It’s a blog! On creativity and stuff! Yeah!

At first i thought i was doing ok with the whole blogging thing…I figured that by just writing something as it came to me i’d end up with articles which really show what’s on my mind. I’m not so sure of it anymore though, as i’ve started thinking about whether i can get my point across much better if i really dig deep and think about how to express my thoughts….much like in an essay! I guess it kinda depends on whether i’m writing this to express myself or for the benefit of other people, but the way i see it is that even though if i put a lot of time and planning into it and try and match all this criteria then surely soemthing must be lost on the way? I found last term that when i was writing my Philosopy of education essay that at times i really wanted to just put what came to my head but had to adapt things time and time again to make it more academic and acceptable for the essay.  I’ve read through my other posts and at times it just looks like i’m waffling on…so i’m not sure what to do now! I mean, i’m writing now just as it comes to me and trying not to think about the best way to express my feelings…but as a result of not thinking about it i could probably repeat myself or go off on tangents or anything!

This kinda reminds me of when i was thinking about my girlfriend’s course…she does graphic design – so she’s designing posters, interpreting songs and designing potential cd covers etc. – but what struck me was how strict the mark scheme was for her work! I can’t say i remember the specifics, but i remember being really shocked by the criteria which the work had to check in order to get a certain grade or mark! I’d never really considered it before that, but does it strike anyone else that having mark schemes or even marks in the first place kinda holds back what could truly be said to be creativity? What’s left of a creative exercise if it’s being made to jump thorugh hoops in order to get recognition? Apparently grades are as important in her course as in ours as she says potential job oppurtunities would be largely decided on the employer’s personal opinion of her portfolio, but the idea of a mark scheme for a course like that really struck me as being a big counter-intuitive! Although a certain amount of structure i reckon will be helpful when utilising the skills in the workplace,  it just seems to me as though the whole idea of grades, mark schemes, deadlines etc is an example of the subject really been seen as a means to an end really, instead of it being specifically about the work itself!

I’ve found myself more and more tempted to post links to wider topics in the past week or so. I’ve linked creativity with being really closely tied with self-improvement websites generally. I think it’s because i reckon that if people who aren’t creative really want to develop their skills and make time for it, they might have to change more than just their schedule…….??? I’m certain that the education system as discussed by Ken Robsinson is always going to have an effect on people into their later lives! Surely then if the education system is focused badly regarding creativity, and needs a massive overhaul in its focus then anyone wanting to get themselves creative need to do the same..? Now and again i do draw a picture or do some writing or whatnot, but it’s never been on a regular basis. Maybe only 2-3 times a year really. I think maybe if i want to do something on a regular basis then it’s probably more than a case of simply finding time for it, but rather a big old think about what’s important to me and what really isn’t! I’ve been generally interested in sites like http://www.positivityblog.com/, http://www.lifehack.org/ and http://zenhabits.net/ which are all about personal development and stuff and although a lot of the articles on there aren’t specifically focused on simply developing creativity i think probably the vast majority of what they’re about will help in some way!

http://www.positivityblog.com/index.php/2008/10/03/how-to-overcome-your-fear-7-tips-from-the-last-2200-years/

This is a blog I’ve found about facing your fears and overcoming them! This isn’t directly about creativity but I figured that becoming creative is more about overcoming your fear of being wrong or not very good so I figured this could potentially be really help me/anyone becoming more creative!

I found the hypnosis really effective! Not only did i have the free association thing going on when i was under but when i was out of it i felt a lot more focused and attentive! I don’t have my drawing gear up with me but i’m going back home at the weekend so i think i’ll grab it because i really fancied drawing what i’d imagined yesterday! I dunno if my drawing would be half as good as how things looked in my head but nevertheless! I haven’t drawn anything in ages too so it’d be grand to start that off again! I was pretty good at it when i was a kid but when i decided to get back into it a couple of years ago i remember i was constantly checking my work to see if it was ‘good’ instead of just chilling out and enjoying the activity!

Ooh I tried self-hypnosis earlier! It worked really well at first but my girlfriend rang and i got distracted, though i only realised once i was speaking to her that i was missing a couple of hours! Not only that, but i’d managed to find my way to my bed, despite trying the hypnosis thingy on my chair! Very interesting! So yeah, tis pretty useful if you want to go to sleep at 7pm but since i woke up i’ve forgotten what i was thinking about beforehand! From what i remember though i was experiencing something similar to what i had in the seminar, but just by closing my eyes and focusing what my body felt like and stuff. I think i have a Paul McKenna audiobook somewhere actually with a hypnosis part to it which i might check out. I feel as though i might find it more useful if there’s a voice of some sort to listen to! Edit: Although I’m still awake at 1:30am i’ve gotta say I feel more alert and focused than i have done in ages! I dunno if that’s because of specifically the hypnosis or the sleep itself, although I did feel similar after the the seminar on Tuesday. I’m just a bit worried now about when i’ll get to sleep!

I’m quite enjoying this blogging thing. I’ve read a bunch of blogs in the past and i think it’s mainly just because i’m trying to keep it a bit more casual and not worrying too much about it. I dunno what that makes it read like though, so sorry if this is annoying to read!

I’ve stumbled upon a cool website which apparently is all about ‘inspiring creative professionals’ which i’ve found really cool! There’s lots of blog articles and advice on developing creativity and time management and stuff like that! I’ve only looked at it briefly but i’m definitely going to check it out properly in the next few days! Here it is http://www.wishfulthinking.co.uk/blog/best-of-wishful-thinking/

I figured that i’d go into this and just write….so apologies if I waffle but after our first lesson I figured that a good first step is to just enjoy the activity of writing and not worry so much about whether i’m going to blow people’s heads off with some amazing piece or anything like that!

I’ve somehow already watched the Ken Robinson thing sometime before but i still found it really interesting and entertaining! I thought it was cool especially what he mentioned about story of the dancer lady in school; how nowadays many people might be tempted to give people medication and tell them to calm down, which really struck me as i’ve experienced this happening a lot to people in my classes in school! Obviously some kids might be have some problems but it’s more the lack of effort in utlising their natural tendencies which i thought was interesting. How often in the natural world are animals – infants especially – to be expected to sit down and stay still and silent for hours on end? I don’t think there will ever be many diagnosed cases of ADD for children who happen to live in the wild anyway!

I got really interested in this after spending time with some kids when i was a camp counselor in my gap year. This one kid especially had an outrageous imagination and would come up with the craziest stories on the spot. It bothered me how in a few years when he’s a teenager that kinda talent is likely to be neglected! I remember once we were waiting for his mum at the end of the day and i’d ask him what she looked like and he’d be like ‘oh she’s half human, half ghost, and half alligator’! Needless to say i thought this kid was quality.

I found a really good article a while ago about how competitive and cliquey secondary school (High school in the American article) tends to be, which i’m going to try and find again, where the guy discusses how all this flourishing creativity in children tends to die out in his opinion when kids start worrying more about how popular they are and wanting to follow all the trends so that they don’t get picked on by others…which did happen a lot in secondary school. He talks a lot about his own experiences of this kind of attitude by children in schools and what he suggests to tackle the problem. Looking back i think i worried waaaay too much about what people though in school, and i really think that my creative side has really been ignored! I’ve noticed I’m kinda linking creativity here with individuality, but surely you can’t be creative without to some extent being able to think for yourself!?

I found myself really uncomfortable doing the writing experiment thing, although much less so by the last task which shows some kind of progress! It’s worrying how i thought about it so much though; trying to think about how stupid my writing will be instead of just enjoying the writing process! I suppose i’ve made a lot of progress in this time alone though as i’m havign fun spilling all this into writing and haven’t worried about how good it is so far!

I dunno what to write about now so i think i’ll pack in! I’ll post up that article i mentioned if i am able to find it, and any others i find which i think are cool!

Laters