Advice for a Blocked Creative

Dee,

I stand by that statement.  Maybe I should define "the norm."  Perhaps it would better be described as "the status quo."

Creativity is the action of bringing something new into existence. If a work does not bring something fresh and different from the norm (or status quo) to the table, it would not be very interesting or creative. If you are simply repeating what has already been created, without embelishment or interpretation you are not engaged in creativity.

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Despite all its shining, the sun has never said to the earth 'you owe me'

Thanks Corey!

Thanks for calling my attention to that dialog, I had missed that one.   I especially liked the discussion about the artistic realist.  I think it's the largely overlooked key to success in so many great artists. In fact, I'd say it's the largely overlooked key to success in most individuals, except I might call that voice "The Executive" or "The Do-er"

A great, and I mean genius, software developer once said to me that "there is almost no value in great ideas, they're limitless, the real value is the ability to execute and realize those ideas."   

That ability is something I have been working on for years.  Sometimes, doing what needs to be done to realize an idea, is not necessarily fun.  It can also be downright scary.  When an idea is a great idea, it's pure potential, it's perfect.  When you get down to the act of doing the idea.  Reality sets in.  Human influence sets in.  And the translation and realizing of the idea often results in a compromised, polluted, version of your original inspiration.

I think that may be why so many "creatives" I know can never finish anything.  I'm guilty of that myself more than I would like. I think as creatives we're in love with the Muse.  We're addicted to that uplifting force of pure inspiration.  A different side of you needs to come into play in order to do the work that's required to realize the Muse's demands.  And depending on your level of technique (and ability to stay conscious when applying that technique), you can appease her with varying degrees of success.  But she's a fickle mistress.  The Muse does not care about finishing work. She only cares about inspiration.  If you fail to live up to her demands, her attention will drift elsewhere, and as you follow, you abandon the half finished work.    

The great thing is however, once you start approaching your creative projects with discipline, the better your technique becomes, and the more capable you become in realizing the Muse's ideals.

It really is a challenge of consciousness. It's like you need to hold onto at least three perspectives, or sub-personalities at the same time: the visionary (or muse), the manager, and the craftsman (or manual laborer...sometimes).  And that's why an integral life practice can be so beneficial to creatives.  By bringing consciousness development into your life through meditation, you increase your capacity to keep those different realms of consciousness present in your awareness. You learn how to ride the Muse, to keep her engaged, and direct her toward the work you're doing.

OK, as inspired as I am on this topic, the voice of the artistic realist is now telling me that i need to get ready for the work that sustains my lifestyle. So I'll have to save discussion on how the other areas of ILP (especially the physical) also benefit creatives for another day.

Thanks again for posting that link, it really gave me fuel for thought.

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Despite all its shining, the sun has never said to the earth 'you owe me'

I respectfully agree that creativity is a life skill, and is not unusual to our basic nature.  If we look at the broad picture, creativity is used constantly to be adaptive and flexible, two of humans' most successful traits. 

 Creativity applied in the field of art can be, just for the sake of examination, observed in two areas: the activity of making art, and the product.  In my years of both teaching and doing, I have come to relish the individuality of both these categories, and to appreciate the struggle to produce.  (As one of my early Teachers once told us, "You have to start milking the cow to get any milk."  There is little that can benefit more than just doing, every day (or however often one can, whether we feel like it or not) and understanding that no understanding or talking about art, process or product, can replace the hours and hours of incubation.  There are false starts, forays into derivitive territory which can be very instructive, the return to the search for our own voice that will inevitably surface.  We need have no worry about that.    In the doing, doing, doing, we discover what we want or need to say.  The conversation can be purely a personal one (I express my self to my self) or can be intended for others, as is often the case. 

Willingness to suspend judgement is vital.  Assessment (It's raining.) can generally replace judgement (It's raining, dammit).  That skill, easier at some levels of development than at others, is well worth cultivating as a personal trait, in and out of the studio. 

In growth through the levels I discovered that I when I speak of myself to others, and offer my creative voice, the "feedback" is not hurtful, as the voice has not come from outside myself (what do they want, what would they say).  Measures held up from the lower quadrants (both others' and my own) are useful at times.   The discipline comes in not paying them overly much notice, but returning to the inner joy of the upper quadrant(s) which really releases the "flow".  In that context I can assess myself as artist and my work as I intend it seen.  It helps me to look at the quadrants and levels in myself as well as the quadrants and levels of my intended audience. Learning to embrace the fear is one of the benefits of the process, is it not?  As well as one of the draws.