I sat in Kadoka, South Dakota eating a continental breakfast and debating with myself. Should I stay or should I go? Why am I even doing this trip? I generally knew the answers, or thought I knew the answers to these questions. I should stay and catch up on writing about the previous three weeks worth of experiences; people, places, things. So what if it costs me some time and another $40 for a hotel room? After all, in addition to seeing my country’s beauty and seeing long time friends, one of the primary reasons I did this trip was to explore and learn about the creative process and how to personally improve in it.
About creativity…I discovered that on this trip, I’m typically the most creative at 70 mph, riding in solitude. Alone, in a never-ending expanse of asphalt and beauty, the thoughts come and come, effortlessly. Wonderful, if you can remember those creative thoughts later when you have time to articulate them on paper or into music. Obviously, recording thoughts is not easy, nor safe, to do while riding when all of your faculties are otherwise tasked. Seeing as how the only musical instrument I brought on the trip was a harmonica, which I used once, getting my musical thoughts down has proven difficult. The several songs I composed in my head during rides were forgotten a day later. To correct this, I planned to pick up a microphone for my portable digital recorder. If I could record my thoughts into the recorder and sing my musical ideas while riding, perhaps the ideas would not perish. I have yet to get this mic.
One of the activities that helped me re-learn and re-appreciate the fleeting nature of creativity is the videos I’ve recorded. When video taping, it is not possible to push off the process until later (except the editing and posting processes which I do push off…practically forever). A beautiful scene or a memorable visit needs to be recorded now. There is no later, no going back in time and recording when you have a moment to rest (unless you’re an exceptional and well disciplined artist). In this way, recording on tape is different than writing words or composing music. Making a decision to record or not to record something will have concrete consequences in the outcome of the creative project. I learned from this and began applying it to my writing process. It is not possible to write at length about everything heard, touched, tasted, seen, and smelled. Instead, I began jotting down thoughts and experiences in my little notebook to come back to later. Hopefully, this discipline has helped.
What have I learned about creativity? It’s fleeting. When you have it you need to get it down. Otherwise it will leave you before you snag a thought or a melody with your medium or choice.
What else have I learned about creativity? All too often, creative thoughts are trumped by the stresses of real life. I’ve found that a paradox exists for me in this thinking. Again, one of my goals for this trip was to experience and creatively record “real life” as I saw it around the country. Yet, my own “real life” affects the creative process and therefore this specific goal. Worldly responsibilities intrude and demand first attention. Thoughts about life after the trip consistently creep their way into my mind. Where will I live? What will I do? How long will I have to complete my essays for graduate school applications? When will I run out of money? This thinking often forces creativity to the side. I usually say to myself, “I’ll write about this experience later” or “I’ll take a day or two at this next stop and catch up on all the thoughts and experiences I’ve neglected to record.” Before long, the deficit of creative thoughts that “need to be recorded” is so great that the task of recording all of them becomes overwhelming, another obstacle. Momentum is lost and recording new creative thoughts seems hopelessly inconsequential; there is too much material still in deficit. The value of creativity is incorrectly placed on the subject of the creativity, namely experiences, rather than the joy of being creative and existing in the realm of new ideas; spiritual, philisophical, musical.
A good analogy to the creative process is exercise. Many exercise specialists will emphasize the need for consistency, not duration, in exercise programs. My brother recognized this and promoted consistency in his successful exercise program at his old company. It is more beneficial to work out three to five times a week consistently, as opposed to waiting and “building up” all the workouts for one day out of the week. This very thinking leads many to not maintain exercise programs; the work-out “deficit” is too high and discouraging. Creativity is the same way. Therefore, the process of recording creative thoughts consistently is as important, if not more important, than what topic or subject the creative thoughts are on. To be creative, you must be creative now, not later.
So, I decided to be creative now, in the present. And in time (famous last words), I will go back and fill in the gaps.
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4 comments:
Joel,
I've enjoyed your postings. Nice being re-acquainted with some of your olds buddies in their hometown settings. I particularly liked the Lumberjack Museum and singing with Bert. The spelunking in Detroit videos were a little too long.
With regard to your current posting on creativity, I agree with you that repetition is important. It creates behavior and an opportunity where creativity can occur and helps to block out the background noise that continuously assaults our senses. The creative process can be inspirational or can be methodical. The first results from a gee whiz moment while the latter comes from a nugget that is explored, built and fleshed out through a deliberate, focused effort. Each informs the other.
When your Mom composes a poem there seems to be a buildup of the creative urge that at some point can no longer be ignored. A flurry of creative effort is usually set off by something she experiences in her immediate environment (another persons poem, a song, a talk with friends, a look at nature, etc.). There is a flurry of activity where the central theme is explored, the content is rapidly laid down to capture the meter (style) and some of the word pictures. This inspirational phase is followed by a more deliberate, focused development effort where images are removed, modified and added to. The inspirational phase is usually less than a day and the more methodical, building phase can last weeks with many intervals of work and rest. I think your Mom would agree that sometimes you’re successful and sometimes you’re not. The process, however, is always worthwhile and feeds the creative spirit.
Joel-
You're a born writer! You are doing the right thing by living in the moment and recording your experiences. That is exactly the way to set yourself up for great writing.
Your entry, "Thoughts on Creativity" encouraged me more to keep on writing. It's a process no doubt, but a good one at that.
-molly
thanks for the comments. I'm glad that they've helped you Molly. Thanks Pop for the insight into Mom's creative process. Also, thanks for the constructive criticism on the Spelunking. They were a little too long and should have been put to music. Perhaps I'll cut them down some and put them to music and then repost. Of course that requires time.
I can relate to your experience with creativity. For me, creativity is something that seems to happen when I am engaged in a subject. When I am focused hard on a subject and am made to think of different angles and opinions, to acquire and asses new information no matter how little; this is when I become the most reflective. And I don't mean reflective on only the subject I have been focusing on, but rather my thoughtfulness and creativity changes how I view everything. I gain a state, I suppose you could call it a mental "zone", where I can learn and reflect on nearly anything.
For this reason, I was much happier freshman year of college than I was last year. Despite the fact that I now have many more friends and my grades have drastically improved.
Engaging subjects, mentors, and good conversation all contribute to my creative and reflective aura. My suggestion is to try and engage yourself in any subject that interests you and talk about it with friends and family, be it religion, science, humanity, or other. I believe this will help you in your quest for creativity.
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