POSITIVELY PICKY

I thought about different moments and contexts after reading some posts on creativity and variables affecting it. It seems (see links below) that those we are surrounded by affect us....i.e. if they’re creative and productive, we’ll be prone to be creative and productive as well (I guess it might not really work well with those with a lazy nature and no interest in creativity...I guess). It happens for sure too with motivation.

At work...

I have many good memories from the years working as consultant. I felt lucky to be working in teams with productive and motivated people. The atmosphere in general was very positive and we were eager to help each other. I couldn’t really (still I can't) understand when friends and relatives told me about bad atmospheres and relationships at their workplaces....why do some "enjoy" acting in conflictive and lazy ways and having negative attitudes?  Unfortunately we can’t really choose the places we end up working at nor the people we’ll share many hours with. But what if we try to be the positive variable, the positive influence (the motivator, the enthusiast, the creative one)...no matter if we end up being some kind of outsider or the odd one out?  I firmly believe in what the articles I read say and I believe in positive features and attitudes being contagious. Besides, if I feel I'm doing something right, social acceptance is secondary. It should be something secondary if we're acting towards improvement for all.

Personal relationships....

Many kinds of relationships and many people come to my mind. Some people remained somewhere in the past, some other relationships changed, some others came back. Nothing is mathematical when it comes to personal relationships and it makes little sense (or none?) to rationalise them, since emotions lie on their basis. I’ve always preferred quality over number and those who know me know that I wouldn’t be a facebook enthusiast nor would boast about how many contacts-friends or whatever I might have.

Back to the influence of those among us in our productivity and creativity, I’m really sure that I’d rather avoid those who might bring me to stagnation, to “plain” and “shallow” conversations, who are full of prejudices or who just don’t “think forward” and ask themselves questions.  It might sound like I’m a demanding and picky person but I just know that those sort of personalities would do no good to me. They are likely to make me feel bad (emptied, useless, numb, lethargic) and sad (somehow, as the consequence of those feelings I just mentioned). I need challenges, getting the most of the short term and learning always new things, and questioning things and that applies also to my personal relationships. And sometimes I end up feeling ok after some people fade away in the past or some relationships change just because it means that some negative effect goes away.  Ah...and it’s not related with being a well educated person....it’s all matter of attitude.  I admired one of my grandfathers, who had always a particular sense of humour, thought about possibilities and improvement, accepted challenges, and so on. He just didn’t go to university but was an intelligent and clever person who managed to grasp reality in a particular way. ..and spread something positive affecting other people’s attitude, motivation, productivity.  

It's good to be positively picky. Yes.

Some links on the topic:

--Being Around Smart People Makes Us More Innovative | Psychology Today

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/finding-the-next-einstein/201309/being-around-smart-people-makes-us-more-innovative

--Why Your Friends Shape Your Happiness, Creativity, And Career | Fast Company | Business + Innovation

http://www.fastcompany.com/3021184/leadership-now/why-your-friends-shape-your-happiness-creativity-and-career

--Why Our Creativity Depends On Who Surrounds Us | The Creativity Post

http://www.creativitypost.com/business/why_our_creativity_depends_on_who_surrounds_us