To think that really boring people see highly creative people as children?

[Heroine]

I AM JUST SAYING..

I had a weird thing happen, I am quite creative and like decorative stuff and cool quirky things and someone who I thought was on the same wavelength gave me a real dressing down when I showed her some cool japanese quirky notebooks I bought - with that sort of stylised fluffy, hearty, pop=art style, she sais the thought it was childish and unprofessional. (!). i thought it was just fun..

It made me think that all the people who make the rules about what is 'professional' are really just all the really dull tedious unimaginative types and that is why they think creativity is likely to diminish performance - because they can't handle it and it freaks their boring little heads out.

(I know this might seem to conflict with my 'women who run fluffy novelty businesses' thread, but I'm just saying (and not explaining well) that the dull people seem to never be interested in anything, and seem to make the rules, and the people who went wild and got into interestingb things in their teens and 20s but had to droip them because the dull run the world, are seen by the dull people as 'only having childish ideas'.
It seems a bit sad - does anyone see what I mean?? It seems to be getting worse as women have more serious jobs - I get it but as I'm a bit 'consultant-ish' I can ride above it, but it seems that somewhere there is a book that says you can't be clever or get things done or reliable unless you think and dress in a dull boring way.. and that makes no sense to me..

sorry for going on, but I think there somethin in my uncomfortableness at being thought of as childish when I think of myself as an adult who has some sense of humour and creativity.

Am I being unreasonable??

so are you saying that she was saying that I'm not creative because |I have colourful notepads, or do you think she was saying that I must be creative because I am in the childstate, or do you think she wa=s just saying that she thought if she has colourful notepads she would feel childish?

It does amaze me that people think that if they buy a fountain pen a suit and a leather notebook cover that people will be fooled into thinking they are competent and incredibly important when all of those things are affordable by everyone these days - its not the 1840s! I think that is where all this comes from - important people have boring but expensive things.. but again the apply google et al negates that ancient class thing .. doesn't it?

and that the opposite is true - people thjink that if you don't buy conservative stationery you can't be sensible??

I'm so creative I make my notes on a small tame lizard with a crazy Lady Gaga esque hat on, which I made for him out of bubble wrap and Barbie doll feet.

Heroine, most people don't care that much about what other people think about their pens and papers.

A lot of adult life is about dealing with the death of your mother, disability of your child or redundancy of your brother while trying to maintain your own mental health and a sense of compassion.

The kind of notebook you have is pretty much meaningless. It is like making judgements about people based on their preference for a curlywhirly or a Snickers bar.

maybe people think that if you expend so much energy considering what stationery you use there might not be so much left for actual creativity/grown up thinking?

maybe she just thought your notebook was childish, maybe she doesn't equate a notebook with creativity, I wouldn't look at the cover of someone's notebook and decide whether they were creative or not.

yes but if a director of HR said 'ooh can you get me a curlywhirly would you lose respct for her?

No.

no.

but I would if she made a big fuss about how wanting a curlywurly meant she was a free thinking youthful creative type...

and robynlou that would work if everyone just used any old notebook ,but some of the dullards make a lot of effort to get one that is really dull and traditional and would never use a sparkly onejust because it was to hand - in fact I'll bet there are how to manuals about buyinjg the right notebook to get promoted.. and i bet all the recommendations are dull

but if when she left the room someone said 'a curlywhirly how childish how would you stickk up for her (assuming you did?) battenburg

No, I wouldn't care. People have more going on inside them than anyone else can fathom. For example, nobody knows quite how much I want my boyfriend to marry me. Or how frightened I am that ds1 will not cope with normal lif3, and will have to live with me forever. Or how the idea of the death of my loved ones casts a pall over an otherwise jolly personality.

hmmm. I don't think the word you are looking for is childish ... I think the word you're looking for is 'frivolous'.

but that's their taste in notebook and they're entitled to it.

they might get a lot of satisfaction from having found one which has the perfect weight of paper, with the perfect binding and perfect paper size for their work.

caring about those things over the picture on the cover doesn't make them dull!

I DID like the bit when a poster (sorry, I can't be arsed to read all the way back) said what s/he did about "Come out with us, we're so CRAZY!!"

No, they never are. They drink moderately and sensibly, are a bit horrified by someone else's (very tame, actually) life style choices, they think smoking the odd (legal) fag is , and they go home at 11 o'clock....and then talk about what a wild night out they had on Monday...

But they do all this wearing slogan tee - shirts and carrying "Hello Kitty" back packs...Oh, those CRAZY KIDS!

I'm boring and proud.

I would probably say, 'I'm rather partial to a curlywurly but it just doesn't dunk like a kit kat' with a smile, in order to lighten to atmosphere...
but I can't imagine anyone ever saying that about someone who wasn't otherwise childish..

Is this some kind of elaborate, stealth game of 'I'm the victim' where people who think of themselves as a bit wacky are expecting us to stand up for their rights as if they actually belong to a minority group?

"wacky! I HATE wacky! If someone says they are zany, or wacky, or crazy and has the stupid "ironic" notebook/back pack/tee shirt to prove it...

then I run away...

There is a reason WHY the 'dull' run the world.

What is it you actually do for a living then, OP, that is so creative?

ensure

Dear OP
When you are the boss/top dog you can have whatever notebook you like and people will think its great (and some will copy you). Though you may not have much time to individually chose notebooks then.

So, what Im saying is, concentrate on your career.

This thread is barking . Perfect for a Sunday night.

OP, I agree completely with whoever said that you come across as one of those people who has a 'You don't have to be mad to work here but it helps' sticker on the wall.

Fwiw, I used to work in a lab with some mind-blowingly creative people, who would come up with brand-new ideas about the way the planet works that would just twist your brain. By far the most commonly-used stationery in the lab was the reverse sides of old printer paper.

OP sounds like the kind of person that says; "I'm mad, me...everyone says I'M bubbley and kooky"
y'know, the kind of people that make you want to tear out your own eyeballs rather than look at the "fun" twee crap they adorn themselves with so we all can see how different and unique they are.

but was it cute retro chic printer paper though? I bet it was..