an ode to creativity

      while discussing creativity with a dear friend the other day, i realized that my mind goes a mile a minute and I actually lose more of my ideas and revelations than i seem to remember. i think we all wish at some time or another that our brains were hooked up to a hospital monitor, but instead of measuring heart

rate, etc. it would print out a feed with all of our good ideas so they  could be easily revisited when we need inspiration. i decided that i need to keep a handwritten journal instead of an electronic one. it's more organic, and handy. handwritten things are so much more personal and thoughtful. handwritten ideas have more meaning, and describe more, they take more time, they take you through the thought process instead of just seeing the final product. no backspace key. no hitting enter and the whole world has access.  i think looking at life as not having a backspace key is a good way to live. a backspace key allows us to erase so much that we actually do say and have so many excuses with texts, aim, email, facebook, technology in general, it's not real anymore, it's not personal. think about receiving a hand written letter, but a sentence or word is crossed out. what were they going to say? what didn't they want to say? it's not quick and insensitive, you can see clear as day that there was a mistake made, no backspace, real thought.  i wish sometimes that cell phones didn't exist, computer communication didn't exist, everything would be so much more intimate. people would cancel plans a lot less, they would have less excuses, they would do more.  communication has gotten lazy. people interaction has gotten even lazier. pressing buttons to type out a message and send it, what does that mean? just showing up at a friends with a coffee means more than a 'hey hope you feel better' text. the action says so much more.  texting someone 'i love you' or 'eye luv u' whatever 8th graders do now, doesn't mean anything.  showing up with handpicked flowers, (you don't even have to buy them) means more than 'i love you' via text. how simple, how meaningful. yet it is still easier to send that text.

     back to the whole creativity topic, which technology has a lot to do with.  i haven't had television in over two weeks gasp, i know, but it's nice.  i don't really care about anything else but the world around me now, i don't care what people are doing on mtv or vh1.  i miss the show no reservations though, which doesn't really count because i classify it as an educational program.  but since i haven't had television i've been fueling my creativity by doing things, starting projects, making plans so i'm not bored.  it's nice.

     the discussion i had with my friend was fruitful in the sense that i realized there is so much more to  living than people realize, there is always something to do, you just have to get up and do it. boredom is only a figment of our imaginations. creativity is a big part of this.  i'd like to categorize myself as a creative thinker or an artist, i would classify my friend as this too, although when she said that she doesn't look at herself as an artist, this bothered me and i thought about my definition of an artist.  my definition is two fold; one who physically creates works of art, or one who thinks out of the box, views things differently, and lives with an ever expanding reservoir of ideas and innovations within their mind. being an artist is not just an occupation, it's a lifestyle, you don't have to be  good at drawing, it's a state of mind that doesn't have an off switch, everything you see is analyzed, every illustration, every photograph, every situation. the eye is constantly assessing space and is drawn to interesting points and details that would have otherwise been over looked by others. it's a gift. and it's natural.  that's the beauty of art and creative living.

     if you want to be more creative, or live more artistically, pay attention to how you do things, and what you make of your time.  the best way, i think, to start is by not watching television. the next best way would to live your life more organically.  stop texting, start writing. write notes, postcards, long letters, whatever. be organic in making that connection with people, ride your bike to their house, take a walk in a park with someone. that connection is made through the process of connecting, it's not just there, that's why it's called a connection, and we forget that in the time of instant response, instant latte, instant world. we're lacking the connecting process even within ourselves. how well do we really know ourselves, let alone others? do we take time out of our day just to connect with ourselves? we've lost sight that time is a constant, it is the only constant, really, yet we continue to fight it on a daily basis.