Creative Rebellion Essays: Creativity and contemplation
Creativity requires contemplation. Photo by JC Caldwell
We are all going to be spending a lot more time at home for the coming weeks, if not months. Besides adjusting to perhaps working from a shared office and having to balance spending time with our mates, spouses, children and pets while juggling the Zoom video calls, emails and Slack channels, it’s a good time to allow for contemplation: the ability to center for a moment, without distractions, both digital and analog, for a period of time. As I’ve mentioned in past essays, I find it helpful to use an app like Headspace or Waking Up to stop the monkey mind from constantly whirling in a manic fugue of thoughts that often just lead to anxiety, rather than constructive action.
You don’t necessarily need to meditate in order to contemplate but it is a very helpful way to approach the mental state. However, I’ve found that the majority of my “ah-ha” moments have always occurred while I was taking a walk, driving to and from work or simply taking a shower. Moments of accidental contemplation. I’ve never found that any truly original or good creative ideas came from “brainstorming” in an airless conference room, under fluorescent lights, the chemical scent of dry erase markers as they squeak across a smudgy whiteboard, a team of semi-bored employees looking at their laptops or mobile phones as a problem is deconstructed by simply throwing out ideas that have more to do with the corporate theater of appearing to be participating rather than actually being constructively creative. Classic design-by-committee. All the energy and focus in the room, if there was any, deflates. And everyone goes on to their next meeting, their next email, with noot much resolved.
Creative thinking requires just one thing: contemplation.
However, I have found that if I or another team member comes into the office with an idea that came to them while they were contemplating, it can be added to or “plussed” by a group of engaged individuals who can take the ember of the idea, add fuel to it and turn it into a bonfire. This is when the collective mentality of the group is at its most powerful and allows for true ownership by the whole team. I’ve found that this approach stokes energy in the group rather than dissipating it; it’s more of a “yes and…” technique implemented by improv comedians as it allows for building on an idea rather than tearing it down. But in my experience, the key issue is that an individual thinker brings in an idea to the group that works as the catalyst for the entire process. Then the person who originated the idea has to let it go and allow for his or her idea to change and perhaps mutate into something different than their original vision or conception. This is where the ego has to expand beyond one’s own need for recognition and reward to the needs of the group and the company. In a sense, the ego expands to include a wider province of people and this allows for the creative concept to scale. I often think of it in terms of filmmaking. The writer has the concept and writes a script. Then the script goes through a series of changes through a producer, then director and finally it goes into production with the help of an army of people, ranging from actors to cinematographers to editors to grips and gaffers. All of these people “plussed” the original script and it was able to scale. But if the core story, or concept, isn’t strong, then the whole edifice collapses. This often happens when the core story was conceived of in a “brainstorm” in a boardroom, often by executives who have never actually written a script who have given notes to the point that the story no longer resembles itself in its original form. Again, the essence of any great creative effort, from design to film script to startup, has to be a strong clear vision. Of course, it needs to be stress-tested before going out into the world but that’s different from group-think. Constructive critique of any project is necessary – if it can’t take the slings and arrows from those closest to it, then it will die out in the public. But in the end, creative vision is paramount. And the resilience to see that vision through.
So, while we are all at home, take some time for yourself. Start a messy journal of your thoughts. Yeah, make it messy – sketch, draw, stick post-it notes into the pages and write out non-linear thoughts and observations. It doesn’t matter. It will just loosen up your mind. Or keep a sketchbook. Again, make stick figures and don’t be self-conscious about it. Or open up Garage Band on your laptop and make a short song a day. Do a drawing a day and post it to Instagram. Making your work public is a great way to overcome self-consciousness and get feedback. And yes, you’ll get some trolling no doubt but differentiate between real feedback and overly positive or negative comments, neither of which are useful. It’s the doing that matters.
Creative activities are also a great way to deal with anxiety about COVID-19. When the mind and spirit are actively engaged, then the fear dissipates. Doing something rather than nothing always helps. Find your strong, clear vision.
Meditate.
Contemplate.
Create.
It’s all going to be okay.
John
What I’m watching:
Devs -- I’m admittedly a huge fan of Alex Garland and his film Ex Machina is one of my favorite of all time, along with Ridley Scott’s Bladerunner. In the limited TV series Devs, Garland brings some of the atmosphere of Ex Machina to the setting -- a high-tech building contrasted against a beautiful redwood forest near San Francisco; Rob Hardy’s extraordinary cinematography that reminds me of the cinematography of Vittorio Storaro (The Conformist, Apocalypse Now, The Last Emperor) with its cool tonalities against expansive, symmetrical settings; the foil of humanity against technology and its interweave; the heartbreak of death. Highly recommend watching it.
What I’m listening to:
Donald Gover Presents: On Sunday, March 15th, Childish Gambino (aka Donald Glover) quietly dropped a new album on donaldgloverpresents.com that runs on a loop. It’s awesome, as most everything this comedian-actor-singer does. Check it out.
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