Kat Eye Studio

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Redefining Creative Achievement

The Exercise in Alignment I shared last week has got me thinking about lots of things. While I’m not surprised that I’ve been challenged to think, because getting into my heart and head this way always generates some good thought, I am surprised at where the thoughts are focused: Achievement. Finally admitting to myself that this is an inherent need I have and accepting it, and not viewing it as a frustration or annoyance or something to be changed about myself, turns out to be kind of important.

Now, you might be thinking, why is having the need to achieve so bad? Why would I even think this way? I think it comes from the sense that I have this driver, Type A side to me that I want to minimize. Not because it’s inherently bad, but maybe because of my approach to it. Up until a few years ago, I seemed to blindly follow an established path to success. I didn’t stop and ask myself what and how I wanted to achieve, I just sort of picked up the achievements laying around. These were achievements left there by people I cared about and respected – colleagues and managers and teachers – but they weren’t defined by me.

So maybe that’s really been the work the last few years — redefining achievement. I thought maybe I was trying to change my need to achieve, but really it’s about changing what, how and for what purpose I’m achieving. That feels about right.

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So as I look at this need to achieve the last few days, I’m realizing I’ve picked up goals and requirements on my creative journey, too. I seem to have set up internal frequency limits for a number of things – creating new work, blogging, sharing through social media, hosting online classes, etc. Some of these started as my own internal goals, and some started as things I heard worked for others with similar interests. Regardless of where they came from, when I’m not meeting them, I feel this internal tension. I feel that I’m not achieving.

There is a really good thing that is coming out of this line of thought — I’m recognizing the tension I sometimes feel around achievement, or NOT achieving, is a good indicator that I need to examine my definitions. When I feel this internal stress from “missing” an achievement, I can stop, set things out in front of me, evaluate and start the process of redefining.

I’ve already done that in the last week. I was feeling a tension around creating new photographic work. I really haven’t photographed or edited much in the last month. Even though I’m out of the dark time of December I haven’t been spending my time creating new photographs. But in the process of examining this, I’ve recognized that this is a “false” goal or achievement. I’ve been doing a LOT of creating in January – I’ve been preparing presentations for several photography talks I’m doing at a regional photography conference in the spring – it just isn’t along the lines of new photographic work. So I took some time to consciously redefine, or reinforce, what encompasses “creativity” to me. It’s more than new photographic work, since I have multiple creative outlets. It’s ok to take a step away from one creative endeavor to support another for a while.

It feels good to redefine what leads to creative achievement. I keep the goals I have, creating on a regular basis, but I get to honor other types of creativity as much as my photography. I get to see the creativity of pulling new thoughts together, writing and sharing thoughts with others as just as important and fulfilling as my visual work. I’ll be honest, as much as I’ve done it over the last few years, up to now I haven’t viewed the sharing of ideas and writing on the same level of importance as creating new photographic work. It’s played second fiddle in my goals. It’s time to rearrange that. Make it equal, at least some of the time.

I think there was always this worry, somewhere deep inside my psyche, that if I took a break from one form of creativity I’d never go back. So if I wasn’t really photographing regularly, I’d lose my interest. Maybe this was rooted in my past, where I tried out a lot, and I mean A LOT, of creative activities to see if one would stick before I really fell in love with photography. I think I’m beyond that with photography now, don’t you? It’s going to stick, even if I take a few weeks off. And when I come back, there’s a good chance it will have changed a little bit, because I will have a different perspective from my other creative endeavors.

Even as I write this, I’m feeling the urge to get out and photograph again. Not only for creative achievement, but because creative space has again freed up. Last night, I wrapped up the first draft of the photography talk I’ve been working on, which means that I’ve finished something. Creative achievement? Check.

As I step away from the keyboard and look outside, I’m seeing a whole world of bare trees waiting for me. I think it’s time to go photograph a few.

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Inviting Inspiration

Hey, do you know my friend Inspiration? She’s great fun. When she comes to visit we have an amazing time.

Were a good team, she and I. We are amazingly productive together when she shows up, always creating new work like crazy, generating wonderful ideas, and moving in new directions. I love the feeling of having her around. She makes me bold and confident, not caring what’s going on in the world around me. Could there be a better friend?

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There’s one problem with Inspiration though, and it’s a big one. She’s flighty and unpredictable. She doesn’t show up when it’s convenient and she’ll leave suddenly without warning. No matter how much you beg or plead, when she’s ready to go, she’s gone.

If she wasn’t so much fun to have around when she came to visit, I’d probably end my friendship with her. I mean, who really wants a friend so fickle? But I know what she does is not intentional. It’s as much me as it is her.

You see, if I don’t give her my attention, she’ll move on. If I think I can delay her departure by saying, “I can’t right now, hang on until tomorrow,” I’m deluding myself. She doesn’t have time for that, she’s got other people to inspire. If I don’t drop everything and take what she has to give, I can’t expect her to hang around indefinitely.

But I often do just that. Inspiration comes to visit and I say, “No thanks, not right now. I’ve got other things on my plate.” I forget what a great team we are, how much fun we have. I forget that I may not see her for a while, if I say no.

I forget that it’s my choice, in the end, whether Inspiration comes to visit. I might not have any control in when she shows up, how long she stays, or what we do while she’s here. But being open and willing and inviting her through the door… That’s all me.

She’s gone from here for the moment. Hopefully she’s having a grand time with you right now, since she’s not with me. I miss her, but her absence helps me realize that next time, I can’t put her off. I’ll rearrange my schedule and invite Inspiration in.

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Creative Cycles

It’s been a year since I started using my mobile device to take pictures. It was this time last year that I began carrying my old iPod Touch with me everywhere, discovering a whole new world in the possibilities. The possibilities of images in the places I move through every day. The possibilities of processing with apps. The possibilities for mobile photography to change everything. Oh my, but it was a wondrous time! Creativity at its best.

This year, things are different and yet not. It is once again autumn, and the sun has been shining through the trees in their gorgeous colors. I’ve been inspired, picking up the pace of collecting photographs, doing more editing. This year, I have better tools in my iPhone 5 and iPad. This year, I have more knowledge of apps and processing. This year, I see even more possibilities.

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It almost feels as if I’m waking up after a long, dry summer. I created a number of wonderful images this summer, don’t get me wrong, but it wasn’t like this. I didn’t make extra time, out and about, to photograph. I didn’t spend most of my free time experimenting with editing. I’ve been having a blast, exploring new techniques like I used for this image here. (You can see more on Flickr.)

I’m a big believer in creative cycles. I know that my creative energy has peaks and valleys during the day, and I try to to honor my personal cycle. I know that on a larger scale, creativity ebbs and flows over time with many variables. But what I wonder, with the arrival of autumn and inspiration, is if it’s possible to have a creative time of year. Because that’s what it feels like right now. As if I hit some threshold on the calendar and inspiration turned on. And I’m having a fantastic time.

I can sense there is lot more to come for me as the trees lose their leaves. There is so much more to explore with my new favorite artistic tools, and what may be my best time of year for creativity. I’m loving every minute.

How about you? Do you have a creative time of year? When is it and how does it show up for you?

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No Rules, Just Joy

When was the last time you intentionally broke the rules? I’m not talking about laws, but rules that you carry along inside you, often without even recognizing them.

I have personal rules for my photography. I know this for a fact, because my newfound love of mobile photography is exposing a lot of them. It’s a very good thing to have these rules challenged once in a while, so you can see where you’ve created boundaries and decide how to push past them. Whether or not you push past them.

In the workshop with David duChemin a couple of weeks ago, he talked about constraints. He was talking about starting a project and setting the constraints. Constraints are a good thing, because they promote creativity. They help you move ahead when you otherwise get too mired in all of the options. You can always change the constraints as you go along, he reminded us.

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Unless, of course, your constraints have somehow become rules. Over time, constraints that have worked for us can be internalized as rules that limit us. I don’t think we even notice as this happens. It can take something big to shake us out of them. But when we can shake off these constraints-that-have-become-rules… Wow. The freedom. The creativity. The joy that results.

Last week, in the comments on the blog Brenda wrote something that resonated with me: “And sometimes, I think we take ourselves too seriously – loading ourselves down with the idea of creating ‘serious’ art. We forget to simply have fun with it. You have shown us what can happen when we create simply for the joy of it.”

Her comment, and my recent experience, inspired me to create a new mantra:

No rules, just joy.

Just create what brings you joy. Forget the rules. The expectations of others, or worse, yourself. Let’s not take ourselves too seriously. Follow what brings you joy.

What do you think? Do you want to adopt this mantra too? We could create a movement, bringing more happiness to the world through the sheer joy of creating. I’m in!

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What’s Your Input?

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. She talks about how we can squelch moments of joy by immediately worrying about all of the things that might take that joy away. Many of the things we worry about aren’t of our own experience, but what has come to us through the media. Input we would never have, in our own experience.

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.

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Power of Ordinary People

Lasting changes and improvements are made through the cumulative effects of individual actions. Heroic figures grasp the opportunities of movements and perform in a way that catches the imagination of a civilization and mobilizes a collective response, be even these actions ultimately receive their power from the responses of ordinary people.
— Shaun McNiff in Trust the Process

“Ordinary people.” Hey, that’s us.
“Individual actions.” We do this every day.

Is there power in the individual actions of ordinary people? I believe there is. I believe that each of us, through what we create each day, bring something of value to the world. In countless tiny ways, we create the existence around us. Artistic creation is but one aspect of the lives we create each day.

A while ago I received this quote on my Yogi tea bag, “Our thoughts are forming the world.” I set it aside, I didn’t get it at the time. I mean really, the world is made up of things not thoughts, my logical mind protested. Sometime later I realized that all of these things around us, with the exception of nature, began as thoughts. Someone thought they could create a light bulb. Someone thought they could capture light with chemicals, and later with electronic circuits, to create a camera. Someone thought they would build a building, or a town, or a country. Our world is changed, formed, by thoughts which begin in the minds of individuals.

It’s not just the big invention-type thoughts that matter though, those are only tangible examples to show the concept that things start as thoughts. For everything we do, our actions start as thoughts. Our practice of creativity helps to form those thoughts, helps to link ideas in new ways. Our practice of creativity gives us power: new ideas lead to new actions which change the world within or around us in a million tiny ways.

“Every one of us has something distinct to offer to the all-encompassing process of creativity,” McNiff goes on to say later in the book. Do you see how it is true? McNiff wrote his book, I read it today and re-interpret it here, you read and re-interpret it again. You think about it, form your own opinion. Each connection, each thought, is part of the overall creative process.

A creative process which is available to ordinary people. Sparking change which begins and ends with ordinary people. People like you and me.

Consider your power, as an ordinary person taking individual action, no matter how big or small. How will you use it today?

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