Creativity

A few days ago, I took stock of the things that I was busy with. Other than my three jobs (at Colleague, the Super Paper Patrol, and the Staircase), my home responsibilities, and my classes in school, I am involved in twenty-six side projects, of which fourteen are being actively planned or developed.

I came upon this because I was planning on making a web showcase of these various projects. But when I saw the number, I quickly decided not to.

A few lessons here: It's very easy to start something, but it's difficult to finish it! Most of the these have been projects since my sophomore year in high school... the oldest one started when I was in the eighth grade. ^_^ The reason I still stick with them? I don't know... maybe I recognize that it would be really cool to see them to fruition. I recognize a spark of myself in them, and if they were to be disseminated and available, people would understand who I am.

Another lesson: sometimes it's easier to finish something if you're collaborating with other people. Of course, this isn't always true: one of my only finished projects I worked on alone, and two of my collaborations are stuck in planning. But having other people concerned with the project as you are really helps when it seems you have nowhere to go. And it's infinitely easier to push a collaborated project a step forward: have a meeting. ^_^ With introspection and self-dialogue, inspiration is hard to come by--it's like stirring water. Nothing happens; it's still water. But when thoughts combine, the end result is always different. Like water and iced tea mix. Or water and vinegar. The point is, after the meeting, the project will (hopefully) be in a different place than where it was before.

Like Sassoon and Owen collaborating in Regeneration (it goes without saying that I think you should read the book; it's really good ^_^) creativity is less about inspiration than about the follow-through work one must put in to carrying out the project. The book can be seen as a critique of the Romantic view of inspiration and creativity; so was Frankenstein, and, I guess, so is this post. ^_^

Thanks for reading. And create something today, will you? It'll make you feel better.

Song in my head: APO Hiking Society, "Doo Bidoo".