Reminder to Self Part 2: Create THEN Analyze
Part 1 left off with an indictment of playing it safe and a promise to explore a better way of operating creatively. So how does that look?
Considering the diversity of projects that may fall under the 'creative' umbrella, I hesitate to endorse anything that even vaguely resembles a plan. Instead, the best I can do is pass on a kind of checklist that sets up the conditions for quality efforts. It's not exact; the muses may not visit. Still, in a field as enigmatic as 'the arts,' the best one can do is show up, open the doors, and light the 'Welcome' sign (for your muses, ideas, inspirations...).
The list, which comes from a 1991 John Cleese lecture that I found on the fantastic Brain Pickings website, is simple and contains just five items:
Space to play
A specific amount of time to play
Ample time to ponder
Confidence to create
Humor to stay open
Though I cannot overstate the importance of the first three items, I want to focus on the last two here because they are simultaneously the most important and least straightforward. While time and space are conditions that can be set up (or worked around in tough situations), humor and confidence (though occasionally elusive) are utterly indispensable - especially for a sustainable practice.
Their power lies in their capacity to enable us to shift between the 'open' and 'closed' modes of operation that Cleese describes:
To be creative (here I mean both in thought and in action), one must be open and playful. Though the specifics of what that means and how it looks like will certainly vary from situation to situation, the unifying traits are the same: a wandering wide-angle focus, a curious disposition, and a fearless desire to tinker (i.e. channel Miss Frizzle - she never lacked confidence!).
To be practical, one must do the opposite: focus in, remove distractions, and produce results. In my process, this closed mode is where analysis happens. Having let all my crazy ideas loose, I carefully organize and refine them, cutting what is superfluous or ineffective and developing what is promising - all with an eye for practical implementation (and a good sense humor about my follies).
These modes complement each like opposing muscles: when one flexes, the other relaxes; when one works the other recovers strength. (Flexing both gets you nowhere.) Together they create a cycle of work and recovery that doesn't just sustain - but strengthens - over time.
Create - Appraise - Repeat. This is the substance of life. Enjoy every bit of it.
