conversational creativity

creativity is but an unfolding conversation

I find for myself that my first thought is never my best thought. My first thought is always someone else’s; it’s always what I’ve already heard about the subject, always the conventional wisdom. It’s only by concentrating, sticking to the question, being patient, letting all the parts of my mind come into play, that I arrive at an original idea.

William Deresiewicz • Solitude and Leadership

Great works are unsettling, disorienting, they confound our expectations. In this definition, it’s almost impossible for a great work to be considered ‘refined’ at the time of its creation, because its elements are alien, they have not yet had time to have been weighed and evaluated.

Visakan Veerasamy • on scaffolding

A conversation’s trajectory shapes not just what is said, but what becomes possible to say, in turn.

A Philosophy of Conversation

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Humans aren’t meant to excavate their inner feelings until they find their “true self.” We become ourselves in relation, not through introspection.

Laura London on Substack

i cannot overstate how big the difference is between

a - learning a map, then venturing into the territory, and

b - venturing through the territory, then finding out there are maps

Rudra Dakini • Tweet

Ray Bradbury talks about the importance of not thinking when he is writing. He says that when he arrives at the typewriter, his task is to be living. To let his soul pour out onto the page. To quiet the mind and let his body do the talking. Then, he checks his work afterwards using the mind as a ‘corrective force’ to refine. But he uses the body to... See more

When two people relate to each other authentically and humanly, God is the electricity that surges between them.

— Martin Buber

Sherry Ning • Don't look too closely, love