Creator Activator: Aluminum Foil Sculptures

I’m not creative.” he would tell me, as he put down the piece of aluminum foil I had handed him.

“I can’t do this.” she would say as she would storm out of the room.

“What are the rules? How does this work?” The audience member in the front row would ask.

“I think I’ll make a car,” said one participant. Then in an instant, they were off to sculpting.

The task was simple, I handed each participant in the room a single piece of aluminum foil 12 inches by 12 inches and asked everyone to sculpt, craft, create, draw the highest best vision they had for their life with the foil.

After a few moments of awkward silence, the room mostly fills with the sound of crinkle, crinkle, as eyes get wider.

As a teacher of mindful principles for individuals and companies around the globe, I am so grateful every day to watch people. It’s my job to invite people to the edge of their comfort zone and gently nudge them off. While I stand by with my silent hug of safety to catch them as they walk one crinkle of the foil outside their comfort zone.

After allowing each person a few moments to stare at the aluminum foil in a combination of disbelief and desire to create, I always find someone really fun. A woman in the front row sculpts a hot air balloon, a man in the middle a bird, another woman in the back makes a magic wand. You name it, I’ve probably seen it.

In this audience, on this particular day, there was Brad. Brad was diligently sculpting his foil into a boat. When it came time to share his boat, he drew our attention to one specific detail of the boat. The rudder. It was broken off. Brad went on to share how this boat without a rudder was how he saw his own life.

When we think of ingenuity sometimes we think of big, giant, huge creative things. It’s human nature that we are wired for bigger, better, faster and more. What I have found is often the most ingenuity comes in the simplest packages.

While it’s becoming rare nowadays, when you hand kids Legos, they sculpt towers and bridges, they create the vision in their mind. The same can be true of adults

Do you have a problem you are looking to solve in your life?

Is there a challenge? Do you need a new idea?

Insanity is the definition of doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

You don’t have to be MacGuyver, from the old adventure TV show, to be a creative problem solver. You do have to be willing to be vulnerable and authentic to try and know you can’t fail. What I have seen is that a simple piece of aluminum foil or a box of crayons can and do change the conversations and those conversations can come up with ingenious ways to change the world. I’m handing you your pieces of foil now, what will you create?

This article originally appeared in the Winter 2019 issue of CHOICES Magazine