Writing a song - Guest Speaker

The post of this week is going to be quite different from the usual: I have a guest speaker on my blog!

In this short clip John explains his creative process when he is writing a new song.

Enjoy!

Primary research: first results *Saving the old cats*

It's been a while since I've posted updates about my big problem. Today I will share the first results of my primary research.

I sent 33 emails, where I presented myself and my research and I asked if they were willing to answer few questions.

I received 8 answers, and only one was negative; as today, I received 4 completed questionnaires. 

These are the translations of the answers:

Mondo Gatto

·      Where is the cat shelter located?

In Milan.

·      Who is the supervisor? How many volunteers do you have? Is there any employee?

The shelter is managed by the Association which counts on 40 volunteers, no employees and 4 operators.

·      What kind of relationship do you have with the municipality? Do you receive subsidies?

We don’t receive any subsidy from the municipality of Milan, we just have an agreement for sterilizations and therapies for stray cats.

·      What kind of help do you receive from the outside?

Donations, in money and food.

·      How many cats over 7 years old do you have?

It depends on the period of the year; in summer the percentage drop because of the arrival of kittens while during the winter inevitably increase.

·      Are there people who specifically ask to adopt those cats? Can you show a percentage (even vague) of these people in comparison to the visits you receive?

Luckily there are people willing to adopt older cats, their percentage is around 10%.

·      Approximately, how many cats over 7 years old are adopted in comparison to younger cats?

Around 20%.

·      Do you promote in any way the adoption of older cats?

Yes, we try to explain what it means and in many cases the advantages that there are in adopting an older cat; this is one of goal of the Association.

·      If yes, what you have done?

We address with a certain frequency this issue on social networks and magazines, publishing pictures of the cats with a little description of their personalities, of their story (if known) and the requirement for the perfect adoption, at least in theory.

·      Do you know any initiative external to your shelter addressing this issue?

No.

·      Do you think that the adoption of older cats might have some sort of benefit on the shelter of a economic kind? Or is it just a moral issue?

Yes, it is an economical saving because adult cats need to eat therapeutic food and sometimes to take medicines, but it is for sure also a moral question, an informed choice that can add value and meaning to the action of adopting an animal from a shelter.

Associazione Gattolandia

·      Where is the cat shelter located?

Monza, near Milan.

·      Who is the supervisor? How many volunteers do you have? Is there any employee?

There are 4 funder members and around 50 volunteers. There are no employees and nobody is paid.

·      What kind of relationship do you have with the municipality? Do you receive subsidies?

We are completely autonomous and private, we don’t receive any grants from any institutions.

·      What kind of help do you receive from the outside?

Various donations; from food to blankets, and money (through cash, bank transfer, paypal, 5x1000).

·      How many cats over 7 years old do you have?

More than 10.

·      Are there people who specifically ask to adopt those cats? Can you show a percentage (even vague) of these people in comparison to the visits you receive?

It might seems weird but the requests are seasonal. Before summer holidays a lot of older cats have been adopted; in September a lot of kittens. Honestly I’m not good with percentages, and the adoption of older cats depends on a lot of variables: season (it is uncommon to have kittens in the winter), family’s needs (composition, presence of other cats or dogs), in general beyond the request of who wants to adopt. What we do is to address to the most suitable cat in relationship with the type of family and the life style; there is no constant equation.

·      Approximately, how many cats over 7 years old are adopted in comparison to younger cats?

Again, not good at statistics; let’s say around 30%.

·      Do you promote in any way the adoption of older cats?

If we think that it is suitable for the family, yes.

·      If yes, what you have done?

If the cat is very old, we push the adoption as “heart adoption”.

·      Do you know any initiative external to your shelter addressing this issue?

Basically every shelter pushes older cats as “heart adoptions”.

·      Do you think that the adoption of older cats might have some sort of benefit on the shelter of a economic kind? Or is it just a moral issue?

Who spend 90% of his time to volunteer, without a wage, doesn’t take into consideration the monetary side. In general, and not only for what concern older cats (probably who breeds cats for work might give a different answer) the adoption of every cat is a moral/emotional topic. The cost of a cat in the shelter depends on the situation of the cat at his arrival more than on his age: if the family who abandon him always cured him it will have a cost (medical examination, pesticide, and maintenance). If he never got a vaccine and he’s never been to a veterinary, it will have another cost (complete check up). If the cat arrives with a disease, he might needs specialized therapies and ad hoc food. So I would say that the cost depends on the health condition of the cat upon his arrival more than on his age.

Telefono Difesa Animali

·      Where is the cat shelter located?

We are located near Brescia. The building has 600 mq internally (6458.3 ftq) and 3200 mq (34445 ftq) of green areas in the park outside, completely used as a center for recovery/therapy/adoption of cats.

·      Who is the supervisor? How many volunteers do you have? Is there any employee?

It is managed from the no-profit association “Telefono Difesa Animali” (Safeguard of Animals Telephone), born in 1994. Right now there are around 40 volunteers; 25 are working on the cleaning of the building, 10 are foster parents (nannies), and 5 work on social networks, web, fundraising, administrative office and other activities. There are no employees, and nobody is paid (except for 2 veterinaries, paid for their service).

·      What kind of relationship do you have with the municipality? Do you receive subsidies?

We don’t receive grants from the municipality, and we don’t have agreements with public administrations. We collaborate with ASL Brescia on the strength of the national law 281/91 and the regional law 33/2009, catching on the territory cats of feline communities which are sterilized for free by ASL (around 300 cats per year).

·      What kind of help do you receive from the outside?

Donations and money offers, food but also various kinds of objects, which are reselled with revenues for the shelter.

·      How many cats over 7 years old do you have?

6; they are almost exclusively from anonymous abandonment, rescued “post trauma” but without a comparison on “lost cats” announcements, or senior cats of a community sterilized but left alone and by now domestic. In this age zone, last year at least 3 cats have been reunited with their original families after being rescued from car accidents.

·      Are there people who specifically ask to adopt those cats? Can you show a percentage (even vague) of these people in comparison to the visits you receive?

Only 2 families per year (on around 280 adoptions) expressively ask to adopt a senior cat, above 7 years old.

·      Approximately, how many cats over 7 years old are adopted in comparison to younger cats?

See the previous answer.

·      Do you promote in any way the adoption of older cats?

We have to specify that we discourage the transfer of a senior cat from private owners to a shelter; we suggest that the research for a new family has to be done directly from the “seller” through clinics, acquaintances, neighbors, friends and colleagues. This give them also the possibility to stay in touch with the new family and it gives more guarantee for the cat.

·      If yes, what you have done?

We promote anyway the adoption of a senior cat, taking the cue from the attached document [which comprehend the 7 reasons for adopting an adult cat that I wrote about in this post].

·      Do you know any initiative external to your shelter addressing this issue?

No.

·      Do you think that the adoption of older cats might have some sort of benefit on the shelter of a economic kind? Or is it just a moral issue?

No, no benefits.

ARCA 

·      Where is the cat shelter located?

In Milan.

·      Who is the supervisor? How many volunteers do you have? Is there any employee?

It is managed directly by the supervisor. There are around 20 volunteers and no employees.

·      What kind of relationship do you have with the municipality? Do you receive subsidies?

Only continuing inspections by ASL. No help or grants of any kinds.

·      What kind of help do you receive from the outside?

Sporadic and modest donations of food, objects or money.

·      How many cats over 7 years old do you have?

Around 10.

·      Are there people who specifically ask to adopt those cats? Can you show a percentage (even vague) of these people in comparison to the visits you receive?

10%.

·      Approximately, how many cats over 7 years old are adopted in comparison to younger cats?

5%.

·      Do you promote in any way the adoption of older cats?

Adoptions are made with very accurate criteria of selection, taking into consideration the needs of who is willing to adopt and the situation of the cat.

·      If yes, what you have done?

We discourage the adoption of kittens to seniors and people who live alone. Every adoption is different and we need take into consideration a plurality of factors, about personalities and environment: in general, we try to match the needs of the cat and who adopt him, so that the cohabitation satisfies the whole family.

·      Do you know any initiative external to your shelter addressing this issue?

No.

·      Do you think that the adoption of older cats might have some sort of benefit on the shelter of a economic kind? Or is it just a moral issue?

In the eyes of the shelter, cats and kittens have more or less the same cost. Once tests and sterilizations have been done (but even older cats, when they arrive, have those), the two age zone are the same. Is primary a moral reason, but you have to find people with a particular sensitivity, and they are very rare to find.

Creative theorists/pioneers.

Today's post is about people, creative people. More specifically, creative theorists and/or pioneers. Who are these people? 

Here I provide just a little description.. but enough to want to know more, right?!

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi has devoted his life's work to the study of what makes people truly happy, satisfied and fulfilled.  Happiness does not simply happen; it must be prepared for and cultivated by each person, by setting challenges that are neither too demanding nor too simple for ones abilities. He thinks that the idea of having a future human community on Mars would be neat.

Edward De Bono is the father of lateral thinking. He has written 70 books with translations into 34 languages and has been invited to lecture in 52 countries. His main message is: thinking can and should be taught if we are to meet the needs of today's fast-paced and changing world.

Teresa Amabile studies how everyday life inside organizations can influence people and their performance. Currently she is the Edsel Bryant Ford Professor of Business Administration and a Director of Research at Harvard Business School. Her last tweet included a link to tips for managing experts in order to stop the need to be the smartest person in the room.

Roger Von Oech is an American speaker, conference organizer, author, and toy-maker whose focus has been on the study of creativity. For him “creativity” is the ability to come up with original and feasible ideas.

Graham Wallas was an English socialist, social psychologist, educationalist, a leader of the Fabian Society and a co-founder of the London School of Economics. Wallas outlines four stages of the creative process — preparation, incubation, illumination, and verification — dancing in a delicate osmosis of conscious and unconscious work.

Sigmund Freud is the father of psychoanalysis. He wrote the theory of the interpretation of dreams: during dreams, the preconscious is more lax in this duty than in waking hours, but is still attentive: as such, the unconscious must distort and warp the meaning of its information to make it through the censorship.

E. Paul Torrance was a psychologist. His interest in creativity emerged from his struggles as a teacher with difficult students and his observation that many of the most difficult ones went on to become successful in politics, business, the military, education, the arts, science, and other fields. He created the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking.

J. P. Guilford was an early proponent of the idea that intelligence is not a unitary concept. He first proposed the concept of "divergent thinking" in the 1950s, when he noticed that creative people tend to exhibit this type of thinking more than others.

Alex Osborn was an advertising executive. He is the author of the creative technique named brainstorming. According to him, brainstorm means using the brain to storm a creative problem and to do so "in commando fashion, each stormer audaciously attacking the same objective." 

John Cleese is an English actor, comedian, writer and film producer.  n the late 1960s, he co-founded Monty Python, the comedy troupe responsible for the sketch show Monty Python's Flying Circus and the four Monty Python films. Loosely structured as a sketch show, but with an innovative stream-of-consciousness approach, it pushed the boundaries of what was acceptable in style and content.

John Lennon was an English musician, member of the famous band The Beatles. “Creativity is a gift. It doesn't come through if the air is cluttered.”

Steve Jobs was an American entrepreneur, CEO of Apple Inc. According to an authorized biography of the visionary by Walter Isaacson, John Lennon‘s creativity and work ethic didn’t just help ensure the Beatles‘ music was legendary, but also inspired Jobs. “Creativity is just connecting things”.

Marcel Duchamp was a French-American painter, sculptor, chess player and writer. He wanted to put art back in the service of the mind. Although in the 1920s, Duchamp famously renounced artmaking in favor of playing chess for the remainder of his life, he never fully retreated from his quintessential role as artist-provocateur.