How to be CREATIVE
Recently, I had a fun and fruitful brainstorming session with a very creative friend. After the session, Mike Kaufman emailed me:
Kate,
Such a delight and great help to get a dose of your perspective and creative energy…After our conversation I realized a big question that I forgot to ask you. You seem driven and moved by creativity (I love that) -- what's creativity?
Warm wishes, Mike
My response:
Hahahahahaha!
Good question.
Creativity: A generative process resulting from curiosity and play, and devoid of rules and expectations.
I thought that was the end of the conversation, but no, Mike went further still:
Great answer. If I can "inspire" a bit further, the bigger (practical) questions for me are how you turn it on and how you recognize you're not there yet. A million answers out in the world....What are yours -- for you -- and for other people you are helping? (Hope that's not too much inspiration!). Thank you!!
To which I answered:
Oh, my gosh! OK. So, John Cleese just wrote a book on creativity and I was lucky enough to be at the dinner with him after the talk…
I asked him just that--HOW do you make yourself creative? Was it working alone, at a certain time during the day, with certain people? He told a hilarious story about using the Thesaurus with Graham Chapman to find silly words like “plummet,” which led, of course to sheep plummeting, but really had no prescription.*
However, this is what I would say I need:
1) TIME--I use Freedom App on my computer to block gmail, FB, and SOLITAIRE! I need 4 hour blocks.
2) CONTEXT--A context (film outline, topic, structure, set-up, medium)
3) SPACE--cosy, beautiful, quiet, uninterrupted
4) ABANDON--I'm pretty good at flowing with no editor, though I know that is a struggle for most. I have virtually no judgement or expectation when I create.
5) TEA and WATER
Mike offered me his own recipe for creativity:
Kate, your answer is great to hear. For me, the immediate circumstances you describe -- having time, space, recent interaction with the right kind of kindred spirits -- all matter. Actually, kindred spirits to interact with is the most important thing, hands down. I also think that whatever my creative pursuit is, it needs to fit where my life is. Gotta feel thrilled about whatever creative pursuit I am focused on. Otherwise, feels like work. Looking forward to your blog! Thanks for the lovely exchange and insights.
Mike
What is YOUR recipe for creativity? Add to the comments!
Resources for Creativity:
Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg (I’m pretty sure she stayed in our office/cottage and saw her book on the shelf! I took this with me when I was shooting a TV movie and wanted something on the set to make me remember that creativity is alive everywhere—even TV!)
The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron (I did her program 35 years ago with friends, tossed 10 boxes of “Morning Pages” 25 years ago, and just started doing them again!)
Anne Lamott Bird By Bird (Fabulous, funny, human)
The Soprano on Her Head by Eloise Ristad (My mother’s favorite book on creativity—she left it in my office for me. Will read!)
Elizabeth Gilbert’s TED Talk (Love this! It doesn’t work for me to have a regular time to write, but I love the idea that we are a vessel and not an ego.)
Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert (OK, I haven’t read it “personally,” but I hear it’s great! And I LOVE EG’s fiction, so something’s working!)
An Actor’s Companion by Seth Barrish (I can’t say enough about the way that Seth’s work pushes aside the ego for human beauty.)
Creativity: A Short and Cheerful Guide by John Cleese (*I haven’t read it yet…!)
Ideas from Mike:
Rilke's first letter in Letters to a Young Poet has always been profound for me in understanding the wellspring of creativity -- expressing it must be necessary (and I would add, it must feel urgent). Creative expression can come from play or less deliberate intention but I think when it comes to making space in one's life and honoring it as a commitment requiring space and time, Rilke has always been a guide to me both in making decisions for myself and in helping others I work with to choose to protect time and space for this (and other) sacred activities. It superficially often doesn't get framed as something productive when competing with work and family and other demands, but that's an illusion. I have many more thoughts about Rilke's perspective and why it resonates but I will leave it there.
The second thing that comes to mind when I think of creativity is my friend, Janet Echelman, who has a TED Talk that shows how she reimagined her work and career while on Fulbright in India. Her massive billowing sculptures above cities are astonishing reaches into the recesses of the preconscious, and just beautiful.