Once upon a time, I was sitting in a philosophy colloquium in a room surrounded by some of the smartest people I’ve ever met…

There were scholars from almost 10 countries and 4 continents.

People who really knew what they were doing.

Philosophers of the first level.

And we were all addressing a VERY VERY specific problem.

A little passage in Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason called “Postulates of Empirical Thought”

It is not among the most central passages, but it is supposed to somehow deal with an interesting payoff from Kant’s philosophical system.

And we were all banging our heads on the problem of how to interpret it in a way that made sense…

There were many proposals that were presented…

But all were found to be troublesome…

Because they didn’t fit with this other part of Kant’s texts…

Or because it has this or that implausible and problematic implication…

After more than two hours of this, we took a step back and decided that essentially none of us had any idea what was going on in this passage…

But what IF one wanted to know what was happening in this passage…

One would have to keep in mind these twelve VERY complicated philosophical and textual points.

I have to admit…

I was bummed out by this.

He began to feel that all our efforts had been in vain.

Like we’re just spinning our wheels.

As if this was all a waste of time.

And to be fair, this might seem to many what philosophy is.

But at that point, I decided that I couldn’t let my philosophy be just that (and this eventually led me to become a happiness philosophy coach).

I couldn’t let it be something that remained abstract…

Something purely theoretical…

Something that was only used to question.

It does not serve to build anything positive or real.

And, when I reflected later on how things played out in this room of very smart people, I realized that in many ways it was only natural that things should turn out that way.

You see, most of these philosophers are philosophers who come from a tradition that approaches philosophy with an analytical mindset, looking for rigorous arguments.

Training in this kind of philosophy makes one very good at raising objections.

By proposing arguments against the positions.

This kind of philosophical training greatly sharpens your critical skills.

Your ability to criticize and point out flaws.

Goal.

Unfortunately, too often it doesn’t lead people to develop their creative powers.

The ability to generate new proposals and creative solutions.

When you fill a room with a group of highly critical but not so creatively powerful people, you get a recipe for a lot of alternatives, all of which seem to have a lot of problems.

This imbalance between their creative powers and their critical abilities is something I think a lot of people experience, not just professional philosophers.

You see, at least some traditional education emphasizes developing your critical skills.

But unless you consider yourself an artist or have been lucky enough to have someone encourage you to create something from your spirit, chances are you haven’t flexed those creative muscles as much.

Rest assured, though.

Cultivating your creative powers is something that you can start doing very easily.

You can start by simply trying to draw a shape you like every day for a week.

Can be anything.

And you can start easily.

Like a cup of coffee or an object in your house.

I often like to draw swords and other weapons.

But try to draw it every day. At least for three days.

And as you do every time, focus on the details of the object, focus on how all the parts come together in certain proportions to make the whole picture.

If you focus and draw deliberately, you’ll find that you get better and better (and faster) as you keep drawing.

And while you’re at it, you’ll realize that YOU REALLY CAN DRAW SOMETHING NICE… even if you never thought it was possible (like I once did).

And you will learn to find meaning in life by drawing.

This is just one example of how you can start developing your creative powers even if you’ve never done it before…

But you can develop them EVEN MORE (and find EVEN MORE meaning in life) by undertaking more creative endeavors. Like painting, dancing, sculpting… the sky is the limit!

If you continue down this path, your creative powers will reach your critical abilities in no time…

And help you find solutions and possibilities that can stand up to your own critical scrutiny!

I hope you enjoy cultivating your creative powers! (And face your own inner critic)