Truthiness

'Around 4 p.m. on Oct. 17, 200, Stephen Colbert was searching for a word. Not just any word, but one that would fit the blowhard persona he was presenting that night on the premiere episode of Comedy Central's "Colbert Report".

during the rehearsal, Colbert was stuck on what term to feature...Originally, he and the writers selected the word truth, as distinguished from those pesky facts. But, as Colbert told me..."truth just wasn't dumb enough. I wanted a silly word that would feel wrong in your mouth."

What he was driving at wasn't truth anyway, but a mere approximation of it -- something truthish or truthy, unburdened by the factual. And so, in a flash of inspiration, truthiness was born.'

-- Ben Zimmer, NY Times Magazine

Since that time, the word has blown up, even entering the most recent edition of the New Oxford American Dictionary. Where does that kind of creativity come from? Does it just blow in on the wind? A few times in my career I have come across something like this, something that seemed to have a lasting power, something that contained the essence of what I was truly trying to express. But more often than not, I have been left with the feeling at the end of the day that what I had was good, but still not quite right.

I was reading a book my family got me for my birthday this year by Glenn Griffin and Debra Morrison entitled "The Creative Process Illustrated". In the introduction I found this wonderful quote:

"...I've learned that the creative process really is alchemy. Very much so. Creative people defend the world from predictability, one idea at a time. They don't just write and design and art direct -- they articulate our most personal unspoken insecurities and intentions. They don't just sell--they show us what matters...It seems like alchemy, transforming a lump of raw information into the golden idea."

Here's hoping that you keep pushing through towards the golden idea today!