Time:
January 13, 2012
Setting:
Costa Concordia, Island of Giglio, Italy
(the setting could also be ‘your mind’)
Cast:
Coast Guard: Captain Gregorio De Falco
(think of De Falco as ‘your coach’)
Ship Captain: Captain Francesco Schettino
(think of Schettino as ‘reasoning’)
***
De Falco: “This is De Falco from Livorno. Am I speaking with the captain?”
Schettino: “Yes. Good evening, Cmdr. De Falco.”
Feeling bifurcated? Jekyll and sometimes Hyde?
Creatives often live a life that mirrors our cell phone plans: we spend our ‘peak minutes’ at a day job while our ‘off peak minutes’ (nights and weekends) afford us little time to get our creativity fix.
"Schizofreakia" Creative Commons: -RobW-
As a creative do you ever feel like this pic to the right?
With my 9-5 as a corporate sales trainer, writing this growing blog, doing a video shoot in a few days and a play reading at the end of the month I make Sally Field’s Sybil look normal.
A few months ago I had a breakthrough.
At the Wood Stove House, we have immersed ourselves in the performing arts over the past few years. We’ve hosted house concerts, helped promote and book public concerts, produced theater events, provided promotional and logistical support for other theater events, and produced several recordings for wonderful regional musicians.
One of the big questions that we grapple with when engaging in any of these projects is the idea of value. What is the value of what we do and how much should we be charging for it?
I heard about a guy once who wrote a book about his journey and other things and a lot of his sentences started like I started this one.
***
The grammar, incomplete sentences and all the boring (but geekily important) stuff about writing correctly drove me nuts while reading Donald Miller’s A Million Miles in a Thousand Years.
But I cried a bit at the end.
Yeah, I cried.
All the rambling sentences aside. It’s a good story. It’s a great story. It’s a transformative story.
Here’s a bit of a new story. Told in his style.
Sometimes I wonder if all this spectating isn’t good for me. I watch TV. Go to a show. Read a book. Laugh at a movie. I’m enjoying it all. I’m relaxing. It’s great.
Jorge Miente (Creative Commons)
Dreaming ignites.
Dreaming activates.
Toni Blay (Creative Commons)
Thinking ideates.
Thinking meditates.
Vince Alongi (Creative Commons)
We love you TED Talks. We love your geeks, your smarts, your innovation . . . and your childishness.
Recently, I cozied up to a speech by Andora Svitak (video below) and though she was 12 at the time she made the talk she stirs the controversy pot. See if you agree with her in your quest for creativity.
Agreed. Can anyone make a difference? Can anyone be creative? Sure. You betcha.
1. Give space, time and energy to your creativity.
Sue Hasker (Creative Commons)
If you don’t, your space, time and energy will go to things you don’t value.
2. Creating is an act of worship.
Not creating is self-centered and selfish.
3. Your creativity is a gift given to you.
Share gifts.
4. Date your artist.
Most of your best ideas come unexpectedly.
5. Don’t be an expert.
The minute you believe you’re an expert, you stop learning from others.
6. Jealousy is the death of creativity.
Celebrate others.
Photo Credit: Ernest Koe
I was recently turned on to the psychology term “flow.”
It’s a mental state where a person is so completely immersed in an activity, they enter into a state of pure focus and concentration where time has no meaning and bodily needs are essentially ignored. I’m familiar with the concept from the more common descriptions like being in the zone or in the moment.
For creatives, “getting there” can be very challenging, and the lack of “being there” can prevent any motivation to engage in the creative process. But when it happens, hours slip by and productivity skyrockets. Stuff gets done and it feels great! I’m lucky enough to experience it occasionally, but like other creatives, I’d love for it to be way more often.
