Perhaps it’s the space I occupy, but I’m always surprised how few people are willing to have a go at producing creative material of any sort.
Let’s face it, nowadays, there’s no shortage of outlets: Blogs, Tweets, Audioboo, Soundcloud, Instagram, Skitch, Mindjet and Vine.
In a business context, getting the necessary buy in to try something new is always hard, not just because of the lack of time, but the absence of a clear line of sight between the material generated and a certain result.
If I could guarantee that for every 10 pieces of creative material produced it would result in (say) a return on investment of 1000% then I have no doubt that everyone would engage.
But that’s the point.
Art is not robotic.
It’s not rooted in the cause and effect paradigm.
For me, I do what I do because I love it. No, that’s not entirely correct. I do what I do because I have no choice. It’s not that I’m scratching an itch, but, rather, it’s who I am.
As I’ve written about before, as a small child, I loved drawing, painting and pottery. I didn’t ask anyone for feedback or to please anyone – well, possibly my pottery teacher, Connie. I just did it because I fell headfirst into what I was doing; I was lost in the creative act.
But then, like many people of my generation, we wern’t encouraged to pursue a creative career – it was all about getting a ‘proper’ job – and as a result our creative ‘muscles’ atrophied.
However, it never completely abandoned me, in part because even when I was working, I could bring a degree of flair and excitement to the job which meant that I kept alive something of the creative spirit.
However, it wasn’t until I tripped over social media that I found an outlet that had been missing for a very long time.
And, as they say, the rest is history.
I left law, started my own business and reinvented myself, albeit that I’m still strongly attached to the legal space.
But the point is that it’s the creative act that has inspired me to do all this. Nothing more. Nothing less.
Each and every one of us has a creative self. We can all draw, paint and craft something.
In creating something we open our hearts to a new dimension on our lives.
This doesn’t mean we have to make money or be brilliant (by whose standards?). We just have to craft something.
I challenge all of you to connect with the creative Self. Do anything. It’s in the act that everything changes.
You may just find in the process that the whole world opens up for you in a way that you never dared dream possible. If you need inspiration, look at all those talented people who found a new space from Cooking (Masterchef) or sewing (The Great British Sewing Bee).
Happiness lies withing not without
Why work is never enough
Doing one thing at a time
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(This is a short Soundcloud recording to accompany today’s post. It would be great to get your feedback on whether you think having audio and writing work.)