Creatively Creative

Creativity Wish List

This time of year always brings back memories of countless hours spent reading the Sears Wish Book during my much younger years.

It's been many years since the Sears Wish Book, so I decided to make a Creativity Wish List, from which will spring Creativity Goals and then Creativity Results.

1. Work With Fun/Cool/Interesting People. This year, I've found a number of new-to-me creative folks online, reconnected with some people from the past, and been reminded of just how much I enjoy most of the people I am privileged to call clients. My Creativity Wish to find ways to connect with some of the new-to-me folks and discover ways to partner with them, as well as nurture and grow my existing fun/cool/interesting relationships. Life is too long to work with turkeys.
2. More Photography. My son's senior project is based on photography and I'm really enjoying watching him and being inspired by what he sees through the lens with his new-to-the-camera eyes. He's helping me see new angles on the ordinary. Another photographic source of inspiration is photographer Chase Jarvis' book, The Best Camera Is The One That's With You. 
3. Keep Learning. Since I'm so easily bored, I want to find one or two things to learn more about in the next year. At the top of that list right now, is photography and marketing.
4. Network. If I want to work with fun/cool/interesting people, I have to meet them, and that means getting out of my office more. I've joined a local entrepreneur group and had my first "tweeting" (a meeting arranged from an initial conversation on Twitter). It's a start!
5. Motivate Myself. There's been a number of times this past year (far too many) where I was in a weird and unmotivated creative space. I could usually get out of the funk if a fun project came along, but I want to be able to get out of that funk by myself. I'm going to work on developing new attitudes and habits to address this. 

What's on your Creativity Wish List?

586 vs. 56

My son's senior project is photography.

Once a week or so, we take a trip to find subject matter for him to shoot. This week's trip was to the central branch of the Seattle Public Library. This building has lots of visual interest, to say the least, and I've been in it at shot it many times for my work with the SPL. 

But I was blessed to see it through new eyes this week. My son's fresh eyes saw angles and perspectives that I've overlooked. He noticed everything from the blue emergency light in the parking garage, to the bolts holding the steel girders together, to a patron's umbrella sitting on a table. So, I followed him and looked through my camera at what he was seeing. 

When we got home, he uploaded 586 photos to his computer. I uploaded 56. As I looked through his pictures, I realized that I was editing myself before I needed to - I wasn't taking the "wonder if this might be cool?" shots. I was taking the "I know this should be pretty cool shots" and playing it safe. He was trying variations on a theme and experimenting. He was willing to take a bad shot and throw it away later. And in doing so, he took some pictures that blew me away. Here's my four favorites from his shoot:








 
 
This experience reminded me that one of the best ways to be creatively refreshed is to be spend time around people who are fresh and energized about what they're doing. It's contagious!

P.S. Here's my four favorite photos I took that day. FYI - I found most of these shots/angles by following after my son :-)








 
 
 
  
 

Ben Franklin's Daily Schedule

In my wandering around the interwebs, I discovered this post by Nick Bolton and have borrowed this public domain image from Franklin's autobiography for our conversation today.

I think this is a great way to approach every day. Time to organize. Time to work. Time to eat. Time to reflect and relax. Time to sleep. There's plenty of time for it all, and it's structured around two questions: "What good shall I do this day?", which starts the day, and "What good have I done today?" which ends the day.

With those questions framing every day, it's hard to imagine not being creative and energized each day. I know that most days I don't explicitly take time to ask these questions, and maybe that's why many days I lack focus and energy.

So, if it worked for Ben, I'm going to give it a try, and start and end each day with a reflection on the good I can do and the good I accomplished.

Pencil Potential

I'm rediscovering the pencil.

Growing up, pencils were the writing utensil of choice, pretty much all the way through high school. Pens were reserved for essays, while pencils were used for notes. And doodles. I used to doodle a lot in those "down times" in class. 

Using a pencil reminds me of those days when I doodled my perfect car, starships, and even designed (I realize now in hindsight) my first logo. I used to fill pages with stylized scribbles of my initials "MS". I still remember how I did it (see photo above). In other words, using a pencil takes me back to the place where there was only potential, and I hadn't set limits on what was possible.

So, I'm using a pencil more. For notes. For my to-do list. For doodles (again).

What can you do to rediscover the potential of the time(s) you were most creative? Is there some symbol or artifact form those times that you can use to help you recapture that potential?

The Power of Trust

Never underestimate the power of trust in the creative process.

Creativity is about risk. A trusting environment gives a safe place to land if the risk results in failure. 

Trust goes both ways. The one creating has to trust that the audience will understand what was intended, and the audience has to trust that the creative person has their best interests in mind.

Trust inspires trust. The more trust is shared, each party thrives on the trust of the other.

Trust takes work. Communication that is open, honest, and direct leads to clearer expectations and understanding of what is hoped for.

What can you do to increase other's trust in your creative processes? What do you need from others to trust that they will receive your creativity?

Right In Front Of Me

The better way was right in front of me, and it took me over six months to see it.

About six months ago I got a new keyboard. The old keyboard was tired. Some keys were sticking a bit (probably from all the dropped food crumbs, but that's another story). The old keyboard had volume level controls and I was used to being able to hit mute when the phone rang or I needed to talk with someone. However, if I wanted to actually stop the music from playing, I had to dig through all the open application windows to hit "pause" in iTunes. What a pain...

Guess what I "discovered" on the new keyboard? Play. Pause. Forward. Rewind! It was there all the time, but I was so in the habit of still playing/pausing music the way I had with the old keyboard, that I had not stopped to discover what was possible with the new keyboard. My computer music playing life is changed forever!

This got me thinking about other habits I have that prevent me from seeing what's possible creatively. I know I have lots of them, and I'm going to be working to discover what they might be, and how I might deal with them. One habit I know I want to focus on is being quiet - something I'm not good at. So, I'll start with five minutes a day of quiet thoughtful time. No tv, no books, no driving, no music. 

This will be a new habit that will require taking the time to make it happen, which means breaking some old habits. My goal is to discover other "right in front of me" things that will help me be more creative. Look for a progress report in a couple of weeks.

What is "right in front of you" that you're missing? What are things you can do to see them better?

Habit Forming

For a variety of reasons, I got out of the habit of writing for this blog about a month ago.

For a variety of reasons, I also got out of the habit of being creative.

Connected?

I indeed think they're related. I've realized that I tend to do this February hibernation thing that follows my involvement in the ELCA Youth Ministry Network Extravaganza. I'm not as motivated to tackle the projects that aren't "fun", do the chores, go to church, etc... And I've been doing this for the past three or four years from about second week of February to second week or so of March. I also usually get a cold/flu during this time. Interesting...

Of course, I want to know "Why???" 

I think it's no "One" thing. It's the long winter days. It's the let-down after an awesome gathering with friends. It's the allergies/cold/flu thing. It's pending tax time. It's all that and more...

Of course, I want to know "What's the fix???"

I'm working on the fix. I think a big part of it will be realizing that there will be times of of the year with easy creative rhythms and times of the year with challenging creative rhythms. In other words, some times will just be funky, and I'll need to pay attention to finding ways to be creative and motivated during those more challenging times. 

The next step for me is to get back in the habits I had before the hibernation time. I'll be paying attention to the little and big things that help me be creative and motivate me to do my best work. Getting back in the groove of writing for this blog is one of those details...

How do you work through challenging creative rhythms - those long stretches of time when you're not motivated or feeling especially creative?

In Praise of: Holiday Hiatus

This week's theme: In Praise Of... 

This will be a celebration and lifting up of the simple things that inspire, empower and enrich creativity.

This year's unexpected dose of extremely heavy snow in the Seattle area conspired to make getting out of the house difficult, getting in the groove of work almost impossible, and "forced" me to do a lot more nothing than I planned from December 17 - January 1.

This turned out to be just what I needed. Maybe the reason I could not get in a work groove at this time was because I needed a hiatus? It was necessary to get some projects moved along, but the creative spark was just not there. It was nice to have the "excuse" of weather and the holiday to relax.

Now, the first week of January is here, and it's full-speed ahead. I know it's going to be an extremely busy month, but I'm energized for it now. 

So, thank you heavy snow and holiday hiatus for giving me a break!

How can you find time for a hiatus to recharge? Are there ways to grab a mini-hiatus (an extended lunch, time with friends?) in the midst of a busy week?

Creativity Step One

The first step to be creative is being prepared.

Being prepared means having all the information you need to know about the creative direction you will head (or maybe what is the unexpected creative direction).

Here's the project information I've learned that I need to get started:

• Who's the audience? 
• What's the story for this project? What's the mantra (the 3-5 word distillation of the project's essence) for this project?
• When is it due? What milestones are there along the way? 
• What's the budget? 
• Who else is involved (other creatives, vendors, etc...)? 
• Who has approval authority? 

I've found that quite often it takes more time getting the above information then actually doing the creative work. This is probably because in the process of collecting this information, I've gotten a pretty good handle on the project direction, have had time to let it simmer in my head, and the pieces seem to come together pretty quickly. 

It's in projects where I forget or "Don't have time" to do a preparation process that I find I have the most creative difficulty. I don't know where to start. I don't like any direction I've come up with. I feel like the deadline is approaching WAY too fast. Usually, a phone call or email to the client to gather a bit more information is extremely helpful, and often provides the missing piece to the creative puzzle.

What can you do on your next creative project to be better prepared? What have you found helpful in past preparation processes?

Bonus Day

It's snowing in Seattle (and Sammamish).

Wet snow + lots of hills + not many snow plows = schools closed and lots of people staying home.

Since I work from home, staying home isn't new. What does create a different rhythm is my son and wife being home due to school closures. It almost feels like I'm working on the weekend, and that makes today a bonus day.

Here's what else I've noticed about the different rhythm of days like today:

• The phone is not ringing as much. Only one call, and that was to cancel a meeting.
• Emails are not flooding my in box. Except from folks in the midwest, who are used to the white stuff and prosper in it due to lack of hills and reduced moisture content of their snow. 
• The house feels different with the fam around. I have to put on headphones if I want to play my 80's hair metal loud. Sigh. 
• I feel like I'm getting ahead on projects. Awesome! 

How do you deal with disruptions to your normal workflow?