I used to do creativity exercises with my university students. One of the activities was called ‘Forced Analogy’–take two random objects/ideas and come up with ways they are alike.
The exercise forces you to think in strange ways, and to examine the fundamental nature of each thing.
Using a handy online random word generator, I gave myself the following challenge today: How is a teenager like a shed?
- There are lots of different types of shed and teen, and each type is good at different things.
- A teenager, like a shed, can be gussied up. You can make it look nice on the outside, but inside it will always be a mess.
- You may know for certain you’ve put something into the shed (or the teen), but once in there, it’s lost forever.
- Keeping your shed and your teenager organised are both impossible.
- Sometimes, you find the most surprising things inside–a long-lost treasure, or something you never knew was there.
- Occasionally, both smell like dead rats.
- Neither one will ever thank you for cleaning.
- Both require regular maintenance.
- You can learn a lot about a family by closely observing their shed…or their teen.
- Everyone expects them to have a few blemishes.
- They tend to accumulate rubbish.
- After having one for a while, it’s hard to imagine life without one.