What fuels your creativity?
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Creativity starts with the dream, the thought, the problem, the wonder. It is born of audacity. It grows with the deed - what can I do today? It is sculptured by the failures - well, that bit needs throwing away. It is furnished by experience. And now there is a bit that is my future - I wonder what it will teach me about creativity?
I give space and time to think. start the process of gathering related past thoughts and then allow it to sit into my future for a bit...then the creative answers show up. Get quiet.
All I really need is a cup of coffee (green tea works fine too) and a newspaper, or the latest Wired magazine, or Scientific American podcast, or running into a friend for a chat or....Hmmm, come to think of it pretty much EVERYTHING works. Focusing enough to follow-up or actually FINISH one of my "projects" is another matter. (Longer days would help out in that respect!)
Come to think of it the coffee or tea isn't really required either...come with me while I walk the dog...we can talk!
I have somewhat of a bag of tricks when it comes to igniting myself. one technique doesn't always work for me. Ive got a box of books that have changed my perspectives or helped or taught me in someway. A pretty good arsenal of music that consoles or inspires me (I stopped listening to sad angry or negative music about a year ago). Several types of journals that I can pour my heart out into. Sometimes I browse inspiring videos or stories on the web.
Today i spent about 4 hours in barnes and nobles reading some Eckhart Tolle and a book about "life energy" and sampling 20 seconds of songs in the music section. I havent bought a cd in something like 3 years but i liked one so much i bought one today check em out the albums called Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix and the artist is Phoenix.
Right now I'm really into texture. In fact, it has become a joke among friends. I see texture in everything and am on the constant lookout for texture. The surface of a building, the snow, moss, a grate, grasses...anything. I like to photograph texture, paint texture or draw texture.
What will I do today do re-ingnite my creative fire?
Watch Zombieland and light pine needles on fire. i'm influenced by scents for some reason.
Rousing show tunes! Anything that makes me want to slap on a three-finger grin and do a kickline gets me going.
I listen to Imogen Heap. She inspires me to stretch myself out of my comfort zone in my own song writing.
Oh, but first, to answer your question… racing down the information highway expands my imagination like a drug. I see so many creative people creating magical creations around the world and up into space… and then, like a drug, instead of actually doing any creating myself, it's time to do the laundry.
No, I've got to be totally regimented in my work day, and honor it like it's a 'real' job. I gather up thrills and inspiration and ideas with photos, drawings & notes in my journals, and then unload in writing & painting. The right background music helps. When it's all in front of me, I go for a run and let my head work it out; formulate themes in the shower (and make notes with soap on the mirror cuz I forget when I'm dry); then it's back to the drawingboard…
The difficulty's in the distractions. I'm flageo non comburor without the interruptors!
Burn, baby, burn!
@theatrefreakk So, rewrite the old stuff! And while you're doing that, make a date with yourself to go out and DO whatever (on the condition that you'll write a little something about it--even if it's a postcard to your mom.) It doesn't have to be Great, but it does have to Be…
…or am I preaching to the choir? I'm supposed to be writing tomorrow's blog NOW…
@guitardub Unfortunately my uke must be put on the back burner due to stupid monetary priorities! *pout* I'll have to figure something out to keep the creative juices flowing until money flow increases. Any ideas?
I am buying a Ukulele tomorrow. I have been inspired by a lovely girl called Julia Nunes that I came across on youtube. She makes killer videos and seems very excited the entire time. This, compiled with Amanda Palmer's recent onslaught of "ninja uke gigs" everywhere she goes is fueling my fire.
I have in the past picked up the bass, the guitar, and several keyboards. I seem to get excited for a bit and then put them down and lose track. I have learn in the last few month that to become exceptional at something you must do it every minute you are not doing something else. I think I knew this to begin with, but have never actually put it into practice.
I make a promise to you all right now that this time will be different. I will give this beautiful new instrument all my time and affection. I am going to try and start a blog about my experience for extra motivation. I will also try and make some videos and I hope to get good enough over the next year to maybe even play a gig or two (maybe even ninja style).
I'm not really looking to become famous, but I wouldn't mind a little attention. I need something to be just mine, so tomorrow I am taking the first step. I want to create even if it is only for me.
Deadlines and stress. Seriously.
And also: newness, strangeness, teaching, listening, watching, being, reading, learning, thinking, doing, seeking, trying, failing.
And scratching (thank you, Twyla Tharp).
What I will do today is what I do everyday: OBSESS. No, not in a bad stalker-way or unhealthy way-- Not an obsession to finish or to "be the best". Obsession is good in strides and in careful consideration, in the form of obsessive work [design]. When I work obsessively, I pay attention to minute details that if I thought about it would probably go unnoticed. It's not necessarily a level of detail but a level of commitment to the work. To appreciate creativity and hold high regards for one's own work, which is hard to do in our self-defeatist-mindset society, it is necessary to give reason to do so. Knowing I spent 5 days with maybe 5 hours of sleep total on a 10-foot technical drawing doesn't excite my creative energies. But being able to be so precise that I can get excited about extremely small obsessive things and be able to spark that energy and interest in my work in another person is what keeps me going. Teaching to the "middle of the class" is bull. Ignite the flames.
Looking back on my past, spending quality time with the people I care about or watching an inspirational movie are all things that make me want to write, sing and live.
Usually a good song with unique instrumental does it for me. But, I've redisovered dancing/choreographing and discovered audio books (as lame as it sounds). You'd be surprised how much soul searching and inspiration can come from rush hour traffic..
Been spending a lot of time in galleries lately. Also enjoy people watching/listening. Hiking in the mountains is good, too.
Transcendentalist meditation has become a big part of my life. It helps uncover creativity that my stubborn mind won’t open up. Also I love stories and people. So being able to create characters with stories is an amazing feeling and it helps put my mind at rest. But a darker side to creativity is the pain of life that helps push out something I’m trying to create. When I put a pen to paper I feel like I let the pain bleed onto the page, and that helps me grow as a person, and as a human.
Creativity? I need at least a small block of free time to be creative & reading or doing something outside of my usual routine
Weirdly enough, what inspires me (not exclusively, but sometimes) is mediocrity. If I'm reading a book and it's just so-so, I start thinking, if I were this person's editor, how could I make it better? If I were the author, what would I have done to change the faulty pacing of the novel, or the flat characterization, or whatever I'm not liking about it. Thinking critically helps me find logical, concrete methods to creation that don't have anything to do with my "muse" or another hippy-dippy fall-out-of-the-sky inspirational catalyst. I could be waiting around forever for that, but tuning up a paragraph? That's easy, and fun. My challenge, of course, is not turning my hyper-critical lens on my own works before I even get them off the ground. But that's another question, for another time.
Read a good book that I can steal a sentence from and sprout a new story from that sentence.
As much as I love Cake Decorating and the many ways you can make something so simple in to an amazing piece of art ive lost my train of thought and i have not found it. I totally miss having a fun job and doing what i love (making desserts) but i know my passion for it is still there i just have to find the time to re-kindle the flame. And thats my problem i seem to have no time. As a result of not being able to express myself thru cake decorating writing will due for now I guess.
what's that quote? Necessity is the mother of invention? Something like that.
I teach middle school math (pre-ALGEBRA!) in a city school. Talk about needing some creativity to get through the day! If my lessons arent thrilling I have a lot more to do than just be creative. so I try my best :)
@theatrefreakk Write about you're frustration of not being able to write... It's something.
I just found this site! I am going to keep reading and hopefully write on it later!
listening to music in the dark and watching the reflection of my lava lamp on the ceiling of my room. the shower. reading famous quotes. that is all.
Music, food, and everyday occurrences fuel the flames for me. :D
I usually get a lot of good thinking done in the shower... most of the time, I'm not even planning to have deep thoughts... they just pop up.
I haven't been able to write in four months and it's driving me crazy. Nothing has come to me.
Do I keep waiting, or do I run out and find something?
Being broke fuels my creative flames...Have you ever heard the saying "broke motherfuckers make the best crooks?" well if you go legit, than broke motherfuckers are the most creative...gotta find something new and innovative that people havent seen yet.
I'm a budding novelist and when I'm stuck on a situation I sleep on it. That's where I get a lot of my ideas from. It's as if there is museum of ideas in my head and I just have to stay still long enough to focus on one. The book I'm writing now blossomed from a dream. I woke up and I knew I had to write down my idea. So far I'm 200 pages deep.
Great works of art definitely inspire me to be creative; music, dance, theater, literature, etc.
Music (beats, melodies, AND lyrics), Nature (moss to landscapes), Color, Urban decay (rust and graffiti), and Swimming alone with my thoughts :]
sit in the big armchair in the living room with a pad, a pencil and my ipod on shuffle
Absolutely nothing! It is in the unexpected that creativity comes my way once again, ever so dynamic that I have to make the most of it at that point in time. Other stimuli rarely re-ignite my creativity.
A thought, feeling, emotion, nature, a sound, color, and like life it's different every moment..
But the great thing is You allow it to move or inspire You so much that you are compelled to either express or create..
That is true "Creativity" to me :)
seriously... The unrivaled power that intoxicates all human minds to think to their capacity and imagine worlds, undescribable. The incredable, sureal entity that makes atoms spin and keeps the sheer incomprensable concept of pure question in the brains of all sentient beings, yes I am talking of CHAOS, THE GREAT VOID, ENEMY OF THE GODS, CREATOR OF CREATIVITY AND CREATION, ALL BOWS BEFORE THE INCONCEIVABLE AND THE UNSPEAKABLE.
so what will I do today to re-ignite my creative fire? I thought i just told u...(you)
love fuels and inspires my everything. it seems the brain finds it necessary to have purpose or a downward spiral ensues. i have, within the past year, re-discovered myself and the pieces have begun to fall into place. i have let go of the silliness that is fear and told my ego where to go. i re-kindled my estranged relationship with words and have been furiously writing a story close to my heart (seriously, my apartment looks like a serial killer's den; papers violently etched with ink plastered all over my walls).
i will sing for u if it brings us together. i will dance for u if it inspires u to move. i will lie naked and exposed if it ripples the effects of the love i feel.
so what will i do today to re-ignite my creative fire? i thought i just told u...
What ignites my creative fire? The Stupidity of others, and the Heroism of others. Heroic Stupidity is particularly explosive.
My creativity is sparked by anything and everything around me. I always have my sketchbook with me in case I see something that gives me an idea for a drawing or even song. I feel I shouldn't have to really do anything to be creative. Random ideas and thoughts for new things to do end t show up unannounced and that's where I feel my best ideas come from: not having to actually think to be creative.
Sounds like my life. My creativitiy is surrounded by the commitments I make and the lists I must check off that bully them into submission. It is freeing to say no sometimes but it can also mean saying no to some new ideas when old ones still have a place in your heart.
I love to read any poem by Charles Bukowski. I feel that his outright honesty and openness with himself and the world helps find the beauty in the trash and vice versa.
If looking for a great example, try reading "Bluebird":
http://oldpoetry.com/opoem/show/10649-Charles-Bukowski-Bluebird
sit in silence. sounds strange, but Boston has taught me to cherish those quiet moments that you do have. just to sit and think or relax refuels my creativity. I have time to come up with new ideas! I want to be on my friend's porch now...
Driving, definitely. I talk to myself when I drive (haha who doesn't...) and come up with a lot of introspective thoughts. I love driving through the country and letting my mind wander... Exploring different settings and experiencing new things is very important to coming up with new ideas too.
God does, creativity is like dynamic creating with the creator
when i paint, i open and let go and let out and then people tell me im good at it and i care very little about being 'good' at it... more than that i care that i do it. that i can. and that i know what it is that is going on when i do it.
when i do therapy, same thing except in this venue i can be a conduit to healing which is even better
i incorporate creativity into every act i possibly can. and, if that act does not require a creative mind (ie washing dishes, folding laundry), i just try to do it well with a happy heart.
@kevinstamper
I was curious about the Twyla Tharp book you mentioned so I googled it, found it online, and started reading it.....very good so far. Thanks for the suggestion. I like to hear how other people get their creative juices flowing. Here's the link to read it online if anyone else is intesrested.
http://books.google.com/books?id=U_Ios6c0NZUC&dq=twyla+tharp&printsec=frontcover&source=in&hl=en&ei=BU5FSq3LHd6vtwfms4i7Ag&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=15
I type on my typewriter
I watch more movies that you can imagine.
And I watch many different tv shows.
And I listen to Milt Jackson on the Vibes
Good Stuff.
I've never considered myself as a creative person. More than fueling my creativity I work on fueling some equilibrium and stability in my life.
Today, I will play Zelda, read a good book, and sleep early. A time-out from all the stress in life is what I need to recharge batteries to handle whatever comes with a creative attitude....
living in a big noisy city, I would say moments of calmness, like being on a quiet beach at night, listening to the sound of the waves and the crickets
I'm most often inspired by nature, or graphic imagery I've seen. Design can inspire me to feel or think, and spark a train of thought on which ideas flow rapidly. I try to catch them all, but if I don't write them down, I lose most of them!
Spending a day creating in my studio inspires me, and brainstorming with people that are pursuing their passion!
i'm waiting for my accordion to be shipped here, and then writing a polka along with the musical i'm creating called "We Miss You Yeti" so, yah.
instead of waiting for inspiration it should be part of the daily to-do list. sort of like working out...once you make yourself go there enough, it becomes habit and you crave it. at least i do.
my creative fire is fueled by profound emotions , good or bad , but i have noticed that if i am inspired by meeting a very cool person , it will open my mind , and heart ,
Coming to the end of a difficult time always inspires me to re-evaluate, learn and take stock. Thus inspiring me to visit my soul, where my creativity lies.
Being around like minded / open-minded people who like thinking around things and understanding that it isn't always just a black and white world.
What fuels my creativity? Nature! Being at my dad's house, nostalgia, looking through magazines, dreams, restlessness. Any experience in my life that's profound; anything I read or see that strikes me.
To re-ignite my creative fire... I could take a walk, look through pictures, read something new. Or just sit and ponder.
Life and the struggle to live as a spiritual being in a material world fuels my creativity.
I finally sat down at my keyboard and just started writing a melody. I haven't had a chance to in a while...it was nice to let all the ideas I've had knocking around in my head go somewhere.
"What fuels your creativity?"
He paused, considering the question. He removed his glasses and began polishing them with a silky red kerchief produced from his suit pocket. He closed his eyes and set the glasses calmy on the bedstand.
"Gasoline" he whispered. He opened his eyes again to study her. A smile pushed through his lips, "and"--
He reached his hand under the pillow and produced a toy clown with a wide open mouth.
"Mr. Twinkleteeth"
"But--" she stammered, visibly shaken "he hasn't any teeth."
He set the clown back down so that it could watch him. "No." He stepped towards her. "Not yet."
Bake and decorate some cookies...although this time its for a job.
Sketch and write in my journal
Watering my yard. I love the way freshly watered flowers look and smell.
Well, flollowing Goethe's adivce, I'll listen to some Dylan, read some Nietzsche, look at a Blake painting, and do some discussing on Soulpancake.
Catch up on my deviantart updates, read some fashion magazines, and check out some style blogs.
My poor darkroom has been sadly neglected since last summer... more immediate, "necessary" things always take precedence. I need to remember that artistic expression is necessary, too!
I drive home from work at sunset every evening, it is beautiful and it calls me to get outside with my camera... I will find time to do that this week!
continue reading david sedaris.
enjoy the sun at my pool with my puppy
see transformers
write poems and lyrics
mess around with guitar
I will watch the sunset. No phone, no one else, just me, a great view, and watch the sun go down until I can't see it anymore. No doubt this will spur on a little creativity, or give me a great sense of peace if nothing else.
I suppose I'll have to get a match, won't I?
I admit, my creative flame has indeed been dwindling. My ideas are not close to what they used to be, and even when I do have sudden inspiration, it dies away after a few sentences. It's because I haven't been with my two dearest friends in a while, and I'm dying to see them. They are most definitely the center of my world, the essence of my inspiration.
I typically work all day, so at night time, I'm scurrying to do errands and things before stores close.
But when I get free time at work, I take that opportunity to design cakes. It keeps that spark alive for when I get home to bake interesting desserts and to do research of different cooking techniques. I can't wait to go to culinary school.
But what I'm doing TODAY, other than color cakes... which is what I'm doing at the moment... I'm leaving work 2 hours early in order to start painting the legs of a table a friend and I have been making the past 2 days.
We are up-cyling an old suitcase and chair we bought at a thrift store into a cute side table for my living room. I'm so excited.
I usually turn to the weather. It was all thunder and lightning a couple hours ago and now the sum's coming out. There's something about the delicate balance in nature that always sparks my interest to create something. Sometimes I return to old success and try to recreate the experience on how I got to the finished product.
Robots will alway be a favourite: http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l302/x_sammehh/Independent%20Assortment/IMG_0064.jpg
well right now, after reading this and all these comments, I was inspired to write. so...thank you! :)
I'd watch any old comedy television show or movie.
Only old ones because its great to see how brilliant and original they were then.
Among my large collection of things-to-watch-when-I-need-to-be-inspired include anything with or written by Peter Cook or any of the 6 Pythons.
shuffle. I must shuffle. When I was a younger and perhaps wiser man (or is it boy) I used to collect music and keep it unorganized in a folder simply titled "music". I'd point the fledgling music applications of years-gone-by to that folder and just let it play while I did work on or near my computer. rarely whole albums, entirely randomness in auditory format. Now it's all very organized and rigid. So today and here on out, damn the man and his need for structure. play on you crazy random soulless dj that live inside my computer. turn it loud and let make something fun and new.
I will read the Gospel of Luke and meditate on the how incredible and innovative Jesus was in bringing the Gospel to humanity.
I need time to address the issue in an office setting where I can get the logistics down, then I really need a time where my mind can start to unwind and creativity can flow. Odd as it may sound, going on a run, walking downtown, the gym, even the shower is the perfect spot to let my mind change gears and begin to think creatively.
Great book: Twyla Tharp's The Creative Habit
My writing partner and I find that a good bottle of wine and a home cooked meal fuels the fire. We create to make ourselves laugh. I any one else does that is the frosting on our creative cupcake.
This is hard, but turn your inner voice off, the one that limits you, tells you that isn't right. I am my own worst critic, just create.
In the kitchen, I experiment. Nothing ventured, nothig gained. I have created some horrible food, but more often then not, the dinner is the cats me-WOW!!
I have "Creative Time" scheduled as an appointment on my planner (30 minutes). If I don't, the day gets away from me and my tank gets empty. Reading really helps. Creativity begets creativity.
The need for something gets my determination ignited. My daughter and many other children love the Warrior Book series and they wanted plushies inspired by it. Therefore I created http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=25393659.
I have several different plush dolls, in two different series/themes drawn up, ready for being constructed. They are highly customizable, so people, pets, movies, are my fuel. http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=26847876
When I see items that are low quality, but have potential, I upgrade the idea and develop a plan for creating my own spin. I had seen non-durable, cheaply made beaded bookmarks, so that inspired my Faith Marks. http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=24303763.
Finally, a camera in hand is that spark. Macro is my favorite, and some of my inspiring items are http://fantasymarks.deviantart.com/art/Twisted-Tea-102257334 to http://fantasymarks.deviantart.com/art/Gary-96260821 to http://fantasymarks.deviantart.com/art/Oh-Pooh-Pooh-102143215.
A cup of coffee always gets me started, but what matters the most is LIFE. Life fuels my creativity. The people I meet, the streets I walk and the world I see. That's my greatest inspiration.
My creative fire is out of control. I need discipline to sit down and edit what I write. Ambient noise helps me connect to the world though.
the same thing i do every day: brave work and sleep and everything in between to take a purdy picture!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/abstractbusyness/sets/72157611979635115/
(i'm a little behind in uploading, but still going strong. stand by.)
as anyone who is "creative for a living" knows, creativity cannot be forced and is generally even difficult to coax. I find that doing something out of the ordinary (go sit in a quiet park or at a lake), slow down to appreciate something that is typically taken for granted or insignificant (macro photography comes to mind) - and just clear your head of the deadline or goal.
i tend to also arrive at my best ideas early in the morning when I am essentially half conscious - during that first cup of coffee as I wake up. You must drink GOOD coffee.
Sometimes sitting and staring out a window is the best things for creativity. What do you see out your window? Or...when was the last time you really looked?
I used to write everyday. Short stories, poems, anything, but over the years I've stopped. I feel like I'm too busy, but the truth is, I'm only 19, can I truly be too busy? The motivation has gone away. I want to get it back. I'm starting a road to recovery through reading and through it discovering the beauty of writing. I've been observing the world with no outlet for so long, so perhaps I simply need to start writing down what comes in my head. Time to go back out to the coffee shops.
@zamfir I am not so intent on making a mark on the world as I am on the world making a mark on me, I suppose.
WHOA! I said exactly the same thing in almost the same words to a friend in an e-mail four years ago and was disappointed that he completely ignored what I felt was a revelation. It's very cool for me to see this sentiment expressed in nearly the same words I'd used!
I usually get my creative ideas from being out in the community and living life around others. Currently sitting in a coffee shop and I already have the urge to write.
Also reading obviously helps. Currently reading "Same Kind of Different As Me" (among others).
@zamfir
Yeah, that's really cool, a very interesting idea. I sometimes think about what came first the creative act, or the appreciation of creation. I think you're absolutely right. The appreciation comes first and then the desire, the joy to recreate!
I think it must have started with the dawning of human consciousness. Someone looked at something differently for the first time, appreciated the creation all around them and attributed it to God/Being/Universe etc... Then they made myths and used art to express them.
When im on vacations or doing nothing null creativity comes to me. Is in the moments where im the most stressed when I feel inspired to create art. And unfortunately is also when I have the less time to do so.
Doing things, anything, usually works for me, though most of my poetry is people-inspired, and it requires human contact to come. So some days, I'll just ride around on the metro, observing.
I'm going to try to write some today; I haven't dont that in ages. Then I will read one of the books I am working on at the moment. It's gonna be a good day.
I am definitely more of a consumer of art than a creator. My paintings come when they come, but living with art is my life. I am not so intent on making a mark on the world as I am on the world making a mark on me, I suppose.
I will reignite my creative fires by taking my morning coffee in the open air on the porch where the birds sing prolifically, where the sky's wide blue expanse reminds me to clear my mind and calm my thoughts. Before launching into my day I will spend twenty minutes in quiet contemplation, inclined toward the notion that I may have something awesome to learn today, and then I will be vigilant to pay attention throughout the day to what that might be. Before retiring I will leave notes to myself to remind me of the beauty I found in the day ... tomorrow I will take coffee on the porch ...
DISCUSSION TOOLSET
When the muse drops that half-funny thought into your skull, write it down.
If friend says something that reminds you of a song you used to like, write it down.
See an odd looking mass of garbage in the bin? Draw it.
Etc,etc.