Babita's blog: The Dance of Paper Boats

The rains reminded me of paper boats. 

 

I had read something as part of a poem by Tagore. In the collection called “Fireflies.”

It goes like this.

 

“These paper boats of mine are meant to dance on the ripple of hours, and not to reach any destination.”

 

For those of us born before the screens crept into our childhood years, paper boats were a part of our play.

 

Fold them, put in an old toy if we could spare one, rush out into the rain and watch the boats swirl and float in the puddles, or the gush of the open drains.

 

Run along our boats till they sank to a soggy end.

 

We were never disappointed. We just made a few more.

 

Because paper boats are not meant to sail to a port.

 

They are there for that moment. Where we revel, our minds get fired up with imagination and creativity.

 

Are we losing these paper boats at work today?

 

Creativity does have a destination for us. It is commerce.

 

But ideation and imagination doesn’t have boundaries.

 

Experimentation knows of no sand box and written framework.

 

Inspiration for creativity is not just an agency coded brief with paragraphs on problem, key challenge, consumer demographic, expected response. Inspiration lies outside our brands and category, industry and the circle we live in.

 

Balancing logic and magic is never easy.

 

But we must allow ourselves the permission to fly before we get rooted.

 

Because where we land when we fly may be completely unexpected and different.

 

For starters, encouraging ideas that make us all stop in our tracks. With unease.

 

Infecting ourselves with popular culture. Sub cultures.

 

Having the conviction to say that failure is just a step away from success.

 

Pushing for those ideas that the conference room rules out, when they deserve a second look.

 

That’s the way we can make creativity what it is meant to be.

 

The way the dance of paper boats made us feel, not so long ago.

(The views expressed are the author's independent views as an ad professional and do not reflect the organisation's viewpoint.)