Creativity and the Mundane

There are many daily, regular tasks that we complete without much thought put into them.  We get used to doing certain things certain ways and don't really think about them.  We drive to work on the same route, we go through the grocery store in the same way, we relate to people in certain ways.

Sometimes there is simply a route that makes most sense so we take that.  Sometimes we go through the grocery store a certain way because we want to get certain foods just before leaving and sometimes we think we have people pegged.

Sometimes the things we do and the way we do them makes sense and take the least amount of time and energy to complete.  We all instinctively do common things in a common way to reserve our time, energy and effort for things that we think deserve them.

But sometimes we do them because it takes more time, energy and effort to stop doing them and that not a good reason to continue.  It's good to evaluate even those little things and ask some questions.  Depending on the answers to each of the questions, you might decide you're doing just as you should but leave yourself open to consider creative alternatives that might bring some sunshine to what had been drudgery.  You might just find that there are things you've been doing that you no longer need to, which will give you that much more time, energy and effort to do what your choose to do.

1. Why am I doing this task?
2. Why am I doing this task this way?
3. Should I really be doing this task?
4. Should I really be doing this task this way?

Living purposefully is powerful.  Doing what we do on purpose because it serves a purpose.  That's not to say there aren't things that are so mundane they don't matter; they can be done a number of ways and still meet the desired objective.  But sometimes we can bring our creativity to play in cleaning out the corners of our lives that might lead us to new discoveries about ourselves and those around us.

The same thing can be said about how we relate to those around us as well as how we perceive ourselves.  As an example, I have a colleague at work that I don't know intimately but I've always been on friendly terms with.  As any other person would do, I had certain pre-conceived notions about who she was.  We all do that.  And those notions are either challenged or confirmed with each conversation.  But my notions about this certain colleague, a highly professional, polished person who seems very "proper" recently underwent a massive challenge when I discovered that she'd been a drummer since she was a child and has played in jazz bands and other groups.  I would NEVER have guessed that about her.  It reminded me how dangerous it is to assume we have people figured out and put in the box.  People are infinitely more interesting that our imaginations can make them.

It takes someone willing to go beyond the known to winkle out those interesting aspects of other people's interests and character.  As an introvert, it takes a little more effort for me to do so but every time I make the effort, I find it's infinitely worth it.

Create with what you have

Every creation is conceived differently but if you listen to creators, whether it be authors or songwriters or inventors or cooks, you'll hear two broad categories.  There are as many variations as there are people and creations but it may give you a place to start.

1. Looking at something in front of you and asking, "I wonder what I could make with this (these) thing(s)."  You may bring in other things to complement the focus item (or word or sound) but you start with that (those) thing(s).
2. Getting an idea from out of the blue and then figuring out how to make it real.

You hear songwriters say they woke up with a song fully formed on their lips.  If they're good, they immediately get it recorded or written down. 

You hear writers say they had no idea how their stories would turn out.  They just keep writing until the story or the character tells them the ending.

You hear of designers who say they saw something in their mind's eye and they drew it out and worked on it until it was realized.

That's a type of inspiration that is a good dessert but can't usually be relied for a regular meal.  Most things don't happen like that but it's so much fun when it does.  You feel like you're watching someone else create something amazing.

The first category is more under the control of the creative person; it can be used to create inspiration or blast through a blockage.  I think it's much more satisfying to create this way, too, because it requires some sort of effort and exercise on the behalf of the creator.  

It's also a technique that can be used to group create.  One of the best examples of this is the fabulous project headed by Joseph Gordon Levitt - HitRecord.  If you've never checked this project out, you absolutely should.  Be a part of something clever and exciting and challenging.

I'm currently working on a project that I would never have thought of had I not had 2 types of yarn I bought a few months ago while on a yarn crawl (visiting all the yarn shops in the area) in St. Louis with some friends.  

First I had two singles-spun hanks of Berroco merino/silk yarn. 

Fairly bulky and multicolor.  I wasn't sure really what I was going to do with it but it was on clearance so I got it.

At the same store, I found this lace weight yarn.

A very light, slightly greyish green.  

There's not much in common between the two yarns except for the fact that I had both of them in a bag and didn't know what to do with either of them.  So I got them both in front of me and started to run through ideas in my head.  I knew I didn't have enough of the Berroco to do anything big so I started to think of the various winter items I could make with it.  I've made several new scarfs lately and I thought that was probably a boring choice.  With the mix of colors, a pattern would be lost, especially after wear.  This yarn will felt pretty readily if given half a chance and could just end up as a doorstop if I wasn't careful.

On the other hand, I had this beautiful green yarn but I wasn't in a mood to do a proper lace project.  I did notice that the color complemented some of the colors in the heavier yarn so what could I do to combine them.  I've been fairly intrigued lately by the combination of chunky/lacy yarns so that seemed a safe bet.

How about a cowl? I could do stripes of each for the edges, interchanging the chunky with a lace panel.  That could work.  I decided on a size of knitting needle that would accommodate both weights (in this case a US size 4).

I started with a border of the heavy, thinking this would be the shoulder end.  Now what lace pattern should I use?  I decided on what is called a "faggoted" lace pattern, basically a yarn over/knit 2 together pattern.  It's a biased pattern (goes from one side to the other and can distort a pattern off the square).  While knitting in the round, that wouldn't matter and would create a sort of honeycomb look.

Here is a photo of the work in progress.  From this point I will knit the body of the cowl in the chunky, lovely, soft merino and silk so it will keep my head warm in the cold winter ahead and I'll add several inches of a lacy edging to finish off the face edge.

If I hadn't had both of these yarns in front of me, I would never have thought to use the two types of yarn together for this particular pattern (which I am deeply digging).

You can try this yourself.

• Walk through the store and pick an ingredient at random and then figure out a recipe that will make the most of it. 
• Open a book and point to a word at random.  Go off and write a short story, poem or song based on that word.
• Grab a couple of found items (beads, feathers, bolt nuts, piece of wood, piece of metal) and create something with them.

Have a go and have fun with it!  Grab some friends or family members and make a game of it.  You'll be amazed at what you can come up with!

The wrong side of creativity

I love being a creative person and I enjoy growing my creative skills but the negative side of that is that I'm crazy good at creating excuses for those things I don't want to do.  I am the Queen of Justification.  If you ever need a reason not to do something, I'm your girl.

Creativity is a gift and a tool that needs a little bit of self control and discipline to round it up now and then so it doesn't end by tripping you up.  People equate creativity with being flighty and irresponsible and it can be that if there's no balance to it.  In the same way, practicality can be great and bring enormous productivity but without a dash of creativity and play, it becomes dry as dust and ends up choking people instead of energizing them.

Creative "types" don't like people who try to plant their feet on the ground but often those people with their feet on the ground are the ones you can teach you how to take your dreams out of the clouds and into the reality that can be shared with the world and benefit those it was meant to benefit.

Just like an introvert can learn to extrovert and an extrovert can learn to introvert, a creative person can build self discipline and a highly disciplined person can be creative.  It just takes a little more energy and can't be all the time.  I know that if an extrovert has to be alone and think or study, he needs to be sure to spend time with other people to refuel and if an introverted person has to spend a lot of time interacting with people, he needs to be sure there is time to go into a quiet place and read or think.  The point is don't be crippled by your gifts.  If you find it hard to be disciplined, staff your weaknesses.  In other words, identify those in your life that can help you be disciplined, that can hold you accountable.  You have to give those people permission to do that from time to time.

So the moral of this story is, be creative.  Fly to the stars and back but build a character who can be disciplined and in control of itself and pack clean underwear.

Fake it till you make it

To act like you are something so you can, in fact, become that thing.

There is a lot of truth in this old phrase.  At its root, I think it means that you don't have to be perfect before you begin to be something or do something.  You just have to begin to be something or do something and with practice and development, you can be or do that thing.

No one is born fully made, no one takes up a hobby and is perfect before they start. 

I teach a lot of beginner classes and there are always at least one of each of these people:

1. Perfectionist: Within the first five minutes, they're frustrated because whatever they're working on isn't perfect.  They don't usually listen to instruction and just forge ahead without thinking and then get angry when they fail.  Most of the time they quit because they're not instantly perfect.
2. Happy Dabbler:  They listen to instruction and forge ahead, come hell or high water.  Their work is usually messy and crazy but they have fun and enjoy the process.  They will take the time to figure out whether they enjoy the craft and not and, if they do, they continue on and learn and share the joy of the craft.

Then there are usually people in the middle of the two.  If you want to be creative, be closer to the second than the first.  A Perfectionist will never allow themselves to fail and you can't create without failing.

Patterns

Much of creativity is finding patterns among things that have not been put together before.  This is a skill that can be learned by practice.

How about a textured ceiling or tile flooring?  How many patterns can you see?

What about the clouds?  Take time to stare into the clouds and see how many things can you see?  Do you see a horse?  How about a flower?  A dog wagging its tail?

While you're sitting at the red light, is there a pattern among the cars sitting in front of you?

Rain drops on the car window? Have you ever played rain drop races?  Which drop will it run into next?

As you begin to notice, you will see patterns all around you.  Use this developing skill to envision how something completely unrelated can be applied to your new idea.

Teaching is All About Learning

A teacher of anything is worth nothing unless they're ready and willing to learn from those they teach.  You can't lead unless you're able to follow.

One of the most disturbing things in history is where one group of people claim superiority over another.  Colonialism, Slavery, Nazi-ism, Genocide.  The list goes on and on.  If one person is superior to another, they feel they have nothing to learn from their "inferior." Superior imparts knowledge and values to the inferior and the flow is always in that direction, never the other way around.  That is the most dangerous attitude on the planet.  History is the record of it.

I will never give a minute of my time to someone who is so Masterful that they have nothing left to learn.  If you have nothing left to learn, you have nothing to teach.  Humility is such an old fashioned term but it's the only antidote to superiority.

I know that there are a number of things that I do well.  Some of them I do really well and some not so much.  But every day I remind myself that I have new things to learn that day.  Every day is a new day and every new day holds new things to learn and discover and create. 

If you want to be creative, be humble.  Approach each new subject with the heart of someone with something to learn.  It will be like a summer shower on dry ground and each new experience and each new creation will be fresh and full of joy.

Pragmatic Perfectionist

I used to think I wasn't anywhere close to a perfectionist because I am at heart a lazy layabout but then I started realizing there were some things that I was willing to expend huge time and energy to get right.  There were things when I could hear my Grannie's voice saying, "I'll know" and I would have to get it right.

Let me explain.  My Grannie was my one of my best friends, a kindred spirit of the first order.  From my Grannie I got my eyes, my short waist and my ability to crochet and do other textile crafts.  She would sit and crochet every available second of every day.  I remember her throwing things on to cook for lunch (which in her house was the big meal of the day) and then running to her chair to crochet a few stitches before she had to go stir something or turn something.  Sometimes, if she had to keep a particularly close eye on things, she would even take her project to the table just so she could get a few more stitches made.

In the evenings, she would sit comfortably and it was all crochet all evening.  What fascinated me, though, was when she would be making a huge doily or table cloth in the fine thread.  She could be on round 100 and find a mistake on round 22 and she would rip that sucker out all the way to that mistake and start over.  When the time for each stitch was so precious, I could never understand why she would do that.  After all, she'd worked 78 rows past that mistake and never noticed it, why would it make a difference?  No one would know.  That's when she would replay, "I'd know." There was just no answer to that and no argument to be made.

To me for all my years, that was the definition of perfectionism.  I'd know.

Now me, I'm the queen of the "design element," or the incorporating of mistakes into a design so that it becomes a purposeful part of the whole.  Most of the time I can do that but there are certain times when it just won't do. For all my free flowing creativity, there are certain circumstances where I could hear my Grannie's voice and I have to do it right.

How do I know the difference between what matters and what doesn't? It's usually when I'm tempted to leave something because I'm being lazy even when I know that it will hurt the design.

I devised the phrase "Pragmatic Perfectionist" because there are tons of things in life that just don't matter if they're not perfect.  The sky isn't going to fall if my kitchen floor isn't perfect all the time (which is a really fortunate thing).  The world won't come to an end if a recipe doesn't turn out perfectly and the rice is a little crunchy.  I won't die if someone doesn't like how my hair looks.

Perfectionism can be a prison.  Not everything matters. But some things do.  Those things will be different for each of us.  What are the things that matter to you?  Those things that are worth taking the time and effort to make a perfect as you're able to.  That doesn't mean perfect as they could ever be done.  It means you use your time, effort and skills to make it as right as YOU can.  That's where the pragmatism comes in.

Pragmatism
noun

1.

character or conduct that emphasizes practicality.

2.

a philosophical movement or system having various forms, but generally stressing practical consequences as constituting the essential criterion in determining meaning, truth, or value.

For me, the things that matter are how I treat people, how I communicate and my craft.  I'm free to not be perfect in other areas but in these 3, I want to spend my time, effort and energy.  How about you?