WRITINGS / ESSAYS

I have written essays and articles from around the world for most of the Norwegian newspapers and magazines. My writings include everything from politics, pop culture and classical music to me gonzo-attending Santa Claus School (for Dagens Næringsliv) in Michigan. Yes, he I'm a certified Santa.

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However, one of the subject that engages me the most is creativity. Because we're losing it – especially kids. Their ability to imagine and think novel thoughts is nose diving. In 2013 I wrote this essay on the creativity crisis for Aftenposten Innsikt, which you can read while thinking about how kid's creativity has tumbled drastically worse than expected since. Norwegians might want to listen to my NRK Sommer i P2 essay on trying to maintain the ability to be bored and create in a world that has gone bonkers.

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Now we've entered a global crisis that will really put our collective creativity to the test. On the most basic level, it's about everyone finding the best possible ways to deal with our new daily lives. Creativity is not just about innovative ideas. It's about our ability to look around, absorb and understand the world around us – then seeing possibilities and finding solutions. On the other end of the spectrum, we can let fear and stress take over. That's when we start making bad choices.

Creativity is not just about innovation. It's about making good choices. 

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"Survivors are attuned to the wonders of the world.

The appreciation of beauty, the feeling of awe, opens the senses".

(From the book Deep Survival by Lawrence Gonzalez)

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Andreas Ihlebæk, June 2020