It was so much fun to watch the different ways each person interacted with this exercise. Mostly, everybody looked at me like, "What?!" But once everyone dove in, the gears started turning. Some of us were making things and painting pictures, others were just slopping around and experiencing the squish between their fingers. Still others didn't know what to do with it and barely stuck a finger in to participate.

So what did that have to do with imagination? A lot, actually. It taught us that the voice in our head of our mothers saying, "Don't play with your food," really does block the flow of creativity. We discovered that without a direct problem to solve or objective to accomplish adults have trouble using their imagination.

As we grow up we're told to conform to the group. Along with that conformism comes a desire to be "accepted" and so being different becomes a bad thing, because it can lead to criticism and rejection of you and your ideas. So with every passing year the world tends to become more and more one color, and our imagination gets tucked away neatly on our shelf to pull out when we "need it".

What's the remedy? Break some rules, slop around some pudding and get dirty! Next time you're at a restaurant order some mashed potatoes for the purpose of sculpting it into a great work of art. Who cares what the waiter thinks!

Strive to let go.

Sound like a paradox? It is. Funny thing though, any 6-year-old can do it.