- = Creativity = -

Creativity is like a special gift, given not for everyone, as it includes imagination, lively, active brain, gifted for spontaneous, original, views and brave, new thoughts and ideas. What is more, of all the people having creativity - even smaller part lets it free. It's a pity, but this depends on the society a lot.

In Lithuania most people are frightened by everything unusual and new. And the bigger part of lithuanian teachers do not take to evaluating such new and brave works positively. It is easier for them to ask a pupil or astudent to avoid such innovations and to write more habitual things, in the truth of wich nobody can doubt. Although as Niels Bohr said: "Your theory is crazy, but it's not crazy enough to be true". And by avoiding the second part of this quotation, teachers may distinguish some person's growing creativity.

To my mind creativity is like a fragile flower, needing lots of conditions to reveal itself. Even talking about such period, when smb's creativity for the first time steps into a world where it becomes visible for the first independent evaluators. Here it is very important, if a person and his art will be undersood, and if not - how will the author feel about it. As even if he looks like feeling normal about this, it is not difficult to understand, that some his hopes became broken.

But even in the case that everybody recognise the new talent, as usual the happiness doesn't last for a long time. People soon become bored of everything and demand something new all the time. And when such thing happens - it is terribly strong impact for the creator. It is even harder to loose the glory, than not to have it at all from the begining. Especially, talking about such souls, in wich the fragile flowers of creativity grow... So nothing strange, that between such people cases of commiting a suicide or attachment to some narcotic materials like alcohol are so often.

However, with all it's disadvantages, and difficulties brought, creativity is seen as a very positive thing. And some people even believe that it is possible to boost it. For example by going for a walk if you can't think, carrying a notebook and a pen everywhere - to quickly note the new idea, or exercising brain by reading or arguing with clever people...

But I think that it is absolutely impossible to increase the rate or the amount of the creativity you have. And at the schools of creativity that really exist I also look very sceptically. I just can't imagine, what could the teachers there be like... To my mind they can neither advice what approximately the new works have vo be like, nor say whether the work of some pupil is good or bad, as to my mind such categories, talking about the art, just don't exist! And as it is said "There is a foot for every shoe"... For every piece of art there will be an amateur.

So as I can imagine that teachers - they are people who just have a huge experience in this sphere and getting new works of pupils can just say, whether trere are already similar masterpieces in the art. And they are also in touch with the needful institutions, so they just can help a new talent to be seen, and everybody, who looks for new talents and fresh views can also search there.

And one more, maybe even the most important role of such schools is that there creating whatever is always welcome.

It is so important because without creativity becoming a genius is just impossible, and so every it's display must be saluted, even when sometimes we can really see nothing nice in that or what is more, it seems for us strange and unnormal. As Oscar Levant said: "There's a fine line between genius and insanity. I have erased this line." People still have to be brave about advicing their new and special views and thoughts.

To sum up, I would like to mention Edward's de Bono words that:"It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to be always right by having no ideas at all." And this point of view must be popularized.

- = Sexism = -

Even the word "sexism" itself sounds in some very loud and unpleasant way. So there are no doubt that it's meaning won't include anything good... Sexism is treating people differently because of the gender which they were born.

It is interesting that one of the versions about the reasons of such phenomenon is that it is religion, that forms the basis of sexism. And of course there is some truht in this. But the main reason, to my mind, still is inside every sexist: individual prejudice, and just like with racism - some kind of mental inferiority.

The main point of sexism is that some representatives of one gender are unsatisfied with another one and that lets them think that their sex is superior. But as no one is able to be acquainted with all the women or men of al least one city - nobody can claim anything about ALL the contradict gender. But of course such people, doing unobjective conclusions, according to some single cases do it worse for their own, as first of all they do not leave place for hope to find his/her one and only, perfect partner and create a wonderful family in their souls. So such people are worth pity.

Talking about the competition, set between male and female, it is also necessary to find, what are the demands made for each side of this war. And here I see the biggest problem, as sometimes it seems for me that contemporary women can’t decide, what they want from men! They want to have the equal rights, but try to reach something absolutely different – to be similar to them… By this they just show the devaluation of the female, letting male do the same.

For example, the nowadays’ really very strange and regrettable attitude to sex… As it is sang in one contemporary song - “If the guy has three girls then he's the man . . . If the girl does the same, then she's a ____ …” of course she is! Is it right to take the example from somebody who is far from even normal (not talking about perfect…) ? Is it too hard to save the worthiness of your gender and just to have nothing general with such guys?

What is more, later female start complaining that there is the lack of REAL MEN nowadays.
After all – women have to behave wiser! Their role was harder through all the history. Even during the war. It is evident that risking and fighting is really easier then waiting for news, sitting at home. But it would be absolutely needless if not stupid to say this, for example, to your husband… Knowing the characteristic features, that we are used to realize as the masculine ones – it is much better just to know it and never to forget it, but letting the men enjoy their belief that everything is holding on their shoulders. In such case any man earlier or later will come to this conclusion himself. Isn’t it more pleasant, than silly arguing?

There are really no reasons for comparing women and men. No one fact will prove anyhting. For example one of the most favorite arguments "in favour" of male - all the discoveries made by them. But this should be explained not as the better brain or smth like that, but as an inborn competitive instincts, characteristic for every male-animal. Men need to be proving and reaching smth all the time, women do not... And that is all.

As a conclusion I would like to underline the absurd of sexism one more time, by raising a question, "What do the sexists want to decide AND WHAT FOR?" It is all the same - no gender will be able to govern neither another one, nor the world or smth else meaningful.

It’s a pity that the two genders, both necessary for the further life on Earth, and what is more – needing each other - even admit the existence of such phenomenon as sexism.

- = Racism = -

Racism is the belief that a particular race is superior or inferior to

another, that a person’s social and moral traits are predetermined by his or her inborn biological characteristics. It is also a racial prejudice that has been incorporated into the activities and procedures of major institutions, corporations, social systems (such as those related to housing, education, and health), and other arenas of major social activity (such as politics, the media, finance, and banking).

Prejudice and racism are about real power, they're not just something that is in people's heads. Social issues like prejudice are complex and operate at many levels. Some examples of racism are obvious, such as graffiti, intimidation or physical violence. Other forms of racism are not obvious, such as discrimination in hiring and apartment rentals, or policies that disadvantage members of certain races, whether intentionally or not.

The whole racism exists at three main levels: individual, institutional and cultural.

Individual racism takes the form of individual attitudes, beliefs, values and behaviours.

Racial prejudice, bigotry, belittling and jealousy are examples of racist
attitudes. Examples of racist beliefs are racial stereotypes, the belief that
some races are better than others and even the belief that people can be classified according to race in the first place. Violence, name-calling and discrimination in hiring are examples of racist behaviour.

Institutional or systemic racism takes the form of the practices, customs,

rules and standards of organizations, including governments, that disadvantage people because of their race, color or ethnicity. They do not always involve differences in treatment. For example educational requirements that are not related to actual job duties .

Cultural racism are the cultural values and standards that disadvantage

people because of their race, color or ethnicity. Examples are cultural expectations as to the race of a company president and the cultural standard for what a beautiful, trustworthy or competent person looks like.

An understanding of the nature of racism is essential in order to recognise and counter it successfully. It takes different forms in different contexts and as a result has been defined in many different ways.
Some psychologists think that the main cause of racism is that people define real world in terms of competition. Other claim that racism is influenced by a range of historical, social, political and economic factors. But to my mind, the main reasons are individual views and even character traits, as I strongly believe, that a normal,wise, independent and healthy in all the meanings of this word person would never be a racist!
I mentioned health as there are some psychological disorders, that may cause racism - one of them is xenophobia, due to wich people become afraid of foreigners and strangers or of their politics and culture.

But in most cases I can understand racism just as smb's own inside agression, that some weak and craven people just aren't able to let out in another form - on their own. And so they gather into groups and start to believ, that they are hating some race not for themselves, but for their country and their nation!
But whatever it's reasons would be - it is definetly destructive. It disempowers people by devaluing their identity. And maybe it is actually even better when people "fight" group versus group, than if it would be the same agression but versus some single humanbeeing, as in such case no one person from each side at least feels alone, helpless and the only one beeing hurt...

Human needs and motivation