I had the most amazing thing happen this morning. My friend slept over after we casted a few games last night, and started working on our youtube channel for funny game casts. When we woke up this morning, we were watching a horrible, terrible Children's show that my daughter likes (with her...don’t judge) and we decided we needed to make a comedy series about it. It was great. we had a fully fleshed out idea in less than an hour.
I literally couldn't believe it. especially with the post I made two days ago where I couldn't decide what color shoes my daughter would wear, now I'm creating things at a level I've never done before. I think it all really comes down to practice.
I've forced myself to start doing these things every day. I set a timer in the morning, and I meditate when I wake up. I set a timer when i start these blog posts, and I keep writing shit until the timer beeps. I set a timer when I'm casting, and I play and say stupid shit until the timer goes off. Never once have I mentioned quality in this sentence you'll notice (also note the run on nature of this sentence) So I think that a lot of this comes down to constant work on the same thing, even if you're fucking terrible at it. It's amazing how if you keep just doing something, over and over and over you'll eventually (and often quite rapidly) get a really fucking good at it. this is my third day typing in my bog for 20 minutes daily, and I already feel the words coming to mind more rapidly, I can feel my mind creating whole paragraphs ahead of what I'm typing before I can even finish the first few words in the paragraph. Its amazing.
So, what are we talking about here today? Creativity I suppose based on the title I decided to type as I finished taking a shit this morning. But who cares about that? I mean creativity is such an obscure thing to state as it can be called anything. You can be creative as an artist or incredibly stale. You can be impossibly creative as an account (legally) and become a great asset to your company. Its amazing how many different ways creativity fleshes itself out. I read a quote a few days ago, just after the Superbowl, where one of the players said "excellence is expensive, and rent is due every goddamn day" and I think he was absolutely right. You need to focus on those things you want to be good at Every. Fucking. Day. or you will not be good at them. Ever. If you think that you can simply push something off until tomorrow and when you wake up tomorrow you'll be good at it you're wrong. Now this is sadly a revelation for me as well. I've always done naturally well at most things I've done in my life, so when I started to struggle it was strange to me. now I understand that struggle isn't the beginnings of failure, its the beginnings of excellence. and If you keep working constantly at those things you struggle at, eventually you become OK...then before you know it you're better than all of your friends...then all of a sudden you're the best in the world. but there are no shortcuts. Its just simple daily practices that make these things happen.
I meditate now...every day. Three times a day. I exercise every day. I blog every day. I cast every day. I figure if I keep this up that eventually I'll become good at these things. Sitting at your computer thinking about doing it doesn't make it happen. Sitting in a chair reading a book about it doesn't make it happen. watching the 50th youtube video about how to get started or get better doesn’t make it happen. As Danny Sexbang once said "if you ain't makin things, you taking things" and although he said it in jest I think he's absolutely right. You need to be making things. All the time. it makes you feel better, it makes you feel accomplished. and even if all you do for that one day is get up, wipe the tears out of your eyes, and write a shitty blog post, at least you MADE something that day. you can tell yourself that you made something, and that’s something nobody can take away from you. That's more than 80% of people can say for most days of their lives.
Creativity for me has always been an ability to come up with original ideas. I don’t think that's the end of it anymore, though. Creativity is the ability to come up with those ideas, and then turn them into something real. If you can't CREATE something out of your creativity, then it isn't creativity at all, is it? The root word is Create. Create something. Make something. Build something. This is the heart of creativity. You’ll also notice that nowhere in the word, or in the definition does it say "be good at Creating" it simply is all about "creating" I'll look back at this blog post in a year and go "holy shit was I bad at writing" because I am. this is only my third blog post where I've decided to be real. to be honest. So its going to be bad because I'm not sure how to be as real as I want to be. How do I learn? not by thinking about it in a dark room for 6 months. By doing it. Its hard to say because people have always been taught to go to school first to learn everything, but sometimes you have to learn by doing, and its really the only way to learn. even in school you "do" although the stakes aren't as high. Although, in honesty, there are no stakes here. I don't get a grade after I write, I don’t fail or pass, it just is. And as you learn that...as I've realized that while I'm typing, I'm noticing that this is the BEST way to learn to create. to simply create and throw it out there. There's nothing bad that can happen from doing something like this. If you scare a few people, or make a few people mad, or alienate a few friends....that probably means you're doing something important more than anything else. If you're being an asshole and insulting specific people, then that's different. But just don’t do that. It's never worth it.
What is creativity? I'm wondering if giving it such a simple word makes sense. There are so many parts to it. Its creating, but its also thinking. My friend and I came up with the idea, so its also collaboration, and the ability to work in tandem with someone about a show like the one we came up with. Its about being able to be humble enough to know that the idea you have is total bullshit and that your friend's is better. It's being able to write down every single little idea before judging it, then looking back after the heat of the moment has passed. All of these things are a part of it. And so much more. What else is there.....possibly all of your past experiences are a part of creativity as well. all the things that make you...you are a huge part of it. If you hadn't had those memories, where would you draw your ideas from? You need those things. Experience is huge part of creativity also. Understanding how to collate those ideas into a great, cohesive, interesting thought or idea is another part of it. That's what this blog does for me. I hope all of you can find something similar. because creating is beautiful. Creativity is beautiful.
Watch your children create. their experiences color exactly what they create, and what they think and do. And its so obvious when you watch them because there are those few things missing that all adults have. its hard to pin down unless you're watching an example, but its what we all call naivete. That ability to be able to decide that something will work out in a certain way because you don’t have the traditional social cues about that idea or process. This is a benefit in many ways, especially in the creative process. Being naive can allow you to look at something from that 30,000 foot view, and get a better picture sometimes. In almost all the companies I've worked for, I've had my best and freshest ideas within a month or so of working there. After that, you learn too much, and become too tied up in the company to be able to give those fresh, crazy ideas anymore. Its interesting how powerful being naive can be. Perhaps the best way then for someone to create is to be able to learn all you can about a field, to understand it intimately...so intimately, that when you create you're able to come back to that naive feeling, or state, and be able to create from there once again, but with all of that knowledge at your fingertips.
I think Ayn Rand had it pinned with one of her characters from The Fountainhead when she explained him...and I'm paraphrasing " he learned all there was to know about his new industry (where he bought a business) he would study it with great ferocity for years, then as he entered the field he would break all precedent and build entirely new systems, enraging the community at large, and then he would overtake all other companies in the field with these new systems"
That's creativity.
If you imagine that that man was real, and was a person we could meet. If I interviewed him and asked what his daily practice was...I imagine he would be looking into that field incessantly for many hours a day. he would have this research regimented. he would spend pointed time talking with industry experts, gaining their trust, and building relationships with them. He would take time to reflect, and study alone as well. he would take time to rest. and then as all of this came together in his mind, after many many hours had been spent, it would all become clear to him...exactly what everyone else had been missing, and exactly how he could become better than all of them at their own game.
That's Creativity.
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