I walk about 100 yards each morning from my car to the office building where I work. Some mornings I arrive when it is still dark. This morning the sun had already begun to work it’s effects on the sidewalk and buildings, lighting them with a soft pink light. So it was bright enough for me to see the red splatters on the concrete. They were small – drips from something with the thickness of blood, but they had dried some time ago. And they drew a trail that matched my morning path and led me around the corner of the building, then ended in a large dried pool of the same red substance. Continue reading →

I’m coming to see the importance of distinguishing between creative work and working on a creative project,  between imagination and design.

What really got me thinking about this was an interview with artist, James Victor, where he discusses the creative process and his work, and the difference between the two. An story from his teaching experience really illustrates this well: Continue reading →

I’ve been reading Rework by the guys from 37 Signals.

One short chapter (they are all short) entitled, “Embrace Constraints”, really got my attention.

“…we force constraints…we keep features to a minimum. Boxing ourselves in is a way keeps us from creating bloated products.”   -REWORK

They talk about how constraints force us to be creative, the whole McGyver principle: if you are locked in a cell with some fishing line, a bobby pin, and the ring on your finger, you’ll find a way to use them to get out. The other aspect is that constraints help us to focus, and in a way, free our minds to think creatively. That’s the part that got me thinking. Continue reading →

Pixar stands out as a model of creative culture. Pogo sticks bounce & scooters roll through the hallways. A Great Dane sleeps under an animator’s desk. There is a vibe of possibility. I’ve never visited the place, but that’s how all their making-of documentaries portray it. Simply put, it looks like a culture where people are enjoying themselves and each other.

Pixar has invented software and hardware to model the animations they dream up. They have also developed a process called “Plus-ing” or “Plussing.” Walt Disney invented the term and it means: Continue reading →

I’ve always thought that long stretches of time are necessary for doing my creative work. However, I’m beginning to doubt that requirement and it’s bringing some hope.

I’m beginning to rethink this because most of my best ideas don’t come after I’ve been working away for hours. They come when I take a break and go for a walk, or while my mind is at rest and I’m reading or journaling for pleasure.

In a recent article at the 99%, called Focus on Results, Not Time, the authors say that:

The best ideas often do not require a lengthy conception, and the most productive days are seldom the longest.

This can give us a lot of hope, especially for those of us in the mid-life, where the demands for our time are relentless, and large chunks of time are difficult to carve out.

The key is making the shift in our thinking from, “How much time can I work on this today?” to “What creative results do I want today?”

One of my dad’s favorite lines is:

“A mess is the footprint of creative genius.”

He would often use that line on my mom when she could no longer find a path to walk across his studio.

On this 100 day journey, I’m seeing the truth in it. I’m what you’d call a moderate neat freak, and our 2 1/2 year old is kind of the opposite of one of those Roomba robotic vacuums.

Instead of writing this post, I could easily be in the kitchen right now emptying and filling the dishwasher, or picking up the disaster zone that we call our daughter’s toy room. In fact, almost every time I have a chunk of time free to create, Continue reading →

When my brother Josh lived with me, he would spend the evenings practicing guitar. I could sit with a cup of tea, a great book, and my own live jazz & classical music. One night he brought out some new stuff, Mediterranean sounding jazz that made me ask, “What is that?!” That’s when I first learned about Django Reinhardt, one of the most innovative jazz guitarists of the last century.

The most fascinating piece of his story is that, at 18, he was severely injured in a fire. Two of his fingers on his left hand became paralyzed, so Continue reading →