Give yourself permission to be creative
I came across this video (youtube’s cunning recommendation algorithm), and I was quite surprised how insightful and deep it was. It had many lessons on creativity, and the ‘self-permission’ it requires. Frequently, it takes courage to be creative, and this is nicely captured by the talk.
Here are some thoughts / lessons / reflections :
- The value of difference and irregularity: In a world where more and more things (and people) are similar, irregularity and unpredictability are valuable.
- It is quite hard for us to judge how good what we do is. I think that a better strategy would be to do great effort and keep thinking about growth and contribution.
- The world is an extremely unreliable critic: This has been tested many times. Think about it – if something is really original and new, then it – by definition – won’t be familiar, and most people dislike the unfamiliar (because it forces them to think).
- Making sense out of life is crucial , but only at key moments –> Why not always ? Well maybe because this activity of ‘making sense’ is not a guaranteed and linear process. You can’t be sure that you’ll make sense of it.
- Art helps with that: Art is not luxury – it is nourishment for the soul and the growth beyond the confines of the limited and bounded current reality.
- ‘Human Creativity is nature manifest in us’
- ‘Know yourself’ – what do you love ? if you get close to what you love , who you are is revealed to you… and it expands !
- My experience is not as unique as I’ve thought ..
- ‘There is no Path till you walk it’
- Be willing to Play the fool
- Read the book you want to read (I will probably talk about this later here)
- Listen to new music (challenge yourself to do it, even though it might not feel very comfortable at first).