The All Things Considered co-host brought humor, heart, and hard-earned wisdom to the University Theatre stage, sharing stories from the field and lessons for a life well-lived.
Greetings, mailbox maestros! Last week, we transformed our mailboxes into hubs of creativity, delivering unexpected art and playful interactions to our neighborhoods. Did you deliver some lines of poetry where you thought it would be helpful? Perhaps there’s a sense that the world is a little bigger or smaller than we thought because you brought a little piece of art into a previously mundane streetscape? Even if all you did was create an easy visual to help the pizza delivery person find your domicile, rest assured your effort is first class.
This week’s creative nudge into a new direction uses something that hums — metaphorically, I hope — in the background of our lives: the electric outlet (or electrical outlet — both terms are commonly used). This is the gateway through which our devices come to life, powering our work, our entertainment, and our connections to, well, just about everything these days.
Think about the sheer potential contained within those simple slots. They are a direct link to a vast network of power generation and distribution, a silent promise of energy on demand. Power when you want power, and you didn’t have to build or maintain any of it yourself! The outlet is a study in minimalist design, yet it underpins the complexity of our technological society.
But what if we looked at the electric outlet not just as a source of power, but as a source of inspiration? What creative sparks can we ignite by focusing our attention on this essential element of our modern existence? Let's unspool our power cords and plug our imaginations into at least 1.21 gigawatts of potential energy, using one or more of these creative exercises as a conduit:
Outlet Personification: Imagine the electric outlet has a personality. What kind of character would it be? What stories would it tell about the devices it powers? Write a short story or create a visual representation of your outlet persona.
Outlet Constellations: Look at the pattern of the holes in an electric outlet. Imagine these holes as stars in a constellation. What shapes and figures can you create by connecting them? Draw your outlet constellations and give them imaginative names.
Dependent Object: Choose a device that plugs into an electric outlet. Write a monologue from the perspective of that object, describing its relationship with the outlet and the flow of energy it receives.
Outlet as Wormhole: Imagine the electric outlet as a portal to another dimension or a different time. What would be on the other side? Draw or describe the world beyond the outlet.
“Whoa Flow”: Create a visual representation of the energy flowing from the outlet to a device. This could be an abstract drawing, a sculptural interpretation using different materials, or even a short dance or movement piece.
Creativity can be sparked by anything, even the places and things that power our modern lives. Just as the electricity that flows into Riverside homes and businesses originates from diverse and sometimes distant sources, our intrinsic sources of power come from a variety of places: our passions, our relationships, our experiences, and our inner resilience. Plug in and see just how many creative circuits you can complete!
This column was written with the help of Google’s Gemini Advanced, a powerful generative AI writing tool.
