Do You Need Creative Support?

“Self-trust is the first secret of success.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

How secure are you in your creativity?

Do you need others to tell you you’re good?

There’s a line in the novel The Fountainhead that I love. The protagonist, maverick architect Howard Roark - the embodiment of self-confidence - shows one of his drawings to a sculptor, Mallory, who he wants to hire.

Roark asks, “Like it?” to which Mallory responds, “Don’t use stupid words.”

Until that moment, Roark never came close to needing validation or approval. His artistic vision is iron-clad. He will not bend or make alterations. He knows he’s good. Mallory knows it, too.

In the book, The War of Art, Steven Pressfield says this about “support” groups and workshops: “The more energy we spend stoking up on support from colleagues and loved ones, the weaker we become and the less capable of handling our business.”

I think it’s a balancing act. One of the joys of creating anything is in sharing it with others. We all want feedback. It can be very discouraging to work on something that gets no response. No response can feel worse than a negative one.

Obviously, a novelist wants her reader to like her book. A comedian wants to get laughs. We all want to hear, “I love your work.” But when we don’t hear it, do we crumble and quit? Do we deem ourselves unworthy? Or are we secure enough to know we’ve done our best job?

There’s a subtle difference between needing support - needing that “I love you” - and asking for guidance or perspective. If we want a pat on the head, we can run to Mom. But if we want want honest help, we need to seek people who won’t mince words.

There’s also a difference between launching your work hoping to hear “That’s great!” and launching your work to simply say, “Here it is.”

Can you feel it?

When I was a kid, I used to sing for the neighbors when they visited for coffee. I love praise and approval…still do. (I’m a Leo - we love the spotlight). Applause is addictive.

But we can’t build our house on it, because when nobody claps, then what?

How do we build creative self-confidence? Hard work on our craft. Receiving unsolicited praise from people we respect. Remembering our victories.

No doubt, a kind word of encouragement always helps, and it feels good to give it. Everyone gets discouraged from time to time. When a friend reminds you of how talented you are, (like Roark does for Mallory in The Fountainhead) it can make a huge difference. We’re all in this together. This blog is here to inspire, after all.

Still…is your creative house built on sand or rock? Do you have an “inner candle flame that never flickers”?

Do you know you’re good?

Your thoughts?

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“There’s no time for quotes.” - Mark Penta

Are you in a creative hurry?

Have you got a deadline?

Like me, right now?

I’m typing this from a library, and there’s a crowd of people waiting to use the computer. I want to post something creative, but I have no ideas. I’ve got 20 minutes to be brilliant, and I’m feeling the pressure. But there’s no time to feel pressure; all I can do is type these words and hope something great happens - something worthy of your time and attention.

Garrison Keillor was once asked how long it takes him to write an episode of his radio show, A Praire Home Companion. He said if he has a week’s deadline it takes him a week to write the show. But if he only has a day it takes him a day.

Deadlines are a good thing. Like just now - a little window just warned me that I have 10 minutes to finish. Yikes!

That means I have barely enough time to finish this line and edit the post. Could I save it and refine it later? Sure, but I’m not going to. Why? Because this is an exercise.

This is creativity to go.

See ya!

Comments?

The movie Smoke, starring Harvey Keitel and William Hurt, is one of my favorites, and I was thrilled to find this scene (video below) and wanted to share it with you. It speaks volumes about the creative process and the creative journey.

Keitel plays Auggie, a cigar store owner from Brooklyn, and William Hurt plays one of his customers, a writer and widower.

In this scene, Hurt’s character discovers that Auggie has a hobby - photography - and a rather unusual creative project. Notice how the scene is about 2 artists talking about art, and all the while the sequence is a work of art; beautifully written, acted, and paced.

I hope you’ll watch all 7 minutes, and break out the tissues, kids, because it includes one of the most heartbreaking ideas I’ve ever seen on film:

[Rent the movie! Especially to find out how Auggie got his camera. Your thoughts? Leave a comment…

“When you rise in the morning, form a resolution to make the day a happy one for a fellow creature.” - Sydney Smith

Here are some links to cool sites & stuff that might really improve your creative journey:

1. VideoJug: Life Explained on Film is a super-fun video tutorial website. You can learn how to do just about anything on VideoJug, and I mean anything. See for yourself.

2. Etsy is an amazing resource for creative people - especially you crafty types who need a place to sell your handmade goods. You can find jewelry, prints, pottery, you name it.

3. What can you do with a bag of rocks? This!

4. Want to improve your diet? Check out The World’s Healthiest Foods.

5. Illustrator PJ Lynch explains step-by-step how he creates one of his beautiful book covers.

Do you have any inspiring links to share? Limit to one, please. Leave a comment!

“When I pray to God I say, ‘It’s your call - when it’s time to go it’s time to go. But as long as you’re going to leave me here then I’m going to cause much ruckus!’”
- Prince

Fireworks are exploding across America this weekend, and every booming burst is a reminder to us creative types, spoken in language we can understand (color, design, sound).

Here’s what the fireworks have to teach us about creativity:

BOOM!

1. Be spectacular. Get a reaction from your crowd.
Whatever you create, why not strive to make something that’ll make your audience gasp “ooh!” and “aaah!”? That’s what Michelangelo did. That’s what Spielberg does. What about you and me?

SHHHHHHH!

2. The quiet moments in between the (creative) explosions are necessary.
After a firework explodes, the sky goes black and things stay quiet for a while. Nothing happens. Suspense builds. New fireworks are being loaded. What will they look like? This ‘nothing’ period is part of the whole experience, isn’t it? We can’t explode creatively non-stop, can we? Nope. Breaks are necessary. Time to reload.

BANG!

3. Keep the crowd guessing.
Each firework explosion is a surprise that delights us. This one is red and bursts in huge streaks. The next one is blue, glitters like diamonds and sssssizzzzzzles. Every explosion is different; a different color, shape, and sound. When you listen to a Prince album, it’s the same thing. What about your creations? Are you surprising us each time with something a little bit different?

BOOM! BANG! BOOM! B-BOOM! BOOM! B-B-BOOOOOMM!

4. The grand finale.
The finale is the most exciting part of the show. It’s when they pull out all the stops and give us everything they’ve got. When we give all we’ve got creatively, there is nothing more thrilling or satisfying, is there?

Any dazzling insights you’d care to share? Leave an explosive comment, and have a great weekend!

“Questions are the answer.” - Tony Robbins

Here is one of the coolest, most practical, most empowering things I ever learned - it’s from Tony Robbins:

It’s the power of questions.

It pretty simple and it goes like this: if you ask your brain an empowering question, you’ll get an empowering answer. If you ask a disempowering question, you’ll get a disempowering answer.

For example:

If you ask, How come I’m not more successful? your brain will give you answers - answers that make you feel lousy.

But if you ask, What can I do to feel more successful? or What’s already successful about me? you feel a positive shift immediately.

Other examples: if you dread doing a certain task, instead of asking How come I have to do this? you can instead ask, How can I do this and enjoy the process?

Even more examples:

I can’t afford it
becomes What can I do to earn enough money to buy this?

Why me? or Why did this happen to me?
becomes What can I learn from this? or What’s good about this? or How can I use this?

If your answer is still negative, ask a follow up question:
What would be good about this if I wanted to find something good about it?

Here’s one I particularly like when I’m feeling angry, embarrassed, or fearful:
What’s funny about this?

Isn’t it amazing how a single question can change your entire outlook? How it can motivate you to take positive action, or close your mind to possibilities?

I don’t apply these questions all the time. I get caught up in the doldrums like everybody else. But they sure do help in a pinch and they’ve made a huge difference in the overall quality and happiness of my life.

For a more indepth study on the topic, I recommend buying Tony Robbins’ Powertalk CD on The Power of Questions. If you contact his people and ask for it by name, they’ll find it for you. It’s around $30.

Do you apply the power of questions in your life? Leave a comment.

Have you looked at your neighborhood lately? Really looked?

Below are some snapshots of ‘ordinary’ things I saw during my half hour walk around my ‘boring’ old neighborhood this morning. It’s amazing how much beauty you can find if you look for it.

Did you hear about what happened at Tim Russert’s memorial service?

Apparently, as the service ended and everyone exited the building, the ukulele version of Somewhere Over The Rainbow was played (from Russert’s own iPod) through the speakers.

When people went outside to the rooftop terrace for the reception, they couldn’t believe their eyes.

A huge double rainbow appeared in the sky.

Here’s a video of the news reports. See for yourself:

Creative coincidence? Miracle? Leave a comment!

Today’s special at Creative Journey Cafe:

A quote from Agnes de Mille:

Living is a form of not being sure…

But we take leap after leap in the dark.

How do you deal with the unknown in your creativity? Does it excite you? Inspire you? Scare you? Leave a comment…

I’m sad about George Carlin’s passing yesterday at age 71. I count him among my biggest creative inspirations and listen to his comedy and interviews often.

Carlin did over a dozen HBO specials and toured relentlessly throughout his career, always working on new material, never coasting on the old stuff. I saw him live once, and had the pleasure of witnessing him flub a joke and then start it over again. He wanted to memorize it and recite it fluidly. It was a neat glimpse into his creative process.

Even though I didn’t care for his recent material (I found it too bitter and unfunny), Carlin was one of those rare talents and geniuses who always knew what he wanted to be. He had a gift.

If you’re interested, you can download a great interview he did, On Comedy, from iTunes. It will give you tremendous insight into the creative process in general.

Here’s a video of George at his controversial best. I particularly like the ending, when he gets almost spiritual. This was taken from his Jammin’ In New York special, one of his best performances ever.

Be warned - there is profanity in this vid - so don’t listen at work!
Thank you George, for all the laughs.

(* Thanks to Copyblogger I found this - the last big interview Carlin gave 10 days before his death. )