I've been a college professor teaching people how to think more creatively and use more of their brainpower. 1 , this lifetime passion was awakened by a casual contest in my childhood.
At a picnic of my father's company, they held contests for kids — who threw a cloth handkerchief the farthest this time. I, 13 years old, was full of the spirit of 2 , so I threw myself into the contest, which, I realize now, was not meant to 3 real skills, but simply for laughs. But it stirred my 4 of thinking outside the box.
It disturbed me to see the kids throwing 5 when the handkerchief always opened and stopped. The 6 was not to throw harder but to prevent the cloth from 7 . Suppose I hid a rock in the cloth without tying it. The rock would drive the cloth at least 8 than the others, and when they separated, people might not notice a small rock 9 nearby. I had a good chance of 10 it, but I didn't want to win by cheating. So I had to make the handkerchief fly like a rock. Like a rock! That was it! I 11 tied knot (结) after knot until it was the size of a large walnut (核桃), like a strong 12 . I threw hard, and the balled handkerchief rocketed off 60 feet away. All stared at me in 13 and the judge ran to check. "It's just the 14 ," he declared, holding it up and untying the knots.
What I learned from this contest was 15 thinking. To live creatively, you have to tap into the less-used parts of your brain.
