Tag Archives: creative

Late Night Scribbles

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My creativity time – it boils down to a few minutes every couple of days.

When the daily chores of life are done; dishes washed (well – not always), messages answered, logistics for the next day planned out, girls picked up or dropped off, finished helping the girls with homework and fires of the day put out – it is time to put my self out.  Teeth brushed, PJs on and time for bed. This is when the magic starts.  

A small glass of scotch, a pen and my notebook.  Old fashioned eh !.  I can think faster that I can type (or my typing skills are too slow for my thoughts).  Actually, i don’t want to use electronic devices in bed – the blue light, the distraction with checking out a movie on netflix or utube, checking social media and so on.  So – no electronics in bed. Pen and paper for me.

Sip a bit of scotch…

And a bit more…

And a bit more…

The busy-ness of the day seeps away…

Busyness: the state or condition of having a great deal to do.
“it’s easy to get caught up in the busyness of life”
https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/busyness

 

The little thoughts and ideas that have percolated in my head all day slowly start to form.

Pen writing all this stuff down as fast as the neurons in my head can put the thoughts together.

My notes – scrawled all over the page. My handwriting is pretty horrible at the best of time, and more so when writing fast. Spelling, neatness, punctuation and proper grammar all fall by the wayside. And – that is good. I don’t go back to make corrections – just keep going, writing it all down.

 

The next day when I open the notebook, it is all there. It looks like chicken scrawl, and takes a bit of time to decipher what was written.

That is all part of the fun – sort of. I can’t ask anyone else to decipher what was written. It is my hand writing, my scrawl and my thoughts.

When it is time to put the scrawl to blog, I try to respect the authors ideas – and not edit or censor those ideas. It is me anyway – In a more relaxed and creative state.

And – thus it starts.

Nothing Brilliant, Nothing Earth shattering.

Random thoughts – maybe connected.

It is the creative side in me sneaking out.

 

What is your Trick to release your Creative thoughts ?

 

       

Silence the Critics

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Believe it – there are Creative Critics in your Head !

Actually, your head has two Creative Critics; one is your Personal Creative Critic, and the other one is for everyone else.

So, what’s the big deal ?. According to CreativeMinds.Org (http://creativeminds.org/articles/age.htm) by age 12 we are only using 2% of our creative potential, and that is all we have for the rest of our lives. Where did the other 98% go ?.  CreativeMinds.Org suggests that our creativity is lost through the rules of society, the education system, habits, employment or social hierarchy (where you assume that your subordinates actually believe that you are all knowledgeable).    These may all be valid observations. I see the Critic as the most destructive method of Creativity.  Your own Creativity is stifled by your Personal Creative Critic [Self-Criticism] (“I am not good enough”, “their work is so much better”)…bang…Creativity is dead. Criticism from others is also (unfortunately) a very effective way of killing Creativity (“Why do you spend so much time on that”, “If you need a Photo.. I’ll take it for you”).

Photography is 90% creative and 10% technical. Anyone can learn the technichal apects; how to use a camera, and how to adjust exposure. Being creative with that black box is far more challenging. At times, my Personal Creative Critic takes over, not even letting me put the camera to my eye. I can carry my camera for hours and not even take one photo…’everyone is watching me’ or ‘if i take a picture of this – people will stop and stare’. Have you ever noticed how other people react when you put a camera to your eye ? It seems asthough the world stops and all eyes are on you.  Maybe it is just my Personal Creative Critic.

It is hard overcomming the Personal Creative Critic. Just when you have beat it down, along comes the other Critic – Someone else. ‘I told you …do it this way’….’why are your lines crooked’….Bang…Bang…Bang.

Standing up to Criticism is the hardest thing that we have to overcome. For sum of us, it is easier than for others.

Hang on to that remaining 2% of your Creative potential and don’t let is be pounded down by the Critics.