Rachel's Viewfinder

Over the past few months, I spent time pondering what God would have me do with this passion for Art, Faith and Inspiration.  As I thought, researched and talked with other creative people, I also tried to take the time to creatively “practice.” These little forays into creative expression aren’t meant to be spectacular.  They’re meant to give the brain some fodder to chew on in between bigger projects.

Back in May, these words caught me on www.writerlylife.com: “Optimism has a funny way of encouraging more optimism; creativity often works that way. The more you make space for a creative mood in your daily life, the more you’ll find that creative mood popping up in the course of a day.” (http://www.writerlylife.com/2011/05/how-to-grab-a-creative-mood-when-it-passes-by/)

The concept struck a chord in me.  I was stressed from getting married, moving, work, etc.  My health took a dive (see April 11 post).  All my energy was gone.  My schedule had no room in it for a creative mood. But my job is a creative one.  Everyday, I use creative storytelling through visual mediums, primarily through video producing.  For example, a 45-minute interview becomes a 3-minute video with music, pictures, graphics…whatever.  Every aspect of the production requires creativity.  Over the past year, my projects piled up, and work became drudgery.  How can you be creative on a schedule if you’re out of juice?  As I thought about being creative, I realized I couldn’t afford to skip recharging my creative batteries.  If creativity begets creativity, then I needed to do some extra-curricular creation. I started thinking of other ways to be creative that were not work-related.

So began a binge of gluten-free baking.  First on the list were eclairs. Next came cheesecake.  Because that was so rewarding, I started work again on a piece of science fiction.  And then came my friend’s wedding and her bachelorette party…after squeezing the creative lemon for my previous projects, it was a delight to make her some hand-painted underware.

Now what does any of that have to with being creatively better at video-production?  Well…not much…on the surface.  Gluten-free eclairs, writing and underware don’t seem to have much in common.  But as a means of letting my creative brain “do something else,” it was invaluable.  I  found that creativity on a schedule is demanding and draining.  Giving my brain the time to “goof-off” and just “practice” being creative meant that creating on the schedule was not so taxing. And that meant regaining a level of enthusiasm that was missing at my day job.

Some things I’ve learned from my “practice” sessions:

1). Do something where the hands make something: cupcakes, curtains, a new doodle for the fridge…the goal is to have the hands moving with the creative brain.

2). Think, but not too much.  Start with a general idea and let your mistakes guide the finished product.  Remember, this is practice, not masterpiece.

3). Work in short bursts.  It’s practice.  Who cares if it’s finished (if ever?).

4).  Avoid passive “inspiration”; no TV watching, Internet surfing, magazine browsing.  The goal is to practice doing your own thing, not copy another’s work.

5). If there’s no creative tools, or you can’t think of what else to try, give reading fiction a whirl.  It engages the imagination, the creative “muscle” to stretch and develop.

One of my co-workers, Andy Caldwell, had this to say in one of our department meetings: “Creativity is not instant grits.” He couldn’t be more right.  It takes time…and practice.  How do you practice being creative?

(Pt. 5 in a sometimes occasional series on Art, Faith and Inspiration)

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