Part Three: Rules Of Thumb for the 21st Century

Creativity is at the intersection of audacity, integrity and discernment. That incredible place where you dare to believe in that which your unique perception has caused you to stumble into. Initially it’s fog, then mischievous then a blast of clarity so profound you question its reality. Then it feels like a naturally occurring element. It must always have been there. We just hadn't noticed it before.

So the final set of things to challenge our days with...

1. Change your tune. Start having a new way of tackling the same old issues. Try figuring out what the new theme and dialogue might be. Rehearse it until you get it right bit always keep your pitch fresh.
2. Humor. Without it the world is a tough place. Humor is a great and creative act. It draws on all the above ideas. It can be swamped by work so its vital to make a space for it. There are moments when it sparks the next wave, the actual breakthrough or just ensures we don't take ourselves to seriously.
3. Stand back and shoot yourself to pieces. You are a work in progress. It’s never finished. Don't ever stop. After that last success or failure forget it, use it bend it but never stop improving it. This will guarantee you the status of prime irritant but it will lengthen your life, your relevance and the likely success of all around you. Stay creative!
4. Structure and Perspective. Not two different things but related ideas. Without a frame the mind isn't choosing between ideas. It is too wide for us to cotton onto the stuff that's flying around. Imagine solving a problem without the brief. In order to 'fly' the frame well you need perspective. Built from experience but unleashed from it the perspective is what adds the uniqueness. I love the idea that there are multiple great answers to the question. That's creativity.
5. Teamworking can work but not without structure and souls mating. I've witnessed countless examples of creativity and creative teams. Collaboration to solve a problem is one of the greatest traits of the human. The trick is finding the shared soul. Sometimes this is a clash of opposites. Its a paradox but its true. Great work can come from teams that actually dislike each other but add that something in that peculiar way. At a special time. Genius often is a lonely path but it ignores the players on the path at its peril.
6. Audacity In Everything. Just try stuff. Walked around a completely amazing historic town straight out of the guide book to stunning. In that town were feasts for the eye at every turn. I stumbled upon an artist in residence in one of these beautiful buildings - his art was wretched. Poorly assembled clip art from a million failed art school exam papers. He was selling out. Sold down a river to nowhere. He didn't sell to me. No audacity. No hope.
7. Carry a camera. Forget whether the images are any good for a minute and start recording things that catch your eye, then your minds eye, then worry about whether the image was any good. Then start again after it made you think what had happened. Why. Does it make you look at stuff differently.
8. Associate scenes with smell and taste. Associate smell and taste with scenes. Your mind can't help doing that to a certain extent anyway. Try and capture that in words or images. Add the extra feeling somehow. How did it go? Keep at the idea. Acuity, observation, memory and moments in time. Make your own word for it.
9. Create a 'philosophy' - a structure to understand and live things through. Creativity requires a kind of stress. A positive stress without which no challenge, without which no noble cause to drive us on. We need to build that 'native way', that approach that has understood itself. A grace. A feeling of being at peace with chaos.
10. Write. Even though no-one may ever read it - or get the same energy as you have from the act of writing stuff down, do it. It has a powerful way of putting structure into your thinking. It changes your ideas for the better. It allows you to see and feel what you actually mean. It stops you from believing your own hype because when written it has to add up. Don't worry that no-one may ever read it. It's for you. It's a creative act.
11. Aim to simplify but not over simplify. It’s obvious that not everyone will immediately get your creativity. However it shows up. The minute you make it simple there will be those who want the underlying complex rationale. Remember to stay true to the idea. Respect the demand for both simplicity and complexity but figure out quickly which kind of audience you have.
12. Contemplate the newer words. Attention, Reflection. Grace. Charm. Persistence. Honour. Symbolism. Social Media. Ingenuity, Experience. Okay they are not new words but have you contemplated them recently? Add your own but make them different.

That’s it! Enjoy the creative life!

Posted via email from Just Thinking!