An excellent companion to the other creative living reading I've been doing lately, lent to me by my boss! Easy to read, colourful, motivating, filled with inspiration and ideas to get you thinking outside the box and believing in yourself.
This is a fun short book about creativity which is all about motivating you to get creative. It didn't really unlock anything extra creative in me though, I just thought it was a fun little book.
Feels like a series of blog posts. So much contradiction as well, but maybe that鈥檚 all part of creativity - throw any and all rules out the window of yourself and of society and just create.
A real can't put down book. Full of insights into some of the greatest creative people and just what we need to do to realise the creativity inside us.
I won a copy of this book. It's usually not something I would buy but I'm so happy that I got a chance to read this.It's a beautifully designed book with a lot of inspiring stories. A real joy too read.
I was only going to give this 3 stars. But the more I read, the more I appreciated the approach of the author. This is a great book for dipping into when you're feeling a bit stuck or unmotivated. Many of these 57 ideas are well known, but some were new to me. I did enjoy it. 4.5 stars
It was simple and succinct ... broke down what the creative mind needs to do (and keep doing) to maintain a constant production of art and/or new ideas. Worthy of much note-taking.
Open yourself to what is unsure, uncertain, and unstable. Chance forced one to work in new and unexpected ways.
If you take chances you will lose your ways occasionally. If you don鈥檛 take chances you will certainly lose yourself.
49. Go further than too far.
Only by risking going too far can you find out how far you can actually go.
Comfort is not stimulating but stifling. Step outside and be challenged and inspired.
Expanding your comfort zone creates confidence.
A giant leap in a different direction.
37. Be certain of uncertainty.
Everything around you is constantly changing. Nothing is fixed. Nothing is forever. Creative people don鈥檛 work against this knowledge but work with it.
Everything is in a state of flux. Boundaries between disciplines break down, values become increasingly blurred and change accelerates.
Instead of attempting to make sense of the confusion or produce order from chaos, Dada embraces it. Dada鈥檚 work reflected the flux and chaos they were surrounded by. They kept faith with absurdity and uncertainty. Their works lacked center or focus.
Eg. Dadaist Hans Arp: threw torn-up drawing onto the floor, new image created by the jumbled fragments arranged by chance, he stuck down the way they had landed. He continued to work with cut up photographs and drawings to create a visual image of chaos.
A feature of contemporary culture is the speed of change and flexible values. Enjoy this uncertainty. Do not try to impose a false order.
Anyone who isn鈥檛 confused doesn鈥檛 truly understand what is going on.
50. Learn how to learn.
The mind has to explore in an open-ended way. The point of learning is growth, and a mind, unlike the body, can keep on growing until we die.
7. Think in images.
Visual thinking (right brain) is much more fluid and increases inspiration.
Whenever you are trying to think of ideas, concentrate on forming visual images in your mind.
Better still, draw them.
57. Make it happen.
If you want something to happen, you will have to make it happen.
Turning an idea into a reality takes effort. Only action will turn concepts into reality.
A creative mind is proactive, not passive.
While others are thinking of reasons/excuses/procrastination of why a task is too difficult/impossible, the creatives are thinking of reasons WHY it鈥檚 possible and DO IT.
2. If you can鈥檛 find a way, make one.
19. Don鈥檛 compete, create.
12. Begin anywhere.
You have to look at the familiar as if you have never seen it before. Make this your starting point.
I received this as a gift a while back and just pulled it off the bookshelf this morning. I'm looking for five short books to read before the end of the year in order to hit my 2018 reading goal. (Sorry, gift giver, that I waited to read your book until it fit my criteria of "can be read in a day".)
I circled lots of pithy statements, any one of which would be very useful if I took it and ran with it. For example: "Whatever you think you are is what you will be." "Manet...didn't adapt his work to make it more acceptable; he simply built his own pavilion and put on his own exhibition." "Spending your life doing something you don't really care about is the scary option. Looking back and thinking could have, might have, and should have is the saddest feeling of all." "The German artist Joseph Beuys...asked himself who he wanted to be. He then set about turning himself into that person." "No one can go back and make a brand new start, but anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending." Romare Bearden: "I think the artist has to be something like a whale, swimming with its mouth open, absorbing everything until it has what it needs." "If you were going to die soon and could only do one thing, what would it be and why are you waiting?" "Create the right environment...An environment in which it is enjoyable to spend time makes it easier to produce creative work." "Put your creative work first. Start the day with your personal work...You owe it to yourself to make your creative development the top priority." "Weak ink lasts longer than a strong memory. Inspiration fades quickly from the mind. The creative put ideas on paper the moment they have them."
In short, I need to clean up my workspace and start making a lot of stuff.
some great tidbits and quotes in here. helpful in learning to embrace uncertainty. some of my favorite excerpts:
鈥淒on鈥檛 ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you feel most alive. Then go and do it. What the world needs is people who are feeling invigorated by life.鈥�
鈥淚 think the artist has to be something like a whale, swimming with its mouth open, absorbing everything until it has what it needs.鈥� Romare Bearden
鈥淒on鈥檛 let anything stop you from creating, wherever you are, however you feel. The creative never take a vacation.鈥�