Creativity ˌkrēāˈtivədē/ noun
- the use of the imagination or original ideas, especially in the production of an artistic work.
I don’t think Creativity was ever something that was meant to be explained. In fact, how do you even begin to explain something that completely irrational in a rational way?! Creativity is not mathematical, it is 100% personal and everyone’s approach to it is so different. It’s like a land of the unknown. It is a wild wonderland territory where rules and the laws of physics don’t apply. In this land EVERYTHING is possible. From nothingness something that didn’t exist before is brought to life. Creativity is madness. The key to using this madness is to domesticate it—like Jason Silva said in one of his Shots of Awe videos—so you can bring back to
our world what you found in Wonderland and turn it into something beautiful and possibly meaningful.
If explaining the word itself wasn’t difficult enough, explaining the creative process an artist goes through is borderline impossible! It is so hard to talk about it without getting too abstract. There is no formula to it, nobody has cracked that code, so for now the only way I can explain it to you is by telling you what I go through during my creative process. I can’t find a way to say this without sounding like a crazy hippie but one important thing to understand is that anytime in my life I’ve been writing, drawing, photographing, dancing or creating choreography, whatever comes out doesn’t really come from ME. I like to say that it comes from the muses! As absurd as it sounds I feel like things come THROUGH me: I’m just some kind of an antenna that catches a signal from somewhere else and brings it here.
If by now you’re still reading and haven’t called the looney bin to come lock me away, this is how I go about my creative process:
There are a few key points I always stick with when I go down the rabbit hole…
-I have to stay true to myself.
-I have to be emotionally invested in what I’m doing.
-I have to love/be passionate about what I’m doing.
That being said, I usually go through 3 phases:
1)INSPIRATION
Being inspired is not a status that is achievable on command but there are things we can do to make it come to us faster.
○ Relax: close your eyes and meditate for a few minutes. Shut all irrelevant thoughts out.
○ Create some sort of ritual that helps you get in the zone: I am usually more productive at night. So I light a bunch of scented candles and I put on music that makes me feel specific ways/moods [I basically get high on Music!]
○ Go to places that make you feel good. Seeing new places always does the trick for me. Being in nature also inspires me immensely but I live in NYC, which is not exactly the greenest city on Earth! Luckily around my neighborhood there are lots of beautiful, little, and hidden gardens. If I need a change of scenery I just pack up my things and spend the day in a garden, or I sit on my deck looking at the sky (the night sky especiallu works wonders for me!)
2) LETTING GO
This is where the Magic happens! It’s also the hardest part of the whole process for me. And once again it’s going to sound very Hippie!
This quote sums up this point perfectly: “In order to use your head, you’ve got to go out of your mind“ – Timothy Leary
○ Let the EGO go. You have to let go of control and let your subconscious take over, he’s a much more fun guy than your conscious side!
○ Lose yourself. No matter how crazy, weird, or nonsensical your ideas can seem, follow them all the way, explore every corner you can, and embrace the unknown!
○ Completely abandon your comfort zone. Like everybody say: “Nothing good ever comes from comfort zones”!
3) EXECUTION
Step 1 and 2 set a pretty good base for you to work on and at this point so all you have to do now is…
○layer on top of what you found down the rabbit hole. You built the base of something, now work on it.
○Don’t listen to the screaming voices of FEAR and SELF DOUBT that will start creeping in (and they WILL creep in trust me), they’ll tell you you are a moron and your ideas are total shit, just ignore that and keep working!
○Follow your Heart!
Creating something for me is the biggest joy! To me Creativity is without a doubt the best quality human beings have. We are Creators, isn’t that amazing?!
