creativity
“The whole self-esteem movement taught us erroneously that praising intelligence, talent, abilities would foster self-confidence, self-esteem, and everything great would follow. But we’ve found it backfires. People who are praised for talent now worry about doing the next thing, about taking on the hard task, and not looking talented, tarnishing th... See more
James Clear • Creativity Is a Process, Not an Event
adult hobbies worth trying
substack.com
so lately, i’ve been trying to re-learn. not to be good at things. not to master them. but to remember what it feels like to live inside my life without constantly asking it to justify itself. hobbies, i’m realizing, are less about skill and more about permission. permission to be a beginner again. permission to be mediocre. permission to fail without consequences. permission to enjoy something even if you never get better at it.
it begins with acknowledging that the practice of creativity is life source. you do it because it makes you more of who you are. it both IS your gifts and offerings, and amplifies your gifts and offerings to the world. like money, art is water. it feeds everything you have to give. it sustains life.
Kening Zhu • your art, ecosystem, and alchemy — kening zhu
Good artist = identity-based; depends heavily on perception and reputation.
Good art = outcome-based; still subjective, but more tethered to the work itself.
For no good reason
Big ideas don’t show up fully formed, standing in our path. They need to be coaxed unto the open through persistent inquiry and exploration.
What Is Creativity? Cultural Icons on What Ideation Is and How It Works
Maria Popovathemarginalian.org
The intellect is a great danger to creativity … because you begin to rationalize and make up reasons for things, instead of staying with your own basic truth — who you are, what you are, what you want to be. I’ve had a sign over my typewriter for over 25 years now, which reads “Don’t think!” You must never think at the typewriter — you must feel. Your intellect is always buried in that feeling anyway. … The worst thing you do when you think is lie — you can make up reasons that are not true for the things that you did, and what you’re trying to do as a creative person is surprise yourself — find out who you really are, and try not to lie, try to tell the truth all the time. And the only way to do this is by being very active and very emotional, and get it out of yourself — making things that you hate and things that you love, you write about these then, intensely.