We are bombarded each day with images. Images come to us without seeking them, from TV, newspapers, magazines, emails, websites, billboards. We are a visual culture. We communicate with images. We remember in images.
I believe each image we see stays with us. Whether we consciously remember it or not, it is there. If it didn’t, why could an idea or a smell or a comment bring up a picture in my head in a flash? Why can I remember a specific image I captured 4 years ago, or a vision of something seen in an art exhibit, when the right trigger comes along? The image is there, whether I consciously tried to remember it, or not. It is part of what we draw upon, when we create something new. Input is the raw material we use to create.
Since our input informs our output, it begs the question, what’s your input?
Choosing to see beauty…
We talked about this a bit in the workshop with David duChemin, about how the creative process works. It requires input. And we should be selective about that input. We should look for good stuff, creative stuff, beautiful stuff to go in. We should study good photography to help us learn to create good photographs ourselves.
But I would take this concept beyond the visual imagery, to other areas of life. If we dwell on the bad or the ugly or the horrific, that becomes part of us. It starts to shift our point of view on the world. We start to live in fear of what bad things might happen rather than observe the good that does happen every day, right in front of us. Brené Brown talks about this in Daring Greatly
I learned the truth of this input/feeling connection in Italy, when I stopped watching the news on TV. Part of this change was language, my Italian wasn’t good enough to understand, and part of it was cultural, I had no connection to the current events of politics or pop culture to give me context. But an amazing thing happened as an outcome… I started living without as much fear. Because I wasn’t bombarded with all the bad going on in the world around me, it wasn’t input to my thought processes. I didn’t, by extension, start to worry what might happen to me or my family or my job next. I still found out about the important stuff that was going on in the area and world, but I could choose how I followed up to learn more rather than being fed fear.
…rather than worrying about who might pickpocket me.
And because I wasn’t spending time on the input of the bad stuff, I had more time for input of the good stuff. Art and creativity, which blossomed in a new way.
Now that I’m back in the US, I still don’t watch the news. I don’t want that kind of input. I want to read good books, watch movies that tell great stories, see good art and discuss interesting ideas. I find out what is going on in the world, but in a measured and balanced way that doesn’t fill me with fear. Not all of my input is happy and positive, but much of it is. It’s by my choice, because that is how I want to see the world. I truly believe 99.999% of the world’s population are good people. That’s who I want to hear about and interact with. That doesn’t mean I go through life thinking nothing will happen to me, but it does mean that I am more conscious and careful now to sort out the difference between things I really should be concerned about and what’s an irrationally generated fear.
This is all kind of roundabout today as I talk about input – the gamut from art to emotion. But it all ties together: Our input informs our output. How we view the world, what we create, even what we believe and feel.
I want to choose my inputs carefully. I want to view art that stretches me and helps me grow. I want experiences that help me see the world in different ways. I want to look at photographs that move me and touch my heart and soul. That’s the kind of input I’m seeking. That’s the filter I want to place when I have a choice in the matter.
What’s your input? How do you decide what goes in? Have you made changes in your life to improve the quality or the type of input you receive? What has been the result? I’m curious to hear your thoughts on this topic.
Oh my goodness, yes, yes and yes! Bad in, bad out….like you I can’t watch the news anymore, they never want to report any of the good stuff that happens. And during the day when I’m by myself, I never have the TV on. I struggle at times with my confidence and really just need to stay away from negative people. They say in children it takes 5-10 positive comments to counterbalance a negative one, but I think that holds true for everyone. I just wish there was a filter sometimes and people would ask themselves am I enhancing the atmosphere or just making it worse.
Just a fabulous post and thoughts! (I really wish I could have met you at David’s workshop)
What a great topic! Like you, I dont listen to the news. Instead, I read the local paper which allows me to control which stories I want to explore in detail. The magazines and books I read are based on specific choices of what feeds my mind and imagination. I like that idea that “our input informs our output”.
I like the idea that reading the newspaper lets you choose the stories you want to dive into. Great point! I knew I liked reading the paper better than TV news – I think you explained why!
This is such an important topic, Kat! As a “reformed” worrier, I have learned to take breaks from news and electronics to just enjoy what is around me. I admit to being a political junkie and listening to NPR a lot because I want to be informed, but we unplug every Saturday as part of our Sabbath. That helps keep me balanced and positive. Cultivating a practice of gratitude has really helped me too. At this point in my life I realize I don’t want to waste any time on negative people or trashy input.
“Reformed worrier” – I love that Gina. Maybe we should form a support group. “Hi, I’m Kat, and I’m a worrier.” I think we would have a surprising number of members! Having a day you stay away from everything must be powerful. I did that once, long ago, but no more. Thanks for the reminder of that time and space in my life, maybe I should invite elements of that practice back in.
I couldn’t agree more! – I haven’t watched the news in years, and I rarely look at a newspaper. I still hear about anything important, anyway. They did some studies that found that your immune system actually dips when you watch bad news – reduced number of t-cells or something like that – so it’s physically harmful to you to have a constant diet of bad news and terrrible things. I often wonder how this affects people like police and ambulance personnel, and others who constantly come into contact with the worst of humanity. You wouldn’t expect to eat spoiled food and stay physically healthy, so why would it be any different when it comes to feeding your mind? And yet, I still come across many people who seem to think that not watching the news is somehow morally bad; I’ve never understood that – unless I can do something to change things, what purpose does it serve?
Great analogy on what we put into our physical bodies and what we put into our minds, Gilly! That resonates with me. I know I still harbor with me that idea that I “should” be watching the news to be an informed person, but I resist it. I’m not sure where that idea originally came from. Maybe I picked it up from a different time and place, from my childhood or something. But it doesn’t serve me anymore.
This is really interesting. I too believe that the vast majority of people are good and I am absolutely of the opinion that a lot of news – most notably TV news, especially with 24 hours of non-stop news service to fill – is negative and fear-inducing (much of mere speculation). But I also want to be outward looking and be informed – in my life and my art. I find it a really tricky balance and it does require being selective in my news sources. Which in turn makes me wonder about being too selective….I think inspiration can come from all sorts of sources and I’m not sure that I’m always the most effective filter – some things that really stretch me out of my comfort zone end up having the biggest impact.
Thank you for raising this, you’ve asked a big question and I agree with much of what you say – I think it’s the practical aspect that is, for me, quite tricky and one which I haven’t entirely got to grips with yet. Much to think on……
Good point on being too selective, Becs. I think we have to be careful with our input but that doesn’t mean it should all be “good.” As you say, confronting things that we aren’t comfortable with is what really pushes us to grow. It’s a balance. But I think where and how we allow ourselves to be confronted is a choice we can make. Each of us will make a slightly different one.
There are more of us out there than I realized. I was beginning to think that everyone stayed a front their TV or radio or whatever, taking in big gulps of news, mostly negative, most with a spin so one can;t be sure what is real and what is manipulated for another gain.
I don’t watch TV. If there is something i really wan to see, I can get an invite to a house with TV. That’s enough.
That said, some of my photo show less than pretty or motivating or uplifting topics. There are topics I want to explore in art , but they are not to appease the horror fanatics, or the ambulance chasers. They are my more personal pieces which offer a means of healing while working with images, and they carry their own special brand of beauty and story and character.
Kat, I would so love to meet you in person some day. I feel like we are traveling on side paths, and someday surely we will bump into one another, literally. 🙂
I would love to meet you too, Bo! I think all of us kindred spirits will end up meeting in person someday. 🙂
I don’t think this conversation is necessarily about letting only “pretty” or “good” into our lives. We need the dark to see the light, both literally and figuratively. We often need to explore the edges of both in our art, to understand how it all fits together. For me, the important point is that we have a choice in the matter. We can choose our input – what goes into our minds, and how we allow ourselves to be challenged – so let’s make it a conscious choice. Be aware of the effects and whether they are helping us to grow or to shrink.