6 Impossible Things: #3 The Melancholy Piano

// March 26th, 2010 // 3 Comments » // creativity, creativity theory, curiosity, metaphor

Creativity is a non-linear process. We start out at Point A and end up at Point C, or Point Q, or any other point that happens to not be called Point B.

This is because, on the way from Point A to Point B , impossible things happen that steer us away from our original endpoint and onto fresher, shinier, more startling destinations.

This is not to say that there is anything wrong with Point B as a destination, just that the creative way to get there probably starts at Point W, or some other ‘non-A’ point.

Anyway the point is: a key feature of the creative life is that seemingly impossible things occur along the way that really kick things along, but only make sense in retrospect.

This is a series of posts presenting 6 impossible analogies for these ‘things’

***

#3 The Melancholy Piano:

How do you deal with the unlimited options in front of you once you begin creating? How do you navigate doubt? Once you start, you’re pretty much on your own. Books, classes, exercises, can only take you so far.

If you rely on a paint by the numbers approach it’s not really creating, our task is to embrace uncertainty and allow constant flux and change to help draw out our truest responses.

A  piano floats on the ocean’s surface. Cold water laps at the keyboard coaxing melancholy notes that drift above the water, while a woman dances precariously over the top of the piano. A bare foot slides over polished timber, one arm rises above her head, and she stops–mid-pirouette–to listen to the soft notes rising, feel the shifting surface beneath her. Her feet lift, change direction, and step lightly across the surface of the piano.

The woman, stuck on a piano in the middle of the ocean, makes a dance out of staying afloat. She does this by listening intently to the waves lapping on the keys, feeling the shifting water beneath the piano, and moving her body where it needs to go in the moment.

We too, can aim to engage fully with our materials, our surroundings, our state of mind and heart, to allow the creative process to draw out what most needs to be expressed.

Have you had moments where you were able to let go fully, and allow the creative impulse to rise up as you engaged with your artwork?

6 Impossible Things: #2 Deep-Sea Cafe

// March 23rd, 2010 // 6 Comments » // creativity, creativity theory, metaphor

Creativity is a non-linear process. We start out at Point A and end up at Point C, or Point Q, or any other point that happens to not be called Point B.

This is because, on the way from Point A to Point B , impossible things happen that steer us away from our original endpoint and onto fresher, shinier, more startling destinations.

This is not to say that there is anything wrong with Point B as a destination, just that the creative way to get there probably starts at Point W, or some other ‘non-A’ point.

Anyway the point is: a key feature of the creative life is that seemingly impossible things occur along the way that really kick things along, but only make sense in retrospect.

This is a series of posts presenting 6 impossible analogies for these ‘things’

***

#2 Deep-Sea Cafe:

There are many theories about the creative process. We’ve all probably heard someone’s version even if we don’t remember all the steps. Most people can at least recall this much: Blah Blah, Blah, Incubation, Blah.

It can be frightening to lessen our controlling grip and let go into the process, it can be disorienting and stressful, but by tapping into this drive to remain in control we risk allowing our ideas to remain at the surface. What’s called for is for us to dive deeper and let go.

The Deep-Sea Cafe is a place where you can sink and allow the warm currents of your subconscious to drift over and through your creative goals. This is the non-doing that allows things to get done, the non-thinking that allows creative thoughts to rise up. All that’s required of you is to trust in yourself and your creative process.

Sink, rest, allow things to happen. Leave the surface at the surface. The light wavers and shifts, objects change shape, images and memories arrive with stunning synchronicity. When you pop back up at the surface it’s very likely that some element of what you were working on has flipped, allowing you to see everything in a new light.

What’s your favourite way to switch off from a creative project and dive into incubation mode?

6 Impossible Things: #1 Rose Ladder

// March 8th, 2010 // 7 Comments » // creativity, creativity theory, illustration

Creativity is a non-linear process. We start out at Point A and end up at Point C, or Point Q, or any other point that happens to not be called Point B.

This is because, on the way from Point A to Point B, impossible things happen that steer us away from our original endpoint and onto fresher, shinier, more startling destinations.

This is not to say that there is anything wrong with Point B as a destination, just that the creative way to get there probably starts at Point W, or some other ‘non-A’ point.

Anyway the point is: a key feature of the creative life is that seemingly impossible things occur along the way that really kick things along, but only make sense in retrospect.

This is a series of posts presenting 6 impossible analogies for these ‘things’

***

#1 The Rose Ladder:

It’s easy to get discouraged when we think that for all our creative efforts we haven’t learned anything, or grown. All the hours spent sketching, writing, practicing scales can seem wasted.

But if we are creating regularly we are growing.

As we grow, the steps we take can be invisible to us. We rise through a succession of small moments of learning. Each as capable of bearing our weight as a single rose floating in mid-air.

But these moments do bear our weight and they do lift us.

As we climb these moments and reach the top of each level of learning, we simultaneously arrive at the bottom of the next level. This can help to solidify the sense that we are not advancing, that we are perpetually stuck in ignorance.

But this is not true.

Each act act we perform along the way adds to our storehouse of knowledge and experience. Walking faithfully along our path we can’t help but evolve creatively, even though we may not always see it.

Can you identify small creative acts that, while seeming inconsequential at the time, helped foster your own creative growth?