Podcast thing.

Here is a link to my podcast on the "Find Your Howl" article: http://www.podsnack.com/playlists/6957bd85283928c95a324af0fa501448.

Breakthrough ideas.

In Mitch Ditkoff’s “14 Ways to Get Breakthrough Ideas,”  (http://changethis.com/manifesto/show/49.06.14Ways) he explains fourteen fairly easy ways to get ideas, who would have guessed? My three favorites of the fourteen, the ones I think are the “best suggestions”, were number four, make new connections, number five, fantasize, and number ten, hang out with diverse groups of people. I found make new connections really interesting and helpful just because I think too often we don’t consider the fact that putting to old ideas together can in fact make a new one. In this day in age when so many ideas have already been thought up it can be hard to create a truly new thought, but the truth is when you take from the old and make something new, that is a truly original thought, and I love that someone out there is enforcing that. Fantasize. I absolutely love that word. The word itself makes me imagine the impossible. Ditkoff had a really good point, too often we assume that the only people who fantasize are children and sickos, but I often find my best writing comes after I daydream about things that could never happen in real life, we all need to find that sense of wonder that as children brought us hours of enjoyment. Fantasize is a great suggestion. I love number ten. Hang out with a new group of people. We rarely by choice seek out the unfamiliar, but the truth is the more time we spend with people we don’t know and who aren’t like us the more life experiences we can have and the more information we generate to create even better creative ideas. I started high school in a new school district freshman year, and my new district was in one of the richest parts of Columbus, I was from…not the richest area. I was forced to hang out with new people I had nothing in common with. But these people opened up a whole new world filled with music I really enjoy, and even my style changed. These strange people changed my idea of me, and the truth is if I hadn’t been forced I never would have associated with those people. Now I try and hang out with all different kinds of people, so I’m constantly hearing new music, seeing new fashions, and listening to interesting, new to me, points of view.

Number one’s prompt is “What new idea is fascinating you? What new possibility has captured your attention? In what ways can you honor this inspiration today?” Lately I’ve been really into music and the idea of writing some songs and learning to play the guitar have been taking over my brain. The idea of creating something that other people might want to listen to is kind of intoxicating. I’ve been fighting the urge to ignore all of these feelings for the past two weeks and instead I’ve been hanging with my friends singing songs we already know and picking up some chords on the guitar. I haven’t written anything original as of yet but I’m planning to start soon.

Creative influences.

Lately I’ve been listening to a band called The Mimicking Birds. Their song “New Doomsday” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPW8Pz8fFFM&feature=related) uses Tension and Relsease by starting the song out with a slow monologue about better understating steps when reading instructions and it goes on just long enough to make you start wondering when the song is going to start and then the music kicks in to release the tension of the monologue. This song influences me creatively because I love the way it mixes in weird everyday sounds with the music. It uses, not only the initial monologue, but also sounds like a coin dropping, little things that takes a couple of listens to really notice them. I love adding small details to my creative endeavors and this is a perfect example of a way that I would do it.

The movie Inception was anther huge creative influence for me. Its use of Text and Subtext in the final scene is a favorite part of the movie for me (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibX4WbnFdHo). The implied meaning at first is that he made it home and everything is good and back to normal, but then he spins the top and you never see if it falls making the subtext that he may or may not be in reality. I love to keep people wondering when I create things, leaving some ideas up to the audience as opposed to feeding it to them. The effect the ending of that movie had on me continues to this day and I often wonder which was the truth, was he still dreaming? Or was he in fact back at home with his kids? I can only hope to create as much thought with a piece of my own art some day as Inception did.

My third major creative influence is the blog Postsecret (http://www.postsecret.com/). It employs Objective and Subjective subject matter. Some of the secrets have very objective subjects, you know as soon as you see the postcard and/or read the secret what the person is trying to say and why. But there are other secrets that are more subjective, where you aren’t sure what the sender really meant by their secret or don’t really understand the context of it leaving it up for interpretation. I also love the raw emotion that shines through with this blog. People, although anonymously, are bearing their souls out sharing their deepest darkest secrets. While some are humorous, like being turned on by a pillowcase, others are serious to almost awkward point, like admitting to being molested by a loved one. When I create art I want to put every part of myself into it. The parts I’m proud of and love and the parts that make me ashamed and that I hate. It creates a dark beauty that I adore.

 

 

In conclusion, I would define my creativity as a bit of mess, which mixes the everyday beauty with the contrast of its darkness. I like to keep people guessing, and to add details that make it impossible to discover all parts of the general theme in just one look or listen. I want to create things that keep people coming back for more discoveries.

Blog #1

I wish I could say I'm a morning person and loved the idea of taking an 8 am class on a Friday, but the truth is the only reason I signed up for it is because it was the last available time slot.