The Creative Act

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Everyone is a creator

To create is to bring something into existence that wasn’t there before. It could be a conversation, the solution to a problem, a note to a friend, the rearrangement of furniture in a room, a new route home to avoid a traffic jam.

Regardless of whether or not we’re formally making art, we are all living as artists. We perceive, filter, and collect data, then curate an experience for ourselves and others based on this information set. Whether we do this consciously or unconsciously, by the mere fact of being alive, we are active participants in the ongoing process of creation.

To live as an artist is a way of being in the world. A way of perceiving. A practice of paying attention. Refining our sensitivity to tune in to the more subtle notes. Looking for what draws us in and what pushes us away. Noticing what feeling tones arise and where they lead. Attuned choice by attuned choice, your entire life is a form of self-expression. You exist as a creative being in a creative universe. A singular work of art.

What do you like what don't you like. Are you paying attention enough to recognize these elements of life January 23, 2023 @ 3:12 PM

If you have an idea you’re excited about and you don’t bring it to life, it’s not uncommon for the idea to find its voice through another maker. This isn’t because the other artist stole your idea, but because the idea’s time has come.

The ability to look deeply is the root of creativity. To see past the ordinary and mundane and get to what might otherwise be invisible.

We are all antennae for creative thought. Some transmissions come on strong, others are more faint. If your antenna isn’t sensitively tuned, you’re likely to lose the data in the noise. Particularly since the signals coming through are often more subtle than the content we collect through sensory awareness. They are energetic more than tactile, intuitively perceived more than consciously recorded.

How do we pick up on a signal that can neither be heard nor be defined? The answer is not to look for it. Nor do we attempt to predict or analyze our way into it. Instead, we create an open space that allows it. A space so free of the normal overpacked condition of our minds that it functions as a vacuum. Drawing down the ideas that the universe is making available.

One can think of the creative act as taking the sum of our vessel’s contents as potential material, selecting for elements that seem useful or significant in the moment, and re-presenting them.

If we choose to share what we make, our work can recirculate and become source material for others.

The act of creation is an attempt to enter a mysterious realm. A longing to transcend. What we create allows us to share glimpses of an inner landscape, one that is beyond our understanding. Art is our portal to the unseen world.

Material for our work surrounds us at every turn. It’s woven into conversation, nature, chance encounters, and existing works of art.

When looking for a solution to a creative problem, pay close attention to what’s happening around you. Look for clues pointing to new methods or ways to further develop current ideas.

An integral part of the artist’s work is deciphering these signals. The more open you are, the more clues you will find and the less effort you’ll need to exert. You may be able to think less and begin to rely on answers arising within you.

I think my blow-up on the BRD call where I was not able to convince others was my call and the genius conversation I had with the groupchat were clues to create my digital extrovert app October 11, 2024 @ 11:14 PM

Look for what you notice but no one else sees.

Widening one’s scope allows for more moments of interest to be noticed and collected, building a treasury of material to draw from later.

Living life as an artist is a practice. You are either engaging in the practice or you’re not. It makes no sense to say you’re not good at it. It’s like saying, “I’m not good at being a monk.” You are either living as a monk or you’re not. We tend to think of the artist’s work as the output. The real work of the artist is a way of being in the world.

Broadening our practice of awareness is a choice we can make at any moment. It is not a search, though it is stoked by a curiosity or hunger. A hunger to see beautiful things, hear beautiful sounds, feel deeper sensations. To learn, and to be fascinated and surprised on a continual basis.

If you make the choice of reading classic literature every day for a year, rather than reading the news, by the end of that time period you’ll have a more honed sensitivity for recognizing greatness from the books than from the media. This applies to every choice we make. Not just with art, but with the friends we choose, the conversations we have, even the thoughts we reflect on. All of these aspects affect our ability to distinguish good from very good, very good from great. They help us determine what’s worthy of our time and attention. Because there’s an endless amount of data available to us and we have a limited bandwidth to conserve, we might consider carefully curating the quality of what we allow in.

The objective is not to learn to mimic greatness, but to calibrate our internal meter for greatness. So we can better make the thousands of choices that might ultimately lead to our own great work.

The person who makes something today isn’t the same person who returns to the work tomorrow.

We tend to think that what we’re making is the most important thing in our lives and that it’s going to define us for all eternity. Consider moving forward with the more accurate point of view that it’s a small work, a beginning. The mission is to complete the project so you can move on to the next. That next one is a stepping-stone to the following work. And so it continues in productive rhythm for the entirety of your creative life.

Beginning a work, completing a work, and sharing a work—these are key moments where many of us become stuck. How do we move forward, considering the stories we tell ourselves? One of the best strategies is to lower the stakes. We tend to think that what we’re making is the most important thing in our lives and that it’s going to define us for all eternity. Consider moving forward with the more accurate point of view that it’s a small work, a beginning. The mission is to complete the project so you can move on to the next. That next one is a stepping-stone to the following work. And so it continues in productive rhythm for the entirety of your creative life.

you start from the position that there is no right or wrong, no good or bad, and creativity is just free play with no rules, it’s easier to submerge yourself joyfully in the process of making things.

Distraction is not procrastination. Procrastination consistently undermines our ability to make things. Distraction is a strategy in service of the work.

An intention is more than a conscious purpose, it’s the congruence of that purpose. It requires an alignment of all aspects of one’s self. Of conscious thought and unconscious beliefs, of capabilities and commitment, of actions when working and not. It’s a state of living in harmonic agreement with oneself.

Beware of the assumption that the way you work is the best way simply because it’s the way you’ve done it before.

Talent is the ability to let ideas manifest themselves through you.

Ride the wave as long as it can be ridden. If you are fortunate enough to experience the strike of inspiration, take full advantage of the access. Remain in the energy of this rarefied moment for as long as it lasts. When flowing, keep going.

When an idea forms, or a hook is written, we may feel that we’ve cracked the code and the rest will take care of itself. If we step away and let that initial spark fade, we may return to find it’s not so easy to rekindle. Think of inspiration as a force not immune to the laws of entropy.

Good habits create good art. The way we do anything is the way we do everything. Treat each choice you make, each action you take, each word you speak with skillful care. The goal is to live your life in the service of art.

Thoughts and habits not conducive to the work: 
Believing you’re not good enough. 
Feeling you don’t have the energy it takes. 
Mistaking adopted rules for absolute truths. 
Not wanting to do the work (laziness). 
Not taking the work to its highest expression (settling). 
Having goals so ambitious that you can’t begin. 
Thinking you can only do your best work in certain conditions. 
Requiring specific tools or equipment to do the work. 
Abandoning a project as soon as it gets difficult. 
Feeling like you need permission to start or move forward. 
Letting a perceived need for funding, equipment, or support get in the way. 
Having too many ideas and not knowing where to start. Never finishing projects. 
Blaming circumstances or other people for interfering with your process. 
Romanticizing negative behaviors or addictions. 
Believing a certain mood or state is necessary to do your best work. 
Prioritizing other activities and responsibilities over your commitment to making art. 
Distractibility and procrastination. 
Impatience. 
Thinking anything that’s out of your control is in your way.

To dismiss an idea because it doesn’t work in your mind is to do a disservice to the art. The only way to truly know if any idea works is to test it. And if you’re looking for the best idea, test everything.

Ask yourself as many “what if” questions as you can. What if this were the first painting anyone saw in their life? What if I removed every adverb? What if I made all the loud parts quiet? Look for different polarities and see how they affect the piece.

Crafting contains a paradox. To create our best work, we are patient and avoid rushing the process, while at the same time we work quickly without delay. By remaining too long in this phase, many pitfalls may arise. One is disconnection. If an artist is creating a beautiful work, and keeps endlessly crafting it beyond the need, sometimes they suddenly want to start all over. This can be because they have changed or the times have changed.

Art is a reflection of the artist’s inner and outer world during the period of creation. Extending the period complicates the artist’s ability to capture a state of being. The result can be a loss of connection and enthusiasm for the work over time.

Another impediment some come across is that their vision for the work exceeds their ability to manifest it. They can hear the drumline, but the rhythm is more complex than their ability to play. They can picture the dance, but their body can’t perform the moves gracefully enough. It might seem as though the next step is an impossible leap.

Falling short of grander visions might actually put the work exactly where it wants to be. Do not let the scale of your imagination get in the way of executing a more practical version of your project. We may come to realize that this version is better than the initial, seemingly impossible vision.

When you’re on a roll in the Craft phase, work toward a full first draft. Maintain the momentum. If you reach a section of the work that gives you trouble, instead of letting this blockage stop you, work around it. Although your instinct may be to create sequentially, bypass the section where you’re stuck, complete the other parts, then come back to it.

Sometimes solutions to these difficult pieces will reveal themselves once the overall context has emerged. A bridge is easier to build when it’s clear what’s on either side of it. Another benefit is that if you are stuck at a section in the middle, it may feel overwhelming to know you’re only halfway through the work. If you finish the rest of the draft and return to the portion you skipped, it feels more easily achievable when there’s only 5 or 10 percent of a project left to complete. With the end in sight, it’s easier to feel motivated to finish.

There are times during the Craft phase when you hit a wall and the work isn’t getting any better. Before stepping away from the piece, it’s worth finding a way to break the sameness and refresh your excitement in the work, as if engaging with it for the first time.

Small Steps To create movement for a musician who was blocked, we offered him a small task: write just one line every day. It didn’t matter how good or bad he felt about the line, as long as he committed to writing it. If more came through, that was fine but not necessary. By breaking down what seemed insurmountable into single lines, he was able to reopen the creative channel and eventually began composing entire songs again. This happened much more quickly than expected.

Write for Someone Else In the case of a musician who typically writes their own material, I’ll suggest, “Imagine that a favorite artist asked you to write a song for their next album. What would that song sound like?” By creating something you’d be excited to hear your favorite artist perform, it depersonalizes the process and can allow the writer to break free of themself.

Add Imagery Thinking of a specific image or story, or imagining that you’re scoring a film and then starting to play, will often bring a stronger direction to a meandering tune.

Although we avoid deadlines early in the process, in the Completion phase, a due date could help bring time into focus and support you in completing the work.

Hanging on to your work is like spending years writing the same entry in a diary. Moments and opportunities are lost. The next works are robbed of being brought to life.

Each new project is another opportunity to communicate what’s coming through you. It’s another chance at bat. Another opportunity to connect. Another page filled in the diary of your inner life.

One of the greatest rewards of making art is our ability to share it. Even if there is no audience to receive it, we build the muscle of making something and putting it out into the world. Finishing our work is a good habit to develop. It boosts confidence. Despite our insecurities, the more times we can bring ourselves to release our work, the less weight insecurity has.

A river of material flows through us. When we share our works and our ideas, they are replenished. If we block the flow by holding them all inside, the river cannot run and new ideas are slow to appear.

The recognition of abundance fills us with hope that our brightest ideas still await us and our greatest work is yet to come. We are able to live in an energized state of creative momentum, free to make things, let them go, make the next thing, and let it go. With each chapter we make, we gain experience, improve at our craft, and inch closer to who we are.

Complete as many elements of the project as you can without getting hung up. It’s much easier to circle back once the workload is reduced. Often the knowledge we gain from finishing the other pieces becomes a key to overcoming earlier obstacles.

Sacrifices

The Sacrifice of Effort:
Dedicate focused time each day to your creative work, even if just for 30 minutes. Show up consistently.
Push through procrastination and resistance. Start before you feel ready.
Embrace the patience and persistence needed to complete projects. Keep working even when it gets difficult.
Remain open and attentive to collect ideas and inspirations from the world around you. Sharpen your perception.
The Sacrifice of Status:
Release concerns about what others will think of your artistic expression. Create for yourself first.
Be willing to share your work publicly, risking judgment and criticism. Let go of your art once finished.
Ignore pressures to stick to what's worked before. Take creative risks and try new things.
Believe in yourself as an artist, even if you don't have external validation or success yet.
The Sacrifice of Ego:
Be willing to create imperfect, unpolished work, especially in early drafts. Finish projects even if flawed.
Detach from the need for your work to be groundbreaking or genre-defining. Make the work for its own sake.
Experiment playfully without being constrained by ideas of what's "good" or "bad". There are no rules in creativity.
Let go of the fantasy that a particular project will be your magnum opus. See it as one small step in a lifetime of creation.
The Sacrifice of Immediate Gratification:
Prioritize working on your art over other tempting uses of your time, even when you don't feel inspired.
Maintain patience through the lengthy process of developing an idea into a finished product. Delay gratification.
Choose reading, conversations and life experiences that enrich your creativity over easy entertainment.
Master your craft through consistent practice over many years. Forgo the desire for quick results or success.

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The Creative Act

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