What’s the difference between success and failure?
What makes one sink and another swim?
Who has the ‘it’ factor? And how do we get ‘it’?
If ‘they’ have ‘it’ and we don’t have ‘it’ how do we get ‘it’ so we can keep ‘it’?
Anyone in any creative field is an ideator–an idea generator.
But so what?
Anyone can come up with ideas. Even bad ideas flourish… (insert the last corny informercial video you saw here). Continue Reading…
“I’m just not creative.”
My first thought: how dare you say that.
Here’s what just happened in that short interchange…
And you’re not creative?
It’s a lie. Continue Reading…
I probably post about two videos per month. There’s a reason for that.
Many aren’t worth the time.
This one is.
Caine’s Arcade from Nirvan Mullick on Vimeo.
After I watched this film, I felt:
![[RFEE3 ELSHAN ♥♥♥♥♥♥ ]](http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3654/3727013559_6fa4529d92.jpg "[RFEE3 ELSHAN ♥♥♥♥♥♥ ]")
Photo Credit: A♥ via Compfight
Balloons and colors, cakes and candies, elaborate decorations planned out to the hilt?
Anniversaries. Birthdays. Christmas. Thanksgiving.
Maybe you even see a Seinfeld classic: a good old fashioned “Festivus for the rest of us?” Continue Reading…
How do we know we’re moving if we don’t have milestones?
Every now and then, it’s fun (or challenging) to see where our creative life is going.
Ten minutes of reflection, strolling through some photos or just a ‘year in review’ with my wife will often reveal where we’re at and where we want to be.
The Good: our ‘made out of a tomato tree stand’ Christmas Tree. Creative. Saved money on a real one. Looks interesting.
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.
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.
Flying High
Seymour Jacklin posed this question at the end of this amazing post. It really got me thinking about the three things I currently find helpful in my creative process.
+Never stop discovering and learning. Be a toddler. Their quest for knowledge is insatiable.
+Embrace foolishness. Give yourself the freedom to be foolish, make mistakes, and stop censoring your creative-self. You just might increase that 2% of work that is amazing and top quality to 4%. That doubles my chances of creating something truly awesome.
+Enjoy discipline. It’s tremendously freeing to get up early and create every day. Even if it’s just for 15-20 minutes. It feeds that part of you that needs the fuel. If you don’t feed it, your day is bland and tasteless. If you do feed your ‘creative,’ he makes appearances in the would-be mundane of everyday activities.
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What about you? What are your tips for creative propulsion?
