Creativity is a trap. We’re all fishing in the same pond. Some of us have bigger boats and more expensive gear. Some of us stick around after hours to find the weird fish with fangs that glow in the dark.
I love the idea of being against creativity (or at least the commercial application of it). Acker’s approach to rules is lovely and whether she is avoiding being creative, having rules frees her up to make / do her tasks.
The discussion in No Stupid Questions was very smart and also resonated in the same way. One thing that struck me was how Duckworth talked about the different areas of the brain - how the goal part was separate to the habit part. So are ‘creative’ routines more like goals? If so, having rules will help.
I know what you mean about the word "creative"... it's become meaningless in a way. I especially hate being referred to as "a creative" (shudder). But it's like any other word that gets mis-used or over-used... everyone has their own interpretation of what it means, and in the end, its original meaning remains. Baking a loaf of bread is a creative act. How can you say it's not?
Haaa-I love this! I agree that creativity is now just another marketing buzzword. This has got me thinking again as your explorations always do Mason. Less self-helpy one size fits all bullsh*t, more singular process.
Early on in my teaching career, I would toss the word “creative” into the guidelines for various assignments and projects for my students. By including the word creative, I thought I was freeing my students to pursue their own interests while also fulfilling the academic benchmarks I was charged with guiding them through. Misguided might be a better word for what happened. But it was only after I embraced a writing life that I realized the pressure the word creative may have posed for my students. What did I mean by creative? How did students understand the word creative? Who or What is Creativity?
Inspired by an old book on my shelf (pub. 1984) The Book of Qualities, by J. Ruth Gendler, I decided to meet creativity head on. Here is what I noticed.
You may, however, encounter your own version of creativity and it will be the truth at that time and place – that is the beauty of Creativity, once you get to know her.
Creativity skips, twirls, and dances through the day. Her chartreuse paisley cloak envelops her; her flowing jet-black hair swirls and shimmers about as she navigates the world. Creativity rarely just walks, but she pauses often, sometimes for a game of ping pong, other times for a conversation that may span days. She has been known to pen a Fibonacci poem for someone who needs inspiration. She loves talking about mathematics, poetry, proprioception and sometimes their combined transaction in her universe. At the close of the day, Creativity heads home. Some people think she spends her time gazing at the stars or into the recesses of the galaxy, but Creativity can often be found at twilight at her work bench with a hammer in hand, or bending over her drafting table imagining sustainable buildings, or composing a song with staccato bursts of surprise, or with a pen in hand writing furiously in one of her many notebooks. Perhaps an essay, an opinion piece, an ekphrastic poem. Creativity has a close but complex relationship with her cousins Discipline and Perseverance.
The important thing about Creativity is that she is everywhere for everyone, but some have lost their way or lost access to their experiential reservoir because of systemic suffocation or personal woes -- and – so -- they cannot find Creativity. This makes her sad – but she does not give up, ever. If you look carefully, you may catch a glimpse of Creativity in her chartreuse cloak as she waltzes through the world with Imagination who is draped in an eye-catching indigo shawl.
Let us rebel against creativity!! Her approach (and some of her day jobs) reminds me of Nan Goldin. I love the idea of rewriting things with a different focus: “once for sound, once for meaning, once for ‘beauty’, once for structure, once in the mirror for performativity etc.” !
Creativity is a trap. We’re all fishing in the same pond. Some of us have bigger boats and more expensive gear. Some of us stick around after hours to find the weird fish with fangs that glow in the dark.
I love the idea of being against creativity (or at least the commercial application of it). Acker’s approach to rules is lovely and whether she is avoiding being creative, having rules frees her up to make / do her tasks.
The discussion in No Stupid Questions was very smart and also resonated in the same way. One thing that struck me was how Duckworth talked about the different areas of the brain - how the goal part was separate to the habit part. So are ‘creative’ routines more like goals? If so, having rules will help.
I know what you mean about the word "creative"... it's become meaningless in a way. I especially hate being referred to as "a creative" (shudder). But it's like any other word that gets mis-used or over-used... everyone has their own interpretation of what it means, and in the end, its original meaning remains. Baking a loaf of bread is a creative act. How can you say it's not?
Always love your newsletters and get some snippet of insight from them - or an invitation to a different perspective - and this is no exception.
Haaa-I love this! I agree that creativity is now just another marketing buzzword. This has got me thinking again as your explorations always do Mason. Less self-helpy one size fits all bullsh*t, more singular process.
Thank you for this piece. I can only aspire to be as passionate, transparent, and raw as Kathy Acker was.
Creativity Answers/Creativity Misunderstood
Early on in my teaching career, I would toss the word “creative” into the guidelines for various assignments and projects for my students. By including the word creative, I thought I was freeing my students to pursue their own interests while also fulfilling the academic benchmarks I was charged with guiding them through. Misguided might be a better word for what happened. But it was only after I embraced a writing life that I realized the pressure the word creative may have posed for my students. What did I mean by creative? How did students understand the word creative? Who or What is Creativity?
Inspired by an old book on my shelf (pub. 1984) The Book of Qualities, by J. Ruth Gendler, I decided to meet creativity head on. Here is what I noticed.
You may, however, encounter your own version of creativity and it will be the truth at that time and place – that is the beauty of Creativity, once you get to know her.
Creativity skips, twirls, and dances through the day. Her chartreuse paisley cloak envelops her; her flowing jet-black hair swirls and shimmers about as she navigates the world. Creativity rarely just walks, but she pauses often, sometimes for a game of ping pong, other times for a conversation that may span days. She has been known to pen a Fibonacci poem for someone who needs inspiration. She loves talking about mathematics, poetry, proprioception and sometimes their combined transaction in her universe. At the close of the day, Creativity heads home. Some people think she spends her time gazing at the stars or into the recesses of the galaxy, but Creativity can often be found at twilight at her work bench with a hammer in hand, or bending over her drafting table imagining sustainable buildings, or composing a song with staccato bursts of surprise, or with a pen in hand writing furiously in one of her many notebooks. Perhaps an essay, an opinion piece, an ekphrastic poem. Creativity has a close but complex relationship with her cousins Discipline and Perseverance.
The important thing about Creativity is that she is everywhere for everyone, but some have lost their way or lost access to their experiential reservoir because of systemic suffocation or personal woes -- and – so -- they cannot find Creativity. This makes her sad – but she does not give up, ever. If you look carefully, you may catch a glimpse of Creativity in her chartreuse cloak as she waltzes through the world with Imagination who is draped in an eye-catching indigo shawl.
Let us rebel against creativity!! Her approach (and some of her day jobs) reminds me of Nan Goldin. I love the idea of rewriting things with a different focus: “once for sound, once for meaning, once for ‘beauty’, once for structure, once in the mirror for performativity etc.” !