Creativity
Love to create~
Creativity
One of the final challenges—“observe something else”—urges readers to go somewhere (“a park, a mall, a gas station, a café”), sit awhile, and just look. “Pause and imagine what a single person is thinking,”
Rob Walker • The Art of Noticing: 131 Ways to Spark Creativity, Find Inspiration, and Discover Joy in the Everyday
Georgia O’Keefe says “To see takes time.” And in her career, she returned to the same subjects over and over in new mediums, during new seasons, and at different points of her life, finding new details and entire worlds emerge in the same subjects.
Spencer Chang • field notes on being a creative [pt. 1]
Another idea if you want to push against the mental pressure that kills good ideas, from Paul Graham’s recent essay on how to do good work: “One way to do that is to ask what would be good ideas for someone else to explore. Then your subconscious won't shoot them down to protect you.” I don’t know of anyone using this technique, but it might work.
Henrik Karlsson • Cultivating a state of mind where new ideas are born Cultivating a state of mind where new ideas are born
When Things Don't Work (Because Sometimes They Won't)
Listen, not every Note will be a hit, and that's okay. Here's what to do when a Note flops:
Wait 24 hours
Look at what did work that day
Try again with a different angle
Keep showing up
The secret isn't perfection – it's consistency.
I made a decision a long time ago that if I want creativity in my life—and I do—then I will have to make space for fear, too. Plenty of space. I decided that I would need to build an expansive enough interior life that my fear and my creativity could peacefully coexist, since it appeared that they would always be together.
Elizabeth Gilbert • Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear
Pursue your curiosity
A little nonsense now and then, is cherished by the wisest men - Roald Dahl