with my forlorn bicycle.
The image of that long, long walk home may have motivated me to come up with a creative solution, so I went into the drug store and started scanning the shelves for something that would spark an idea. In the school supplies aisle I found rubber cement. In the party section I found balloons. Together these approximated the materials of a repair patch kit. It worked, and I walked the bike to the corner and filled the tire at the gas station’s air hose, and then I rode home in good time.
I didn’t anticipate the problem and didn’t have a defined solution, a situation we all encounter frequently. But it’s illustrative of the large and small changes we will need to address in our lives. Having the ability to develop many and different creative answers to the problems that inevitably pop up can save us from fates far worse than a long walk home.
Creativity will always be in demand because the future will always be different from the present in which we are comfortable. We will always
be faced with problems and opportunities we couldn’t anticipate. All of us hear of trends and changes that are occuring in the world. New technologies are being invented, the climate is changing, and social structures are evolving and in conflict. We will need to deal with these changes in our everyday lives, and in how we work, govern, and interact with other people. More “new” is coming, whether in cereal, cars, laws, ideas, or problems. The rules are going to change. We will need new habits of mind to meet these challenges.
What we know now will not be enough to address future changes and challenges. Knowledge is not static in any field, and anyway simply having knowledge is not enough, because knowledge must be synthesized, and challenged. How we will solve problems will involve a lot more than just having more information.We—you—will need to be creative. You will need to be creative in what information you use, find, combine, and manipulate; creative in what information you find and in what information you ignore; and creative in what tools, resources, and skills you apply to the problem. Finally, you will have to be creative in who you work with, who you don’t work with, and in how you collaborate and work with others. While we are going to live and work in a knowledge economy, with information as its currency, shaping and directing the use of that currency depends on our own creativity.
In business, at work, in life, and as you enter the university, one skill will be the most important to your success: your ingenuity, which is your ability to be creative. Businesses around the world recognize this skill as important and seek out the most creative workers for their enterprises. A recent poll by IBM of over 1,500 business executives from around the world listed creativity as the most desirable competancy for leaders in business. Significantly, countries around the world have changed their school curricula to improve the creativity of their students. The United Kingdom, for example, has reorganized its secondary school curriculum to encourage the ability for students to develop new ideas (Cox, 2005). China is changing its educational direction to develop more than cognitive intelligence and to encourage more creativity as described in Zhao’s World Class Learners (2012). Similar efforts are underway in Singapore, Korea, Taiwan, and Denmark. This is a need of national and world importance. In general, innovation and inventiveness build prosperity by developing new products, services, and processes. It is in a nation’s interest to have a creative workforce.
Creativity is not limited to the arts. There is a difference between visual ability and creativity. Some exceptionally skilled painters may be proficient in representational art without being terribly creative. They’re just painting what they see. And while many people claim they aren’t creative because they can’t draw, they may be exceptionally skilled at inventing solutions to challenging problems. We are all creative to some extent and can build on our current creative capability.
Like artistic skill, intelligence is often linked to creativity, but being smarter doesn’t necessarily make you more creative. However, like intelligence, creativity can be improved through effort. Both are needed to be successful. Once you’re at a certain level of intelligence, the difference in success can be ascribed to creativity. This is recognized through the achievements of a lifetime; research has shown that creativity is three times as strong an indicator of lifetime achievement as intelligence (Plucker, 1999).
Happily, your level of creativity is not fixed, and this book will help you enhance and extend your creativity. Creative problem solving can be developed and improved using a number of well-understood techniques and sources. This book presents some of those techniques through learning activities and challenges, projects, and quizzes.
Througout the book, you will be given a number of challenges that are designed to cultivate creative mental habits. You will do things you have never done before and things you have only wished you could do. The great value of this book is that the work is yours, and your work will be much of what is talked about in the book. While much of the book is focused on challenges and exercises, there will also be supporting informational material to help you better understand creativity. This book is founded on a rich body of knowledge on creativity that will support your developing practice. The idea here is of “doing” this book. It contains a lot of exercises and challenges designed to help you understand yourself and creativity. Finally, you can even use this book as an excuse when trying new things. When undertaking one of the exercises that follow, just say “it’s for class,” and most people will give you carte blanche. You’ll engage other people in your school, family, or community, and you will hopefully have fun during the process. In the end, your creative thinking skills will have increased, and you’ll also have a better understanding of creativity as a skill that can be learned and fostered.
It’s time to talk about commitment. In order to get the most out of the material, you’re going to need to consciously choose to be more creative. It
will influence your life and those around you but will take some time and practice. In the end, you will be more creative.
Though you probably have a lot to do in your life in addition to this book and its activities, we know that mastery of any skill—whether it is tennis, French, or creativity—takes practice. Therefore, in order to get the best results from the book, it’s important for you to make a commitment to becoming more creative. Good habits developed here will to improve your performance and integrate creativity into your already busy life.
First, I’d suggest that you set aside a specific time to complete the work from the book every week. This may be every Friday afternoon, every Saturday morning, or Monday in the middle of the night. Just keep that time consistent. That’ll help you complete the work. The time is your choice, but building this habit will help you accomplish that much more.
I’d also recommend you work with a partner, a small group, or even a class. Having others to share your experiences with is a great learning experience, and there are exercises that require a partner to complete later in the book.
Make sure you check out the Textbox examples that support the development of your creativity, as well as the larger Do Something Different projects that you will see throughout the book.
Finally, I’d strongly recommend you use a journal to record your thoughts and to save your pictures of the things that you do. You’ll be able to see your progress and be able to share your effort with others, and it’s also a good way to record your ongoing ideas.
Now, let’s get started!
How Creative Are You? 2
The quantity of civilization is measured by the quality of imagination.
—Victor Hugo
Testing Your Creativity
As with any learning activity, it can be helpful to know just how skilled you really are. There should be an honest evaluation of your capability for originality before you read any further. This will help you understand your current capabilities as well as those that can be developed during the course of reading this book. So, just like we weigh ourselves when we start a diet, we’ll check our creativity before we begin.
In addition, trying these ways of assessing your creativity will also help you understand the nature of creativity itself. Not only can each test help you understand how creative you are, but it also will give you a better understanding of the phenomenon of creativity, and you’ll know a little more how to improve yourself, as well.
There are a number of different ways to evaluate creativity, each looking at different aspects of creativity and variants of its definition. This chapter will describe some of these methods and give you the chance to test yourself to develop an understanding of how creative you, the reader, are. The next chapter will focus on many of the definitions of creativity and how it is recognized. Having a measure of your own creativity will also help you understand the ideas presented throughout the book.
One common way to evaluate creativity is through the creative accomplishments of your life: your creative production in generating new
ideas, products, artifacts, or procedures. We could also look at really creative individuals and see their efforts. Some researchers find this to be most valid as it accurately measures performance in the real world, not just over the course of a small test on one day. However, measurements of creativity like this are historical; they look back at your life as opposed to being predictive, anticipating your future progress. And in the case of the famous creatives, they don’t tell us about our own creativity.
Evaluating Yourself
We could, of course, just ask how you are. Chances are, if you say you are creative, likely you are a little more creative than people who say they’re not. It also could be that those who claim to be creative are more willing to accept risks, try new things, and reach for different ideas—all components of being creative. You know your own habits. And saying you’re creative might actually be an accurate evaluation of your capability. It might also reflect other people’s opinions. If they think you are creative, there is a good chance that you are. It also means you have an open license to try new things, so it’s a win-win. And the correspondence principle of psychology holds that thinking you are creative and seeking more creative activities will develop your creativity further.
However, having someone “self-report” their level of creativity might not be that accurate; it might be inflated by our own self-confidence or lessened by our mood, our context or our friends, or even our blood sugar. Few people would accept that judgment as being accurate. Using ways to objectively measure our creativity would help in providing an honest, accurate, outside evaluation of our creative skills (Roberts, 2004).
Let’s begin by examining our own life of how creative we are, and the aspects of our life we could observe that would indicate our capacity for creative behavior. In this exercise is a series of questions; be honest in evaluating yourself as this will help you get an accurate understanding of how creative you are.
Creativity can also be examined by a number of objective and external ways, from looking at the long-term history of widely recognized creative people, to reviewing our long-term history, to reviewing our habits and daily actions, to checking how we perform when given specific challenges.
Exercise 2.1 Self-Report Exercise
Please circle the answer that best describes you and how you are creative. Circle number: 1 Never 2 Not so much 3 Sometimes 4 Often 5 Most of the time
Circle number Almost never Most of the time
1. I think logically to find an answer for problems12345
2. I’m good at combining different ideas12345
3. I can come up with solutions and ideas most people don’t have 12345
4. I often combine different ideas to solve problems12345
5. I am efficient in developing a workable idea12345
6. I can come up with more ideas than my friends12345
7. My ideas and answers have a lot of detail12345
8. Many of my ideas are unusual and eccentric12345
9. I’m willing to experiment and try out my ideas in public 12345
10. I look for different ways to understand a problem12345
11. On complex problems, I carefully weigh my choice of a solution 12345
12. People ask me for ideas when they’re stumped12345
13. I like to share my solutions and ideas with others12345
14. I help other people improve and build on their ideas12345
15. I have a lot of different and unusual ideas12345
16. I usually find a larger theme in solving any challenge12345
Circle number
Almost never Most of the time
17. People seek me out for my unique ideas12345
18. People expect me to come up with unusual ideas12345
19. I see a number of different solutions in most problems12345
20. I work hard to find my best idea quickly as it’s more effective 12345 Total
Our creativity can accurately be evaluated by giving challenges or prompts and getting responses. This is the most common creativity testing that is done.
Performance
Challenges
These are performance challenges, similar to those developed by early creativity researchers. They are brief, reliable, and inexpensive, and they can help us better understand creativity in general and our skill level in particular. The tests included here are cost-free and can give us a good understanding of our creative capability. They can also serve as exercises to develop our skill.
The idea is to measure how good you are at quickly developing a wide range of different answers, how broadly ranging those answers are, how well you make unusual connections, and how the answers are of different types or concepts.
The idea is for creativity to be measured by having someone complete a series of tasks over a given period of time. A number of tests, requiring either written and drawn answers, were developed by Paul Torrance and J. P. Guilford in the 1950s, and hundreds of thousands of people have
been tested using this method. These are timed, lasting from five minutes to 40 minutes, and they can be easily scored. Individuals taking the test can score their own creativity test results, but most tests are sent to a professional scoring service for accuracy and convenience. There are a wide range of other published tests for creativity.
Included in this chapter are a series of brief challenges that will help you rate your creativity. Each will take five or ten minutes and will give you a beginning understanding of your creative ability. They’re all designed for self-grading, easy to score, and hopefully, interesting to complete. And by doing them, you’ll be taking the first steps to increasing your own creativity.
Alternative Uses Test
There’s a great quote from Linus Pauling, Nobel Laureate, who said, “The best way to have a good idea is to have a lot of ideas and then to throw the bad ones away.” Having a lot of different ideas is a great way to be more creative, and the most frequently used test of creativity focuses on this skill, called divergent thinking.
The Alternative Uses Test measures your capability to develop a lot of ideas. This is one main component of creativity and probably the most central aspect of the skill.
This test names a common object and challenges you to develop as many possible alternative uses for the object. To do the test, you’ll need a timer, something to write with, and paper to record your ideas. Come up with as many ideas as you can, using the entire time for the challenge. The more answers, the better, even if the ideas are unusual or weird. You should respond in the language with which you are most comfortable. This will allow you the greatest capability in generating new ideas. Using your best language is the most effective way to develop and present your creativity.
Write down as many different and unusual things can you do with a tin can. Use as many tin cans as you want, and they can be of any size large or small. Try to think about the most unusual and different uses you can imagine. There are no wrong answers. It’s good to be different. Make sure you use a full five minutes. Write them down in Exercise 2.2. Start your timer, and you can begin!
Figure 2.1 Alternative Uses Test: Tin Can
Exercise 2.2: Alternative Uses Test
How to Evaluate the Alternative Uses Test
The first step in any evaluation of the Alternative Uses Test is to eliminate the answers that don’t deal with the question. While going outside the rules is often a good model of creative thought, in this case the idea must be a real response to the task at hand. (Creativity is something that is novel and appropriate [Sternberg & Lubart, 1999], not something that’s completely different, thrown in there at random.) So, first, eliminate any answer that doesn’t use at least one tin can in some way.
Now count the number of your answers that do something with a tin can. This count will give you what is called the fluency, a measurement of the divergent thinking ability. This measurement can be very accurate: Testing this ability repeated times, using repeated models, can provide an accurate understanding of the most common denominator of creativity. Should you wish to re-challenge yourself, you can also use other prompts, such as newspaper, cardboard, blankets, or paper clips.
How many answers should you develop? In general, people come up with more unusual answers the more total answers they develop. A good goal based on my beginning testing of my students would be 11–12 for a five-minute test and 24 for a ten-minute test. In general, people don’t develop unusual answers or original answers until they give at least ten different answers. They go through the easy, common answers first, and often just stop at one.
Number of Tin Can Answers:
Of course, this only gives you a number of ideas that may seem like random words without meaning and without a value on the page. The next understandable aspect of creativity is called originality, and it measures how rare the answer is compared to what everyone else in society would give as answers.
Based on data gathered from my own online research sources, here are the top answers to the prompts of tin can: holder, container, instrument, music, cup, phone, pot, hat, food, toy, and vase. If you had answers other than these, great. If they all matched the list, you should get out more. Most would agree that rare or unique answers are ones that have a higher potential to indicate creativity (see, for example, Kudrowitz & Wallace, 2013).
Number of Original Answers:
Finally, one of the tougher parts of evaluation is figuring different types of answers. Most answers that deal with a tin can are mentally connected with some form of construction; you could do a wall, floor, fence, barbeque, or chimney; changing away from building or construction will force a different type of use. Consider using a tin can in the kitchen, bedroom, or classroom, and more divergent uses will occur. This component of creativity is called flexibility and is connected to more transformative change. For our evaluation, we should count the various different types of uses that are present in your answers.
Number of Different Types of Answers:
You can also do this test over but will need to use a different subject, so exchange “paper clip” for “tin can,” and try it again. Again, use the timer, and record your results. This might be more than your first try or less; over time and with practice, you’ll do better. You will be retested at the end of the book, looking for your progress.
Write down the number of ideas you had and the number of “original” answers you had that weren’t on the list of common answers. It’s good to be different.
Paper Clip Answers:
Number of Original Answers:
The common answers are: hold/holder, chain, key, belt, draw, necklace, pick, ring, art, bracelet, card, earrings, and game. Thinking of alternative uses for any everyday object is a simple but great task to continue to develop your creativity; it can be done anywhere with any type of object.
Different Consequences Challenge
We also need to test our imagination in addressing real-world problems. While developing alternative uses for everyday objects is simple to use, a lot of our challenges and problems in real life are more complex . . . and we do need to develop a wide range of answers and to build on our original ideas. The challenge has been made to have an unusual starting point to encourage more diverse thinking. Again, we’ll set a timer for five minutes and write down answers to the situation.
Here’s the challenge: Let’s imagine you woke up one morning and found that your car, mobile phone, or personal computer was gone, maybe stolen or lost. What would be the advantages of this problem? What could be the positive consequences of this event? Write your choice of the above at the top of the list, then use the entire five minutes to generate as many positive outcomes for this event as possible; don’t be afraid to include unusual answers as well. And don’t limit the number of your answers; record as many possible answers as you can.
Exercise 2.3: Consequences Test
Ideas:
Added Details:
Once you’ve used the entire five minutes coming up with possible advantages to the situation, spend five more minutes and add details to each of your answers, on or below the same line. The more, the better. You might also find you have more starting answers as well. A detail would be a modification or extension of the initial idea, describing materials, process, people, or locations. This will give an understanding of your skill for elaboration, one of the other ways that creativity is measured.
Again, count your initial answers; this is a measurement of your fluency. And then, separately, count the details that were added on each of your answers.
Ideas:
Number of Details:
It might be asked why this test is different from the previous tests? While it does some of the same things as the Tin Can / Alternative Uses Test, it also starts looking at your everyday creativity and ability to develop ideas in a real context. And to provide another way to evaluate creativity, it also looks at how ideas are developed and improved.
People frequently ask why the exercises are timed. Some people are slower to develop new ideas, and their ideas can be good. It’s true that
given unlimited time, most people could come up with a lot of answers. These measurements, however, are based on the ability to rapidly develop a lot of ideas as, in most cases, time is of the essence and new ideas need to be developed rapidly. Additionally, testing itself should not take a lot of time; it’s better to get a reasonably accurate assessment of the ability to come up with ideas as opposed to trying to make sure you get every possible idea. In any case, using a single set time period provides a way to evaluate yourself now and later without involving you into some long drawn-out test.
One of the balances that needs to be included with any testing of creativity is the raw number of answers and the quality, or detail, of those answers. Both are valuable, with the number of answers (fluency) and the details added to the answers (elaboration) serving as slightly different ways to measure creativity.
If someone’s ideas all take a long time to explain due to the detail of the idea, there will be fewer ideas in the first place, i.e., lower fluency. But at the same time, there will be a higher level of elaboration presented in the work. Creative people need to balance the number of ideas with the details included in each idea . . . which is why this test lets you develop a lot of ideas first, adding details later.
Remote Associates Test
Creativity develops in the brain through connections that are made between different brain cells holding different thoughts. We make new ideas out of our experiences and knowledge. This is called the Associative Theory. For example, my experience in traveling to Argentina will help me have ideas about the nature of dance, which might also influence my ideas about movement and fashion. That’s one reason why some theories strongly emphasize the diversity of experience that one has in supporting creativity. One’s brain has more unusual things to work with to make connections that form new ideas.
Since new ideas come mainly from re-connecting or combining old ideas and experiences, how well you make those combinations is another question. While a lot of different forms of experience may give you the raw material with which to generate new ideas, you might not be interested or able to make the connections. One way to test your connection capability
is through the Remote Associates Test. It’s fairly simple, you can score it yourself, and, like the Alternative Uses Test, it’s fun to do.
As we’ve seen before, originality, an aspect of creativity, is one way to evaluate how creative something is. Creativity is the ability to generate ideas that are both novel (new in context) and appropriate (able to be used). And something that is novel is original if it is rare or new in context. And therefore, we’re looking for things that are very different or remote. That’s why this test is called the Remote Associates Test; it’s looking for connections or associations and seeking those connections that are often unusual or rare.
So here we’ll try the Remote Associates Test. Each item has three starting words to be linked in some way with a fourth. The fourth word can be added at the beginning or end of each word. Time your effort on the test, and stop working after ten minutes. You’ll also complete the test at the end of the book. Here’s an example of some word sets:
Starting Words
Corresponding Word show • life • row
boat night • wrist • stop
watch duck • fold • dollar.
bill rocking • wheel • high
chair
Now try to solve these as practice; add a fourth word in the set that connects with the other three words.
Starting Words
Corresponding Word dew • comb • bee
fountain • baking • pop
preserve • ranger • tropical.
aid • rubber • wagon
Practice Answers
The correct answers are honey, soda, forest, and band. If you had other answers that fit as well as these do, that’s even better.
There are 15 elements of varying difficulty. A comparable test will occur at the end of the book. To keep this a reasonable challenge, stop and
just record your score after ten minutes. If you complete all the word cues in less than ten minutes, record that time. Don’t, however, work longer than ten minutes unless you like the challenge.
Exercise 2.4: Remote Associates Test
Find a fourth word that fits with the other three in some way, on the front or the back; complete as many as you can in ten minutes. If you finish sooner, write down your time. If you get stuck for more than 15 seconds or so, go to the next one, and come back when you’ve finished the rest.
flake • mobile • cone
safety • cushion • point
dream • break • light
political • surprise • line
high • district • house
worm • shelf • end
flower • friend • scout
print • berry • bird
date • alley • fold
cadet • capsule • ship
stick • maker • point
fox • man • peep
dust • cereal • fish
food • forward • break
peach • arm • tar
palm • shoe • house
wheel • hand • shopping
home • sea • bed
sandwich • house • golf
boot • summer • ground
Please Record Your Time:
Number Completed:
Answers Evaluation of Remote Associates Test
The word combinations themselves vary in difficulty based on our ordinary use of language. The capability to answer this test will also vary with language ability. People who take the test who are not native English speakers may not score as well as someone who is highly fluent. This is because stored ideas and thoughts are often symbolized through spoken words as well as the fact this test works specifically with language.
While the answers below provide an answer, there may be other words that complete the group in ways that are unique to your context; for example, the triad “high • district • house” can be completed by the words “school” or “court.”
Remote Associates Test Answers
flake • mobile • cone snow
safety • cushion • point pin
dream • break • light day
political • surprise • line party
high • district • house school or court
worm • shelf • end book
flower • friend • scout girl
print • berry • bird blue
date • alley • fold blind
cadet • capsule • ship space
stick • maker • point match
fox • man • peep hole
dust • cereal • fish bowl
food • forward • break fast
peach • arm • tar pit
palm • shoe • house tree
wheel • hand • shopping cart
home • sea • bed sick
sandwich • house • golf club
sage • paint • hair brush
boot • summer • ground camp
Conclusion
Do these challenges help you figure out a better answer for some problem? Not directly. Note that the main purpose of the book is to help people develop a more divergent set of answers or ideas, from which to choose more appropriate, or at least different, responses. In general, people tend to be “solution focused” in settling into the first answer they can find that is satisfactory. Further answers may appear to be less valuable and/or at least different, breaking new ground away from the tried and true.
Creativity implies that the answer will be different and that, in many cases, the given answer will be unusual and not immediately acceptable.
Completing these simple tests is not just about developing a clear understanding of your current state of creativity. It can also be a beginning for development of your own creative skills; you’ve seen how it can be evaluated; responding to those questions and challenges—by practicing, doing, and integrating this stuff into your life—will make you more creative.
Now you have some understanding of how creativity is measured, and you have a better understanding of your own creativity. In this writing, we’ll build on that understanding to help you develop your own creativity. And, at the end of the book, we’ll see how much you’ve changed through the course of this book.
Methods of the Book 3
Creative thinking is not a talent; it is a skill that can be learnt. It empowers people by adding strength to their natural abilities which improves teamwork, productivity and where appropriate, profits.
—Edward de Bono
Beliefs, Habits, Skills, and Knowledge
The skills of creativity can be applied to many forms of learning and knowledge; they are not just for the arts and design fields. For example, an engineer will know how to solve problems in one way, but developing multiple ideas that may not be as initially apparent can lead to breakthroughs. This book will introduce some methods of triggering more ideas. These methods will help you to generate more ideas, and, by following these processes, you can increase your innate creativity.
We’ll also examine some of the research-based knowledge about creativity. There is a rich body of knowledge on creativity that will support your creative practice, and much of this book is founded on that research. Some key findings include the high value of creativity in terms of lifetime achievement, the ability to develop one’s creative skill, and the value of habits and practice (Plucker, 1999; Scott, et al., 2004; Bronson & Merryman, 2010; Cox, 2005). However, in the end, you will need to forge your own path, evaluate your ideas, and engage with others to build new ideas. While learning about some methods and tricks for making ourselves more creative, we’re going to do small exercises to increase our capability as well as larger challenges to stretch our skill.
The structure of this book is based on four levels of learning and involvement: beliefs, habits, skills, and knowledge. Knowledge, the traditional lead component of most academic courses, is the least important aspect of the effort. Beliefs, habits, and skills are all more important. This is about a change in you, the reader.
Beliefs come from one’s own experience with and exposure to ideas about creativity. Perhaps the most important component of being creative is a belief in one’s own creative capability. We must recognize that creativity is present in us all and that the level of creativity of anybody can be increased if they choose to do so. You should believe in your own creativity and also act in ways that encourage you to develop your creativity. Having habits that help you develop and build your own creative skills are essential.
Habits can be described as ways in which we do the same things, but they also can be characteristics that regularly develop, demonstrate, and increase creativity. These types of routines are important in welcoming and seeking new ideas and divergent thoughts. These creative habits include the consistent development of divergent ideas, regularly providing more responses than are required, involving oneself in challenging and different activities, and consistently seeking to be more creative.
The skills of creativity need development as well—whether in the process of making something habitual or in the conscious use of a creative methodology. Practice in the techniques will make them more habitual, even in the simplest task of generating more ideas. At first, there are personal limits as to how well multiple concepts or ideas can be developed. The ability to create more will come through practice—a practice that must be internalized and be part of your everyday experience.
Understanding the Theory
One thing that is valuable in learning anything is to understand the methods of learning and what is being used to help you learn. This goes for creativity as well.
So how does one get to be creative? Are you just born that way? Or not born that way? Is creativity tied to how intelligent you are? Can you change how creative or how intelligent you are?
This book is focused not on learning information but rather on developing creative skills. This means the emphasis is not on information delivery but rather on actively learning and doing creative exercises.
First of all, our creativity is, in some part, based on our native intelligence. As with intelligence, we can change and improve what we naturally have. We can learn through schooling and through experience, and become smarter. Research has proved that we can also develop our creativity through training and effort, just as we can develop our own intelligence (Scott, et al., 2004).
Creativity is a trait of your personality and can be focused and improved through work and effort. Luckily for all of us, the development of creativity, the actual process, is fun and enjoyable, and it can be done anywhere. At the same time, you can think of this process as your creativity workout space. One way to think about developing your creativity is like physical exercise, like building muscles in a gym. If we use our creativity, we’ll get stronger creativity “muscles”; if we don’t use it, we’ll get flabby and fall back on our old habits.
How the Book Works
Specifically, how do you improve your own creativity, and how will this be presented in this book? Well, the best way to have people learn something is to have them actively work on what they need to learn. In other words, rather than simply reading about something, you need to do something that applies what you are learning and developing. In order to become more creative, you need to consciously do things that will make you more creative. So this book is about doing stuff, and it isn’t going to only be about presenting information and talking about very creative people that aren’t you. It’s about you becoming more creative.
This is a very serious pursuit. We know a lot of what is done in education today focuses on spreading and remembering information. Teachers present information, and students are expected to remember that same information. The development of new ideas, new combinations, or new understanding is generally not addressed in the educational process. While
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—Le tiran á usted.
—¿Y qué hago entonces?
—Agarrarse á la arena.
—¿Es seguro eso?
—Á veces.
—Pero ¿no están ustedes para sacar de tales apuros?
—Cuando se nos manda.
—¿Y si no se lo mandan á ustedes?
—Nos estamos, como ahora, paseando por el arenal.
—¿Aunque yo me esté ahogando?
—Si le viéramos á usted, y hubiera tiempo...
—¿Es decir, que puede no haberle?
—¡Yo lo creo!
—¡Canastos! Pues ¿cómo hay ahora otros bañeros con aquellas mujeres?
—Porque los han pedido y pagado.
—¡Ah! vamos. Pues yo también tomaré uno... ¿Tiene usted mucha fuerza?
—¿Para qué la necesita usted?
—Hombre, para un apuro de ésos de que íbamos hablando.
—¿Va usted á empezar hoy á bañarse?
—No, señor: mañana. Ahora vengo á tomar informes de esto, porque á mí no me hace gracia meterme en lo que no conozco... Por de pronto, me gustaría más la playa si fuera llana, siquiera media legua adentro.
—¡Tendría que ver!
—Dicen que algunas son así.
—Valientes playas serán ésas.
—¿Quiere decir que ésta es mejor?
—Como ésta no la hay, hombre.
—Y el agua, ¿también es buena?
—De lo mejor que se conoce.
—Pues eso es lo esencial para los que venimos á bañarnos por necesidad. Y á propósito: yo quisiera ver al médico del establecimiento. ¿Andará por acá?
—Cabalmente está ahora en la galería... Mírele usted.
—¿Quién es?
—Aquel señor de la barba negra que está hablando con otro joven delgadito.
—Pues voy á verle antes que alguno le comprometa... Conque, amigo, muchas gracias por todo, y hasta mañana; porque yo desearía bañarme con usted.
—Si estoy desocupado entonces, con mucho gusto.
—Pues lo dicho, dicho.
—(Como yo te eche la zarpa, menudo remojón vas á chuparte... Yo te diré de qué lado viene la mar).
CON EL MÉDICO
—Saludo á usted, caballero.
—Beso á usted la mano.
—Me han dicho que es usted el facultativo del establecimiento.
—Tengo en él mi gabinete de consultas.
—Es igual. Pues yo quería consultar
—Cuando usted guste...
—Ahora mismo.
—Pase usted á esta habitación... Sírvase usted tomar asiento.
—Muchísimas gracias, señor de... ¿de qué, si no le incomoda?
—Zorrilla.
—¡Hombre! Como ése que hace coplas. ¿Son ustedes parientes, por si acaso?
—Sospecho que no.
—Es que es paisano mío ese Zorrilla, y podría usted serlo también.
—Pues hágase usted la cuenta de que no lo soy
—Vaya, pues lo siento; porque cuando se halla uno con gente de la misma tierra, le parece que no ha salido de casa... Pero es igual, con tal que la salud... Pues yo quería consultar sobre la mía.
—Usted dirá.
—¿Cuántos baños cree usted que debo tomar yo, de cuánto tiempo y á qué hora?
—Si usted no me dice antes por qué los necesita...
—Pues por la salud.
—Ya lo supongo; pero la salud se quebranta por mil causas: cada causa puede dar origen á una enfermedad, y cada enfermedad necesita un tratamiento determinado.
—Es verdad, y voy á decirle á usted de contado lo que padezco. Pues, amigo de Dios, ha de saberse usted que todo ello resulta de un susto que cogió mi madre el día en que se casó.
—¡Es raro eso, hombre!
—¿Por qué?
—Porque no hallo concomitancia... Si el susto le hubiera cogido algún tiempo después...
—Es que yo soy sietemesino.
—¡Vamos! Eso ya varía de especie.
—Pues sí, señor: se escapó un novillo que se había de correr aquella misma tarde en la plaza, y arremetió á mi padre en el
momento de salir de la iglesia con mi madre, después de casados. Mi madre se desmayó al verlo, vino gente, salvaron á mi padre como de milagro, recogieron á mi madre; y sobre si tuviste tú la culpa ó la tuve yo, armóse después en el pueblo una de palos que el mundo ardía. Mi madre tardó en volver en sí, pero no echó el susto del cuerpo en mucho tiempo; y puede asegurarse que en todo el embarazo no fué ya mujer: un soponcio le iba y otro le venía. De resultas de todo esto, nací yo hecho una miseria, y hágase usted la cuenta que el verme vivo á los siete años le costó á mi padre un sentido. El ruido de una puerta me tumbaba en el suelo; el aire me hacía toser; con el frío, sabañones; con el calor, agonías; con el agua fresca, pasmos; con la templada, vómitos... en fin, que llegué de milagro á los diez y ocho años. Á esa edad me entoné un poco ya; y como quedé huérfano y tuve que atender á mis haciendas, el trabajo y la distracción me arreglaron el cuerpo algo más, y así estoy; pero, créame usted, aborrecido de cambiar de médicos y de medicinas. Tan pronto que baños calientes de esta clase; tan pronto que de la otra; tan pronto que los de río; hoy que friegas, y mañana que restregones; hasta que un médico de regimiento que pasó por el pueblo y que venía recomendado á un amigo mío, me aconsejó que tomara los baños de mar... y aquí me tiene usted.
—Bien está; pero todavía no me ha dicho usted qué dolencia es la que principalmente le aflige.
—Pues todas esas de que le he hablado.
—¿Cuáles?
—Mire usted, por de pronto, el estómago.
—¿Le duele á usted?
—No, señor.
—¿Hace usted malas digestiones?
—¡Por ahí!
—¿Siente usted ardores?...
—¡Quiá! Lo que me pasa es que yo soy de mucho comer, y que en cuanto como algo más que lo de costumbre, siento aquí un peso...
—¿Y repugnancia?
—No, señor: nada más que el peso, que me dura como un par de horas... hasta que...
—¿Vomita usted, eh?
—No, señor: me quedo como un reló... y con un hambre de dos mil demonios.
—¡Hola!
—Y eso es lo que á mí me hace cavilar, porque parece mentira que con lo que yo como no se me quite el hambre... y, sobre todo, el peso.
—Y la cabeza, ¿qué tal?
—La cabeza... ¡ésa es otra más gorda! Cuando tenía veinte años, resistía yo el sol de la era toda la mañana, en pelo, sin que uno de ellos me doliera; pues ahora ¡ya te quiero un cuento! á las dos horas de estar al sol, ya sudo y me entran los desperezos... Y esto es lo que también me va dando cuidado.
—Y es grave, en efecto.
—¡Lo ve usted?
—Sí, señor, bastante grave... ¡muy grave!
—¡Cuando le digo á usted que paso la vida en una agonía!... Y lo que más rabia me da es que todo el mundo dice que me quejo de vicio, y que patatín y que patatán... ¡Hasta los facultativos se han reído de mí!... Conque ¿le parece á usted que me sentarán estos baños?
—Están indicadísimos.
—Y ¿cuántos?
—Lo mismo una docena que dos.
—Yo creí que siempre se tomaban nones.
—Tome usted nones.
—Así me parece mejor. Y ¿de cuánto tiempo?
—Hasta que usted tirite de frío.
—Y mientras esté de baños, ¿podré tomar fresco?... porque á mí me gusta mucho.
—Á mí también en este tiempo.
—¿Luego cree usted que podré tomarlo?
—Á todas horas.
—¿Antes del baño también?
—Y después del baño.
—¿Y también para el desayuno?
—También para el desayuno.
—¡Caramba!... Y ¿qué fresco elegiré?
—El que corra.
—¿Y si corren varios?
—Los toma usted todos.
—¡Hombre, será mucho! Yo prefiero la merluza sola.
—¡Ah! vamos. Usted me hablaba del pescado.
—Sí, señor: le llamamos fresco en mi tierra.
—Pues, en ese caso, tengo que corregir... El mejor pescado para usted es el atún.
—No me disgusta; pero yo creía que era más pesado que la merluza. Y ¿á qué hora lo tomaré?
—Un poco antes de meterse en el baño.
—¡Hombre! ¿Y en qué cantidad?
—Un par de libras, si caben.
—¡Yo lo creo!
—Pues á ello.
—¿En seco?
—De ningún modo.
—Entonces, clarete.
—Nada de eso: aguardiente es mejor digestivo.
—Es verdad. Y diga usted, ¿cómo aprovecha más el baño, entrando poco á poco ó de sopetón?
—Ni de un modo ni de otro: á usted le conviene el trote.
—Y después me acurruco, agarrado á la cuerda.
—No, señor; después de darse usted una trotada por el arenal...
—¡Ah! ¿conque ha de ser por el arenal?
—Precisamente: se echa usted de cogote...
—¿Al agua?
—Naturalmente.
—Pero ¿cómo?
—¿Sabe usted nadar?
—Como un canto.
—Entonces véngase usted á la galería, y desde allí le enseñaré yo...
¿Ve usted, á la derecha, aquel peñasco que se mete más que los otros en el mar?
—Sí que le veo.
—Pues desde allí se tira usted de cabeza.
—¡Zambomba!... ¿Y después?
—¿Después?... después va usted á contárselo á su abuela.
—Jajajá... ¡qué buen humor tiene este señor de Zorrilla!... ¡Pues anda, que se ha largado... y sin cobrar la consulta! Á bien que todos los días he de verle después del baño para explicarle el resultado y pedirle el plan para el siguiente.
EN LA DESPEDIDA
—Conque, vaya usted mandando lo que se le ofrezca para mi tierra.
—¿Tan pronto?
—Y la mitad me sobra.
—Como vino usted á bañarse...
—Á matarme, dirá usted.
—Es decir, que no han sentado los baños.
—En la misma boca del estómago... y eso tan sólo con olerlos. Conque, ¡figúrese usted si llego á probarlos!
—No comprendo.
—¿No se acuerda usted que le dije que el médico me había mandado tomar, antes de bañarme, dos libras de?...
—Mucho que sí.
—... Y usted se empeñaba en que era una broma del señor de Zorrilla para darme á entender que yo era un aprensivo, y que torna y que vira. ¡Mal rayo me parta!... Pues bueno: yo que tomo al pie de la letra todo lo que toca á la salud y al modo de recobrarla, porque la tengo perdida, aunque diga lo contrario el mundo entero, el día siguiente al de la consulta me bajé por la mañana al Sardinero, después de haberme envasado las dos libras de bonito y el medio cuartillo de aguardiente. Vestíme de bañista, salíme al arenal y comencé á trotar en redondo. La gente me miraba. Eran las diez, y no parecía sino que Dios echaba rescoldo por el cielo abajo, según las ampollas que sacaba el sol. Á la media vuelta ya sudaba, y á los cinco minutos hubiera jurado yo que el aguardiente estaba en llamas y el bonito hecho una lumbre... ¡Le digo á usted que aquello era abrasarse vivo! Así es que, á las pocas vueltas, porque las daba por largo, me caí redondo en el arenal. Acudió la gente, y también el médico, que andaba por allí; hízome echar por la boca hasta los hígados; y después de llamarme bárbaro muy serio, contó á la gente lo de la consulta, y acabaron todos por reirse de mí. ¿Le parece á usted que el lance era de risa?... Pues toda esa falta de caridad la enmendó el facultativo con decirme que cómo él pudo imaginarse nunca que hubiera un hijo de Adán tan... adán, que tomara en serio lo del bonito y lo del trote antes del baño; que si lo que yo había
tenido en el cuerpo lo mete él debajo de una peña, la levanta en vilo; que si, hallándome vivo después de lo ocurrido, no me convencía de que mi salud era de bronce; y, por último, que no tentara más á Dios, que me volviera á mi pueblo á cuidar de mis haciendas, y que no aburriera más al prójimo llorando males que no tenía... Con esta rociada por todo consuelo, me vestí, volvíme á la posada y me metí en la cama á sudar, que poco me costó con el calor que hacía.
—¿De manera que ha hecho usted el viaje en balde?
—No lo crea usted... y por algo se dijo que «por lo más obscuro amanece». Hablando yo de estas cosas, á los tres días, con un compañero de posada, me dijo que él también había rodado mucho por el mundo buscando la salud, y que no la había encontrado hasta que se la dió un curandero ¡pásmese usted! un remendón que trabaja en un portal de esta misma ciudad. ¡Y decir á Dios que hay médicos que gastan coche! Pues, señor, que me alegró la noticia, que me animé y que fuí á consultar con el curandero... ¡Le digo á usted que es preciso verlo para creerlo! No hizo más que saber que yo estaba enfermo, y sin dejarme hacerle historia alguna de la enfermedad, me estiró los brazos hacia adelante, me juntó las manos, y poniéndome una de las suyas en la boca del estómago, me dijo:—«Usted tiene toda la maleza en el arca, motivado á que los güétagos se han arrimado mucho al padrejón, á causa—¡esto es lo más asombroso!—de que las dos paletillas no encajan bien en el espinazo...». Pues en esto, señor mío, no ha dado hasta hoy ningún facultativo.
—Lo creo sin dificultad. ¿Y qué remedio le dió para tan complicada enfermedad?
—Uno que me parece tan sencillo como cuerdo: dos parches y un haz de yerbas. Uno de los parches me coge desde la nuca hasta la curcusilla; el otro es para encima del estómago.
—¿Los tiene usted puestos ya?
—No, señor: los llevo para ponérmelos en cuanto llegue á casa; porque, tan pronto como me bizme, tengo que meterme en la cama y estar en ella veintisiete días, boca arriba, sin moverme.
—¿Y las yerbas?
—Las yerbas son para cocerlas. De este cocimiento he de tomar, mientras esté en la cama, dos azumbres por la mañana y otras dos por la tarde. De este modo dice el curandero que romperé en aguas abundantes, y que á la vez que con ellas sale toda la maldad, con los parches fortificaré el estómago y entrarán en sus propios gonces las paletillas... Conque sírvase usted darme lo que me resta del crédito que traía, porque ya me parece que tardo en llegar á casa para ponerme en cura, y mande lo que guste para aquellos señores.
—¿Resueltamente va usted á ejecutar el plan del curandero?
—Como estamos aquí los dos.
—En ese caso, venga un abrazo... y apriete usted bien.
—¿Por qué tan apretado?
—Por si no volvemos á vernos.
UN DESPREOCUPADO
Se da un aire á todos los hombres que conocemos ó recordamos, de escasa talla, comunicativos, afables sin afectación ni aparato, limpios y aseados, que siempre parecen jóvenes y llegan á morirse de viejos sin que nadie lo crea, porque hasta el último instante se les ha llamado muchachos y por tales se les ha tenido; hombres, por el exterior, insignificantes y vulgares hasta en el menor de sus detalles; hombres, en fin, de todos los pueblos, de todos los días y de todas partes.
Se llama Galindo, ó Manzanos, ó Cañales, ó Arenal... ó algo parecido á esto, pero á secas; y á nadie se le ocurre que tenga otro nombre de pila, ni él mismo le usa jamás.
—¡Ya vino Galindo!—se nos dice aquí un día al principiar el verano.
—Y cuantos lo oyen saben de quién se trata, como si se dijera:
—Ya llegaron las golondrinas.
Tiene fama, bien adquirida, de fino y caballero en sus amistades y contratos, y no se ignora que vive de sus rentas, ó, á lo menos, sin pedir prestado á nadie, ni dar un chasco á la patrona al fin de cada
temporada; y esto es bastante para que hasta los más encopetados de acá se crean muy favorecidos en cultivar su trato ameno.
Al oirle hablar de las cinco partes del mundo con el aplomo de quien las conoce á palmos, tómanle algunos por un aristocrático Esaú que ha vendido su primogenitura por un par de talegas «para correrla»; quien por un aventurero osado, sin cuna ni solar conocidos; quien por antiguo miembro del cuerpo consular, ó diplomático de segunda fila... Pero lo indudable es que ha viajado mucho, y con fruto; y que no teniendo en su frontispicio pelo ni señal que no sean comunes y vulgares, no hay terreno en que se le coloque del cual no salga airoso, cuando no sale en triunfo.
Tampoco, mirado por dentro, posee cualidad alguna que brillante sea.
No es elocuente, no es poeta, no es artista: no es perfecto ni acabado en nada.
Pero, en cambio, tiene un poco de todo... y algo más: es, por de pronto, un estuche de cosas. En manejarlas á tiempo consiste su habilidad.
Con ella y con su impenetrable cara de vaqueta, en su boca no se distingue la verdad de la mentira, y eso que las echa gordas; y en cuanto á sus cosas, ni es avaro ni despilfarrador de ellas; quiero decir, que ni es entremetido ni se hace rogar mucho. Como los buenos músicos, entra en el concierto en que hace falta, cuando le corresponde: ni antes ni después.
Cuando, por primera vez y solo, se presenta en una tertulia, nadie frunce el ceño ni le pregunta con gestos ó con palabras: «¿Qué busca usted por aquí?» Antes bien, se le recibe con palio y se le dice, entre sonrisas y agasajos:
—¡Oh... Galindo! ¡Acabará usted de llegar!
Ni más ni menos que si se le esperara y fuera antiguo contertulio de la casa. Y desde el mismo instante, Galindo es el alma de aquellas reuniones.
Una noche falta quien toque el piano para bailar Galindo no conoce una nota de música; pero sabe de oído unas cuantas piezas de baile, y se sienta en el banquillo, y araña el teclado, y toca lo que se necesita.
No tiene voz ni condición alguna de cantante; y cuando llega el caso, acompañándose él mismo al piano, suelta un par de canciones picarescas, de acá ó de allá, que alborotan la reunión.—
Si se trata de hacer coplas, nadie le gana á hacerlas pronto y al caso, aunque le ganen todos á poeta.
Que no se baila, ni se canta, ni se hacen coplas, y la gente se agrupa en los gabinetes, medio aburrida, medio soñolienta.—Allí está Galindo para reanimar los decaídos espíritus. Para entonces son las anécdotas frescas, ó los recuerdos de Calcuta ó de Constantinopla. Y tras esto y un sinnúmero de mentiras verosímiles sobre las mujeres del Cáucaso ó los hombres de Ceilán, llegará á hablarse, por ejemplo, de objetos raros, y habrá allí quien crea decir mucho diciendo que ha visto camisas de hoja de llantén, catalejos de trapo, ó chocolate sin cacao... y tantas cosas más como se anuncian todos los días, en éstos de extravagancias que corremos.
No dejará Galindo de admirar las citadas rarezas, con toda la expresión que cabe en su estilo lento y suave y en su cara impasible; pero hombre que ha corrido y visto tanto, no puede estar sin algo que citar á propósito de rarezas, y no lo está, en efecto; y saca un grueso anillo de uno de sus dedos, y se le presenta á la reunión, diciendo:
—¿Á que no saben ustedes qué piedra es ésta?
Y la gente se abalanza al anillo, y le da mil vueltas, y recorre la lista conocida de piedras buenas y malas, sin que falte la de Colmenar Viejo, á la cual se parece en el color la del anillo; pero nadie acierta. En vista de lo cual, dice Galindo:
—Eso que ustedes creen piedra, no lo es.
Nuevas ansiedades, nuevo examen y nuevas conjeturas.
—Pues ¿qué es, si no?—se le pregunta al cabo.
—Eso es—responde Galindo, lenta y dulcemente,—hígado de cocodrilo, endurecido al sol, en Pekín. Se lo compré al joyero que lo hace para la corte imperial; ó mejor dicho, me lo cambió por una zamarra fina que llevaba yo de España.
Para calmar el asombro que esta respuesta produce, muestra una bolsa de tripa de un indio, medio devorado por un tigre en una cacería á que asistió él, y se refiere á una corbata que tiene en casa, hecha de piel de culebra, por un indígena del Canadá.
Cuando se agota este catálogo, tiene Galindo á su disposición otro más abundante todavía. Por el procedimiento de las pajaritas de papel, hace, entre mil primores, catedrales y navíos de tres puentes; y de un tijeretazo solo, sobre el mismo papel convenientemente plegado, saca una procesión de Jueves Santo, con sus pasos, curas, monaguillos, autoridades, músicas y piquete. De sombras en la pared, no digo nada; ni tampoco de problemas de dibujo á lápiz, á punta de cigarro y hasta á moco de candil: así pinta el día y la noche, el sol y la lluvia, de dos ó tres rasgos, y gatos y perros... y demonios colorados.
En la calle, no hay forastero á quien él no conozca de vista y de trato. Sabe las rentas ó las trampas de cada uno, y lo que antes tuvieron y lo que esperan, ó lo que temen, y la vida que hacen en Madrid, y quién de ellos trae señora propia, y quién pegadiza ó temporera, y dónde la ha adquirido y á cómo, y quién se la corteja y con qué éxito, y si el cortejo es andaluz ó salamanquino...
Hablando de parecidas cosas conmigo en una ocasión iba delante de nosotros el aludido, sin haberle visto yo.
—En suma—me dijo:—el duque de los Frijoles es un perdido, y la duquesa, tan perdida como el duque.
Y en esto volvió la cara el tal; y cuando yo creí que iba á romper el bautismo al maldiciente, rióse hacia él, le tendió la mano y le dijo afectuosísimo:
—¡Ah, tuno! ¿conque venía usted detrás?
—¿En qué lo ha conocido usted?—le preguntó Galindo muy sereno.
—En la voz. Y apuesto á que estaba usted despellejando á alguien.
—Precisamente.
—Amigo de usted, por supuesto.
—Cabal... Como que hablaba de usted.
—¡Ah, mala lengua!
Dijo, y dándole al propio tiempo un golpecito en el hombro, como si aún tuviera que agradecerle mucho, alejóse el señor duque y se quedó Galindo tan fresco.
No desconoce uno solo de los secretos íntimos de la política. Él os dirá, con pruebas, cuando menos verosímiles, por qué se sustituyó tal ministro con cual otro; á qué móvil obedeció la evolución de aquel periódico, ó la cesantía de cierto personaje, ó el encumbramiento de esotra vulgaridad, ó por qué no puede salir de apuros el Tesoro... Y sus causas jamás son las causas que conoce ó que sospecha el vulgo: siempre son particularísimas, personales y microscópicas, con relación á sus efectos.
De cómicos y toreros, no se diga: á todos los trata y los tutea, y habla con ellos de la escena ó del redondel con el aplomo y la autoridad de Romea ó de Costillares.
En lo físico, es sano y duro como un diamante: jamás se constipa ni se queja del estómago, y eso que no se abriga más que lo de costumbre, y come tanto como habla, si la ocasión se le presenta.
Y digo esto de la ocasión, porque aun cuando ordinariamente es sobrio y metódico, come cuanto le pongan por delante, aunque haya comido ya, si á comer se le convida, ó si se acepta el convite que él proponga, pues hace á todo.
Como no viene á bañarse, sino á veranear, y tampoco le es muy simpático el ceremonial del Sardinero, vive en la ciudad en una fonda, ó en una de las mejores casas de huéspedes; lo cual no obsta para que dé cuenta, si se le pide, de cuantas personas habitan en aquellos hoteles, con sus correspondientes vidas y milagros.
En agosto hace una escapadita á ver las corridas de Bilbao, y en septiembre arregla su marcha definitiva en combinación con las ferias de Valladolid y la apertura de los teatros de la corte, donde, por lo visto, se pasa gran parte del invierno, no sé cómo ni con quién.
Qué familia y qué patria son las suyas, se ignora siempre; y se ignora, porque jamás se le ha preguntado por ellas; y no se le ha preguntado, porque se prefiere ignorarlo; y se prefiere esto, porque desde el instante en que estos hombres tienen patria y familia, y nombre como otro cualquier nieto de Adán, ya no son Galindos, ni Manzanos, ni Arenales á secas, y pierden su peculiar carácter de universalidad, en lo que estriba la mayor parte de su mérito.
LUZ RADIANTE
Un si es no es macilento, desmayado de barba, corto de vista y regularmente ataviado.
Tal es su facha. En cuanto á su fecha, lo mismo puede venderse por hombre que parece un joven, que por joven que parece ya un hombre... y cuenta que hablo en vulgo limpio, por lo cual ha de entenderse esto de hombre, por hombre de cierta edad.
Le habréis visto, con un libro en la mano, en la braña del Cañón, sentado á la sombra de un bardal; ó en idéntica postura é igual ocupación, sobre escueta roca entre los dos Sardineros; ó á la entrada de los Pinares; ó en un rincón de la galería, con los pies sobre la balaustrada y el tronco desencuadernado en una silla; ó paseándose por el arenal, absorto en la lectura, como joven alumno repasando la lección en el patio del colegio.
Y aseguro que le habréis visto, porque aunque jamás abandona el libro y parece la meditación su natural elemento, siempre elige para el estudio las horas de más ruido y busca la soledad á orillas de todo movimiento.
Es de Madrid, vive en un hotel del Sardinero, y á juzgar por lo que se ve, priva mucho con todas las señoras circunvecinas.
Lo cual no es de extrañar, visto lo docto que es en todos esos tiquismiquis que forman el arte de agradar en la sociedad distinguida.
¡Qué donaire tiene el indino y qué remilgado pespunteo de palabra, para revolver un corrillo de pizpiretas jovenzuelas! ¡Qué mirar de ojos, qué rasgar de boca y accionar de índice para decir, por ejemplo:—«Vamos, Conchita, ya se ha descubierto por qué esperaba usted el correo anoche con tanta impaciencia!». Ó: «¿Saben ustedes por qué está Soledad tan preocupada? ¿Lo ven ustedes? Ya se sonroja». Ó: «Carmela, en mi solitario paseo de esta madrugada me han revelado las ondinas el secreto que usted me ocultaba ayer. ¡Ah, picarilla!...».
... ¿Dicen ustedes que éstas son impertinentes y sobadas vulgaridades?... Séanlo enhorabuena; pero atrévase un buen Juan á hacerse con ellas solas hombre ameno y travieso, y verá cómo le plantan en seco. Hay que desengañarse: para decir ciertas cosas y brillar en ciertos terrenos, hay que ser mozo de cierta catadura.
La del de quien vamos hablando parece cortada para el oficio. Como ramo de su ciencia, conserva en la memoria muchas anécdotas rechispeantes de la última campaña del gran mundo, y anuncia el desenlace de más de un suceso interesante, para la próxima. Y como todos los del corrillo son de Madrid, dicho se está que las agudas murmuraciones y los retorcidos discreteos no languidecen un punto, por falta de interés.
Posee otra cualidad, muy importante para esto de veranear con éxito en una provincia entre las personas que lo han por oficio: sabe de corrido toda la fraseología literaria y musical de moda entre la gente madrileña.
Y cuidado, que esto no es grano de anís. Figúrense ustedes que por allí anda muy en boga Dante, como anduvo un invierno, porque un orador del Parlamento dijo, á cuento de no sé qué:
Nom ragioniam di lor, ma guarda e passa,
cosa, por lo visto, hasta entonces no oída en Madrid, según la prisa que se dió todo el mundo, en papeles y en corrillos, á traducir la cita, á estudiar el pasaje entero, á desentrañar el intríngulis, á hablar de la Divina Comedia, y hasta á poner en perverso castellano el inmortal poema. En tal caso, ¿qué joven que se precie de ilustrado, ha de salir á provincias el verano siguiente sin saber decir, por ejemplo, cuando se le cae de la boca la punta del cigarro, ó de la mano el bastón, que se le cayeron
... como corpo morto cade?
ó cuando quiere bromearse con alguno que no encuentra lo que busca, ó que llega tarde:
Lasciate ogni speranza?...
ó si trata de pintar el abismo en que se han hundido sus ilusiones:
Nel mezzo del camin di nostra vita me ritrovai per una selva oscura?...
Si el de moda es Goethe, porque se cantó en el Real una ópera cuyo argumento está tomado de su célebre poema, no hay más remedio que llamar Fausto á todo viejo galanteador y acicalado, Margarita á toda joven que suspira, y Mefistófeles á todo señor que tenga la nariz afilada, rasgada la boca, trigueña la color y zurda la mirada.
Si es Flotow el que priva, hay que saber, por lo menos, entonar á media voz, con los ojos fruncidos, las uñas clavadas en el pecho y mucho arrastre de amargura, aquello de
¡Marta Marrrrrrrrrrta!
como nos cantaban en una ocasión todos los señoritos que venían de Madrid, empeñándose en que había uno de llorar oyéndolos, porque en el Real lloraba toda la gente cuando lo cantaban Talini... ó Cualini, tenores de mucho sentimiento.
Cuando reinan estas epidemias en el pueblo, no hay más remedio que aguantarlas como mejor se pueda, y resignarse á exclamar en cada caso, siquiera por no hacerle más grave: ¡Admirable, magnífico, arrebatador!
Pues iba diciendo yo que para evocar estas reminiscencias, citar aquellos textos y cantar las otras ternezas, nadie como el amigo de quien vamos hablando.
No sé si he dicho, ó ustedes lo han comprendido ya, que es literato, ó que cree serlo.
Por de pronto escribe quintillas en el arenal con la punta del bastón, y en la tertulia de la noche lee á las señoras tal cual balada tierna ó alusivo soneto.
Si hemos de creerle, conoce á todos los literatos, y se tutea con los más talludos.
Lo cierto es que si llega al Sardinero alguna celebridad de este género, él es quien le presenta á las damas y se compromete á que el presentado les lea alguna cosa; al cual compromiso corresponde éste (después de asegurar que viene enteramente desprevenido) leyendo una comedia resobada, ó una oda que ya reluce de tanto manoseo, las cuales saca de un enorme cartapacio de poesías que ya han sido leídas por el autor trescientas veces en Ontaneda ó las Caldas, mientras tomó aquellas aguas.
Como piensa hacer algunas investigaciones históricas, arqueológicas y geográficas en la provincia, ha traído con su equipaje una mochila, un grueso garrote con agudo regatón de hierro, y borceguíes ingleses de ancha y claveteada suela. Parece ser que todas estas cosas ayudan mucho á recoger noticias sobre aquello que se trata de conocer y describir, especialmente en un país como éste, en el cual hay un pueblecillo á cada cuarto de legua, una casa en qué dormir regularmente, y comer, aunque no muy bien; buenos senderos para cabalgaduras de alquiler, cuando no excelentes caminos para carruajes; poquísimas antigüedades, y ésas á la vista y muy estudiadas ya; nada de historias del otro mundo, y ninguna montaña que escalar á uña y puntera, porque
