The creativity zone

Sometimes the creative muse is as elusive as a snow leopard. But then other times it seems to be everywhere.
Sometimes a situation will bring creativity because there is a problem that must be solved. Sometimes the synergy of multiple perspectives brings creativity calling.

But my favorite time for it is when I have the time and no particular demand for a solution or an idea.
When these times come I play a little game of what if.
What if I had 100 lbs. of newspaper?
What if I had the opportunity to just design jewelry?
What if I had the perfect kitchen?
What if I could travel anywhere in the word for as long as I wanted?

I just let my brain wander through the possibilities and then if I feel like anything is worth keeping I will jot it down or sketch it out. I do not put many restrictions on the game; no issues with access to resources, money, or time.
The next step I need to take with my creativity is keeping it organized so if I need a creative solution to a problem I can offer a few from my files.

curse of the specialist

There is an old saying that when you are a hammer everything looks like a nail. And a newer version that if you are a surgeon, all medical issues have a cutting solution.
There is a disservice to the creativeness within when we narrow our vision too much. Where I grew up they had an annual conference between world renowned members from different disciplines to contemplate the big issues of the day. Sort of the ultimate think tank. There is some validity to this approach, but I think the desired synergy has never really been achieved. Instead I think of a box filled with an equal number of red balls and yellow balls. You can shake the balls or arrange them in patterns. In the end you always have a box with yellow and red balls. You never get a box of orange balls. Maybe if you backed far away and squinted then the box might look a bit orangish, but closeup it is still red and yellow.
Over and over again I see TV series that explain the great discoveries of the world and time and time again it is those people who look at the world with knowledge that spans more than a single discipline that bring the insights that progress the fields of science, medicine, engineering and more.

There are people who will always be just yellow or just red or just blue or just... but then there are some who will take a little from the red and add a little yellow and they can be the orange (or plum or chartreuse) that the think tanks strive to be.

Passion and love, Passion and anger

Passion is about intensity. Love, hate, anger, joy. Self permission to have passion means all of these things become more intense in your life. How often we hear stories about those historical and fictional figures of passion; Van Gough, Edison, Don Quixote and shake our heads in bafflement and envy. If only we could all feel so strongly about what we are doing. But then again if you have ever entered a local government meeting about a contentious issue you might have an idea of what the world would be like if we all carried so much passion into the everyday realm. Everything in extremes.
All on or all off.
I lack a big passion that drives me to live my big dream at any cost. But I try to allow as much intensity as I can into my little passions. I cook with love and a desire to feed more than just my belly, I write with honesty and a desire to connect directly, I craft with a desire for perfection.
But still I sometimes wish for a big passion. I will keep searching. I hope you all keep searching as well.

thinking outside the parameters

Too often we get caught in a box. We only let ourselves become creative in a certain venue. Sure we are thinking outside one box but inside a slightly bigger box. Jewelry has been like that for me. When I see myself as a jewelry maker I put so much of my energy there and try very hard not to become "distracted" by other venues. But as I am limited by resources and space and time I find more of my ideas reaching to other corners and bringing different pieces into the mix.
So I find myself saying "Hey wouldn't it be cool if...
* they ran the Iditrod as dual teams and teams could share dogs, but they must come into the check points one after the other. It would be an interesting race with many strategies.
* I could use whiskey in a dry rub for smoking pork.
* I could create an erector set using ordinary hardware
* I could use plastic lattice to create enough garden space for a real garden here this year.
* I could get that article I want to write actually down on epaper.
* I could figure out ways to recruit more people to help with the bazaar in April.
* ...
Is there really any such thing as thinking outside the box. If the box is big enough would you even notice you were still in it?

the never empty jar

Here it is the holiday season and once again I have not had the time to indulge my interest in creating things for the bazaars. But that has not stopped me from being creative and finding all kinds of ways to use my ideas. In some ways have the one easy out flow blocked has created many smaller and manageable outlets. (or at least manageable so far)
As many of those who read my blog know I have been spearheading the fund raising efforts for our school garden. Those of you have known me a long time know that I am rather a shy salesperson and I find myself reluctant to ask other to do what I would prefer not to do. So the packaged fundraisers were not on my list.
Small efforts such as a donations table at all parent events and keeping a wiki, and asking for donations have all garnered us a fair amount of money. Our biggest efforts though will be in the form of a spring bazaar.
Nothing small about this effort though. I want it to be well worth the price for vendors and well worth the effort for attendees. The simple reason beyond the need for the money is that I want to create an event that serves the whole community and becomes my legacy to this place I live.
And yet in spite of all the time and energy it is taking and will take to pull this event off I still find myself with the flow of ideas unabated.
Gifts for family, food for parties, uses for the oak trim I picked up, making a garden birdbath and mosaic gazing ball sculpture. knitting patterns, creating a Facebook page for the garden committee, writing that article on recycling...
I guess it would not make sense to fear running out of ideas, because there will always be more coming or at least some I can try out.