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I’m currently listening to Imagine: How Creativity Works by Jonah Lehrer. It’s an essential work on creativity. Bringing together tons of examples and studies to draw a more clear picture on how creativity works, and how we may better access it. One of the story’s he tells in the book is about Bob Dylan.

Bob Dylan, being burned out on music and writing and the whole thing, left the music industry to be alone in a cabin in upstate New York. He didn’t even bring his guitar. After telling his manager that he was done with music and was going to start working on a novel, Dylan, in his loneliness, became overwhelmed with a feeling that he had something to say. So he grabbed notebook and wrote. For hours he wrote. And 20 pages later, the song he had written was: Like A Rolling Stone. He then returned to the music scene and blew peoples minds with his new work.

“I don’t know where my songs come from. It’s like a ghost is writing a song. It gives you the song and it goes away. You don’t know what it means.”- Bob Dylan

Sometimes, that moment of creative insight, that lightening in a bottle, comes so fast we miss it. Or worse, we don’t trust it. Sometimes it’s like a ghost is leading you to an idea and you don’t know where the idea is going to take you.

Maybe you don’t always need to know?
Maybe, as Lehrer and Bob Dylan suggest, you just have to trust the ghost.

Chris Creed, Creative inspiration, Work Blog

Happy Monday!

Question:
I love this idea of “the ghost.” How would you describe that moment of creative insight for you?

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  • Tom Schaber - When I’m doing something and all of a sudden my intuition shrieks at me to think about another topic not remotely associated with what I’m doing. TomReplyCancel

    • Chris Creed - Great description, Tom! That’s exactly what creativity is: New ideas connecting will old ideas to make something new. Thanks for reading!ReplyCancel

  • Mark Brown - Great post! And fantastic analogy of the process.

    For me, I seemingly only know the moment of creation after it is over. As the “work” is taking shape – it’s a time of unconsciousness almost; a time when there are no external or internal influences. It’s an amazing time that I honor, respect, and am unbelievably appreciative of.ReplyCancel

    • Chris Creed - Mark Brown. That’s exactly it! It’s like that in-between time. Like the feeling you have when you’re not quite awake yet in the morning. So cool but sometimes it’s not as easy to see it until it’s done.ReplyCancel

So, ’tis the season to be looking for new ways to grow and learn yes? Having good stimuli in your life is an essential part of being a healthy creative. It helps us in our creative process so we can make better ‘stuff.’
Podcasts

Podcasts are a huge source of stimuli for me. A podcast, for those who don’t know or don’t use them, is like a radio of show of various different topics, interviews, or stories split off in to episodes. Usually short and sweet and full of good info to feed your brain. And also, it’s free! (Huge bonus!)

Here are a few podcasts that I listen to on a regular basis and will continue to listen to for 2014:

The Accidental Creative Podcast.
Stemming from his book The Accidental Creative, Todd Henry uses this space to spin-off ideas and interviews with awesome people. This one is one of my favorites because it’s spot on. Every time. A must listen.

Mysterious Universe.
It’s a podcast done by two Australian guys (Which makes it fun.) they talk about various topics from science news, current events, and UFOS 🙂 This show’s huge advantage is that it is REALLY well done. The sound quality is unbelievable and these guys are incredible storytellers. I listen to this one to take my brain out the norm. Obviously.

This American Life.
Weekly podcast of the award-winning radio show “This American Life.”Ira Glass. Brilliant storytelling. It’s just good.

EntreLeadership Podcast.
An unbelievable resource for leaders and entrepreneurs. It’s full of interviews with top leaders and entrepreneurs with bouts of wisdom from Dave Ramsey on how he started his business and built it to what it is today. Great podcast with a crazy huge back catalog to go through. This one should keep you busy 🙂

Seth Godin’s Start-up School.
An unbelievable FREE resource for entrepreneurs and artists. This is audio from a course he did with entrepreneurs, answering questions and having a conversation with them about starting their crazy ideas. Unscripted. Unrehearsed. Brilliant.

These are just a drop in the bucket of what’s available. Go on iTunes and checkout podcasts today if you haven’t already and see what you can find. Or you can find all of these online and listen to them in your browser. Easy way to feed your creativity in 2014 🙂

Happy Saturday!

Question:
What’s your favorite podcast?

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Getting paid is awesome. I enjoy it. I enjoy the work that I do and delivering a quality product consistently to clients. But there are times when I need to create something that is just for me. Not for money.  But for the sole purpose of feeding my soul.

Todd Henry talks about this in his book The Accidental Creative. He calls it “Unnecessary Creating.” The act of creating something unnecessarily, not for money, is something that must be worked into our creative practices in order to maintain a healthy working level. It allows you to take risks, to innovate, to explore, to find wilderness. We have to make stuff to make a living, but we have to make stuff for ourselves to remember why we do what what we do. Why make something that won’t make you money? To remember the why. So we don’t “lose the love for the process” as Todd Henry says. Because when you lose the love for the process, you burnout.

For photographers, especially in our busiest seasons, we are tempted to lock the camera up in the closet and not get it out until we have to. But it is in these seasons when we need to be cultivating our creativity the most. That’s why Jen and I started a personal project a few years ago where we photographed artists in their daily lives. Telling the story that an artist is always creating:

 

Now we are focusing on landscapes and documenting our travels as our main source of personal work:

 

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Whatever you do, just make it matter. Make it mean something to you because it’s for you and only you. Your personal work is going to feed your paid work. This is one of the many ways long-term creative entrepreneurs cultivate resilience. They are intentional with what they get paid to do, but even more so with what they don’t. The Resilient Creative keeps the love for their craft close. They make stuff they don’t get paid for, so they can keep getting paid to make stuff. It’s the messed up, backwards, truth of being a creative entrepreneur. Don’t lose the love for the process, folks! It’s what keeps us going.

Challenge:

Make something for yourself today. It doesn’t have to be the best think you’ve ever made. But take a risk.

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  • meganwrightdesignco - Love these thoughts Chris. You are so right. Just added The Accidental Creative to my reading list. Thanks!ReplyCancel

    • Chris Creed - Thanks for reading Megan! You’ll love Todd’s book. He has another he just released call Die Empty. It’s on my list for this year 🙂ReplyCancel

  • Gregory Byerline - Truth. Planning several personal for-me projects this year. And by several, I mean many.ReplyCancel

    • Chris Creed - Awesome! Stoked to see what you make Gregory! And also we are overdue for coffee 😉ReplyCancel

I’ve been thinking a lot about contribution. As I start of the new year, I ask myself what it is I want to contribute. What causes do I want to champion? What bridges to I want to build? Who do I want to help? How can I help?

I also had the thought: Where is my contribution?

If I do nothing… My contribution doesn’t exist. It is nowhere. It never was.
Contribution Lives In Action

My contribution and yours lives in action. It lives in movement. It lives in growth and failure. It does not live in busyness. There is no passive way to win. There is no external variant that will grant you permission to contribute. Your contribution is yours and yours alone.

When you’re planning your year and thinking about the stuff you want to make in 2014, ask yourself these questions:

What moves me?
What can I do about it?
What can I make to help?

Contribution is about making something that matters. But you and only you get to decide what that is. Don’t feel like you don’t have anything to contribute. You do. And we all need it.

Happy Wednesday!

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I made several starts on posts this morning but none of them felt right. So I’ll just say what I was trying to say in all of those here:

You’re awesome. So by extension of your awesomeness, you can make awesome stuff. You don’t have to wait to be inspired or wait for permission. No, you are crazy awesome right now and I want to see you blow peoples freaking minds.

As entrepreneurs, as creatives, as humans, we have the right to make something new. We have a responsibility to change the game, to be crazy, to be brave. To make new stuff and then break it and then make it again.

So if nobody is telling you this today, let me be the one to say: That’s you. You’re the crazy one. Go head wit yo crazy.

Happy Tuesday!

Question:
What’s the biggest fear for you this year keeping you from your goals?
Try writting down all the ways that specific fear is wrong.

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