OpenLoops.08
On creativity, productivity and expectation.
#quietstates
As I mentioned last week, I’ve been visiting family on a pretty remote little Island off the coast of British Columbia. Most of the people that live on this island are over 65, so to say that life here moves slowly is not an exaggeration.
Despite all of the homes that dot the roads, most days you’d think there was no one living here at all. That’s how quiet things get. I’ve walked around quite a bit since I’ve been here and I rarely see anyone at all. Maybe a car, maybe a deer, like I did today.
One of the big weekly events on the island is their market, which takes place in the forest. It was a lot of fun getting to see all of the island’s people gathered together, plus some visitors who come in on the ferry just for the occasion. There’s something indescribably lovely about buying bread, veg and pies surrounded by trees and laughter, on a sunny Saturday morning.
#creativestates
I’ve been reflecting on what I said last week, about how I had been feeling so creative since arriving here. Part of that may have been the initial shock of suddenly being so far removed from metropolitan city life. Time felt endless, space had opened up inside of my mind and all I could do was fill it with doing. Writing, drawing, reading, coding, editing, photos, melodies... As my second week here comes to an end, I’m still feeling creative, but not in an “I’ve been making things” kind of way at all.
I’ve been going on a lot of walks, and just... listening.
I’ll see a butterfly on its way somewhere, and then a deer peeks out from the bushes. Meanwhile a turkey is sauntering down the road.
And there I am.
What am I even doing?
I’m just walking, because I can.
I’ve been thinking that maybe feeling creative is just a feeling of aliveness, and making is just what happens when that feeling wants to be shared or transmitted.
When we put expectation and pressure around that, if we aren’t careful it can suck the life out of the exercise.
Maybe right now, I just want to enjoy that feeling. Hold it close.
These summer thoughts feel a bit like shower thoughts, so bare with me, but I think that when people feel like they’re not being creative or like they’ve lost their creative spark and motivation, what people are really saying is that they’re not making anything, they’re not producing.
This led me to thinking about art and how making art is at its simplest definition, putting form to feeling with the aim of transmitting that feeling.
If someone doesn’t feel alive, where is the impulse to make anything? At best it gets replaced with its most convincing stand-in, autopilot, also known as going through the motions.
But creativity isn’t productivity. Which feels obvious as I write this, but it felt like a huge epiphany as I had my daily encounter with the local deer.
#loosethreads
At this point I would normally offer you some loose threads in the form of a quote or some links to interesting things that I’ve consumed online, but I’m kind of proud to say that I haven’t gotten any this week!
I hope everyone is enjoying their summer✨
I feel soothed just reading this 🥰