Courageously Creative

Be more creative in your own way

Just Five More Minutes

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Back to School

In most of the world, when the water starts to feel warmer than the air, it’s a cue to the end of summer and children start to think about going back to school.  For many adults, that chronic “back to school” feeling we had in our stomach was cured the instant we received our diploma. But maybe that sickly feeling was a good thing. Maybe it signaled impeding changes and new challenges. Maybe it’s time to get that sickly feeling back!

Here’s a hint: the correct answer is C) Lifelong learning!  The questions are how do we remain competitive? How do we stay creative? How do we possibly use our mobile phones?

“I have never let my schooling interfere with my education,” described Mark Twain.  For most of us, our formal education was a one-way street where we had few choices and our learning was directed by our teachers.  “I began my education at a very early age – in fact, right after I left college,” described Winston Churchill.  As adults we can choose our direction by strolling down the many avenues for self-directed learning. We can learn to sail, play golf, edit a move, create pottery, or improve our public speaking through conferences, books, seminars, speaker series or the internet.  You can watch college courses on DVD, listen to podcasts during your commute, or take a continuing education course.  With such necessity to stay in the know – with so many choices of what to learn and so many ways to learn, we have no excuse, except maybe the dog ate my homework… again.

To keep our jobs, to remain creative, and to accurately set the time and date on our phones we must continually update our skills and knowledge.

What do you need to learn to do better work, make better decisions, and communicate better with those around you?  What new skills or subjects will you learn in September? Or what is your favorite excuse?

Natural Beauty: What kind of tree are you inspired to be?

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on the rocks

on the rocks

Even though Seinfeld episodes are supposedly about nothing, so much happens in each show – likewise, do you ever have a supposedly lazy day that is filled with inspirations? Looking back, some of my favorite paintings were inspired from events that happened unexpectedly on a single day. A rainy day in London and a foggy day in Huangshan China come to mind.

Magical days are conjured  when we step off our regular path. Last week, I made some changes in longitude which brought me to San Francisco. Within 24 hours, I watched the waves break on the Pacific, hiked Mount Tamalpais, strolled through the ancient Muir Woods, had lunch on the dock in Marin, and drove through wine country in a convertible with one of my oldest friends. I only had my toy camera but it was sufficient to make photos that will bring back my memories.

“Fresh beauty opens one’s eyes wherever it is really seen, but the very abundance and completeness of the common beauty that besets our steps prevents its being absorbed and appreciated. It is a good thing, therefore, to make short excursions now and then to the bottom of the sea among dulse and coral, or up among the clouds on mountain-tops, or in balloons, or even to creep like worms into dark holes and caverns underground, not only to learn something of what is going on in those out-of-the-way places, but to see better what the sun sees on our return to common every-day beauty.”  Described the naturalist John Muir In the Sierra Foot-Hills (1894)

Experiencing natural beauty inspired me to finally have an answer if Barbara Walters asks “If you were a tree, what kind would you be?” Of course the answer is a giant redwood. These are the tallest trees and frequently live 600 to 2,000 years  even though they don’t look a day over 200. What kind of tree would you be? Can you recall a single day that  filled  you with inspiration?

Coincidentally, within a bowl of smooth metal shaped stones on the counter of a Sonoma antique shop, I noticed one with Chinese characters so I picked it up turned it over to read the word “creativity.” John Muir said “When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe. “ Do you think this could be true?

Original Copies or Original Sins?

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Seeding our clouds for a rainstorm of ideas

Seeding our clouds for a rainstorm of ideas

Like dialing your rival at the same moment they try to dial you, Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone at the same time as Elisha Gray. Bell got to the patent office first and legally received the credit and fame, but were they both being original? It’s your call?

A certain number of people read the same news, watch the same movie, face the same problem and have a collective ah-ha moment to offer a collective solution. You could be thinking of a “new” idea and unbeknownst to you, somebody on the other side of the globe is thinking the same thing. It’s discouraging to come up with a “original” idea only to enter a few keywords into a search engine to find others are already standing in the same space.

Paul Bloom described in a TED  talk how especially in the arts, we appreciate originals more than copies. He tells how a once admired masterpiece lost its value when it was discovered to be forged and how a gifted violinist, who was appreciated in concert was largely ignored when anonymously playing at a train station.

What can you to do to be original? As you are saturated with information, does too much stimulation prevent you from being original? A talented artist and prolific writer Val Erde recently asked the good question: “I do think that the more I’m on the internet – certainly with my habit of always filling up my mind with stuff I read on it – the less creative I am in terms of originality. Does it affect you the same way?”

Original and salt free

Original and salt free


Of course we are all influenced by our environment. Filling our heads with the latest thinking on subjects is like seeding our own clouds for a future rain storm of ideas. Everything we do is done in our own way and is somewhat original.

Some people believe that art is a reflection of our environment and culture -so as the kaleidoscope of our world changes, so does what we produce. Don’t worry so much if someone else is doing something similar – do your own thing and soon your brief overlaps will dissipate.

“Yes, one may make mistakes, one may perhaps exaggerate here or there, but the thing one makes will be original. You have read in Rappard’s letter the words: “I used to make things now in this, then in that style, without sufficient personality: but these last drawings have at least a character of their own, and I feel that I have found my way.” I feel almost the same thing now.” described Vincent van Gogh to his brother Theo, c. 22 June 1883

We all have a unique experience and we all express things differently – as you put some words together, draw some lines, or dance, it’s possible someone else has done this before but when you add your own context and write a paragraph, paint a picture, dance a number, then it’s likely to say that this hasn’t been done exactly the same way. Does awareness of others increase or decrease your originality?

Looking into the Sun

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Almost a Miracle on 57th Street

You foresee hazards when you are driving; you anticipate vacations while at work, but do you try to predict opportunities to be creative? Two atmospheric phenomenons happened yesterday in NYC and each was predictable and provided an opportunity.

By an accident of city planning twice a year, the east/west cross streets perfectly align with the setting sun making what is called the Manhattan Stonehenge Effect. You can mark your calendar for May 30th and June 12th and find a spot to watch and take your own Stonehenge type photo.

I tried the corner of 57h street and 10th avenue, (pictured) however; it was not ideal since a building across the river in New Jersey blocked the horizon during the suns descent.

The other event happened earlier in the day. If you dial down the power on your crystal ball to low, rainbows can be predicted too. When the clouds part after late afternoon showers, the sun shines through distant raindrops and if you look around, you can usually find a rainbow. Yesterday storm yielded a strong double rainbow over midtown as seen from my kitchen table. (someone’s better rainbow photo after the same storm)

Where Trouble Melts Like Lemon Drops

Photojournists and sports photographers anticipate action. Often we can predict an event like a sunset, a rainbow or fireworks and than add an interesting background or foreground to create more interest. Whatever your medium, do you predict occasions to be creative?

Does Your Life Come with a SOUNDTRACK?

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Riverside Park

Do you pair music with exercising, driving, or creating? Seeking a new song to play on my iPod while running along Riverside Park, I tried New York State of Mind by Billy Joel. It’s a near match with references to the Hudson River and Riverside and will make a perfect pairing someday when my pace slows down. What perfect pairs have you come up with?

Sometimes music and venues are logical mates:  Gamelon +Bali or Buffet + the Islands, but other combinations like Patsy Cline + New Delhi,   or Jack Johnson + Borneo  are like peanut butter and bananas – meaningless to most people but stuck together for me.  You must have some unusual pairs joined by strange events too. Continuing to listen to Joel’s Greatest Hits, I heard Piano Man as I passed the train piers and Big Shot near the boat basin before turning around as Scenes from an Italian Restaurant played.  These songs carried me back to childhood summers listening to A.M. radio.  Does your life come with a soundtrack? Do you add new songs or do you continue to listen to your favorite 45s?

Songs bring back memories and jog our imagination and many people use music to set a mood and provide inspiration when they create. Music itself can be a compliment to a piece. Dance and film are linked to music but what about cooking or painting? When you play music while creating, did you ever consider linking the particular songs to what you make? Try playing the song during a meal you serve or while displaying a painting to set a mood and help others fully appreciate your intent?  Everything is better with the right music.

At the end of my run, my iPod suddenly became silent and dark. Using all the king’s horseman, I was unable to bring it back to life –  maybe Mr. Joel was right and the good really do die young.

Oceans of Creativity: Are there Limits?

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Cloudy days end with spectacular sunsets

Giving the impression that our oceans are limitless, we see waves roll endlessly into shore. World Ocean Day today reminds us that our limited resource affects our climate and food supply. Have you noticed that your creativity at times seems limitless but other times feels bounded.

 

“To myself I am only a child playing on the beach, while vast oceans of truth lie undiscovered before me,” described Sir Isaac Newton.

Newtons First Law says: “Energy can be neither created nor destroyed. It can only change forms.” Does this apply to creative energy too?

By exercising your creative talents; do you generate more capacity to create? It seems that people who create often have diverse interests and create in many different fields.

Do you find that on days spent sitting on a plane or in front of a computer, energy gets stored up and afterwards, you have the urge to do some exercise. Likewise on active days, an evening jog is the last thing you need. Similarly, on days full of routine tasks, do you feel more creative at night? And after a full day of solving interpersonal problems, and being innovative, do you have any creative sparks left to light the evening?

After a long time paddling through the waves, you get stronger but also at some point get tired. What do you think, does being creative bring more creativity? And are there limits? How can we sustain our oceans? And how do you sustain your creativity?