I'm more creative than you are.
Melissa A. Bell -
Thursday, May 21, 2009 7:39 PM
Not to toot my own horn or anything, but, I'm really creative. Well at least, statistically speaking, I'm like a whole 28 percent more creative than most people. (Actually don't believe that--I think I failed out of my statistics class.) The point is, scientists now say that living abroad makes people more creative. According to The Economist:
"Anecdotal evidence has long held that creativity in artists and writers
can be associated with living in foreign parts. Rudyard Kipling, Pablo
Picasso, Ernest Hemingway, Paul Gauguin, Samuel Beckett and others
spent years dwelling abroad. Now a pair of psychologists has proved
that there is indeed a link."
Of course, William Maddux and Adam Galinsky (our two intrepid psychologists) only tested this on foreigners living in the US, but I'm sure it can hold true to any expats anywhere.
This isn't very surprising stuff. If I lived in San Diego, I would never have to try to understand why my landlord yells at me for putting plants on my desk. But here I get to flex my creative muscle to try and imagine in what universe my plants damage the environment. I also get to be creative in coming up with all sorts of reasons for my parents as to why living here is better for my career than living down the street from them. And I creatively converse with my co-worker Bobby every day when he speaks to me in rapid Hindi and I determine whether I should nod and smile or scowl and say "nah-hi".
Just all part of the training for my future career as Picasso Part Two.