Welcome to my adventures and experiments in creativity. Where writing is like running: sometimes I know where I'm going, and sometimes I see where the mood takes me.


Sunday 20 January 2013

Taking Things Seriously


Changing your life is hard.

Changing your life while keeping a lot of it the same as it was before is even harder.

In pinpointing what you can do differently – for example, simplifying certain aspects of every day to maximise the time spent being creative – you naturally seek inspiration from others who have trod a similar path and are willing to share their experiences.

Another change I’m trying to make is to engage with the creative ‘scene’ a lot more than I have before. Engage with people I trust, and from whom I have started to draw some of that inspiration. Part of the increased engagement is simply a natural result of feeling happier about the work I’m doing.

It’s not a process I’m going to complete overnight.

There are plenty of people out there offering advice on creativity and lifestyle whose work I am reading, but with whom I have yet to make any sort of contact. A certain section of that reading is quite serious. There’s nothing wrong with that in of itself; of course there isn’t. And it’s not to say that its creators don’t have fun.

But it seems to come from a place of such zen-like contentment that it is a little scary. Among the lessons I take from it, I also take a feeling of resignation at not yet having worked out how I will find my audience and distribute the work I am currently producing.

I know it’s silly, but it is also somehow unavoidable. And I’ve noticed that it’s affecting the work. Rather than retaining a sense of fun and occasional flippancy, it feels as though my work needs to become serious if I am to be taken the same way.

So I’m going to keep reading and keep writing. The work remains the focus, but I’m still trying to get a handle on how my attitude is altering. I’m having a lot of fun getting the writing done – I just need to make sure that’s reflected in the words I commit to paper.

4 comments:

  1. Hi Paul, I"m sure a lot of people feel the same. Maybe it's to your advantage that you haven't quite reached the zen-like state yet, as maybe more people will be able to relate to what you're going through!

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  2. Thanks Milo, I'm certain that you're right. It's interesting to wonder where the boundary lies - if it even exists! - between having people relate to you, and having people be inspired by you.

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    1. Might just depend on what stage different people are at I spose. With Leo on Zen Habits a lot of audience might have grown and developed with him, and can relate to his aim of not setting goals.

      For the rest of us, we still have too much to achieve to forego goal-setting, so we want to hear from someone who's still in the thick of it, so to speak. If that makes any sense!

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    2. Have no fear, that does make sense! I wish those people a lot of good luck, but at least the rest of us can hopefully hitch a ride in the pimpmobile ;-)

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