The other day, a guy I hardly know asked me, in passing, “Done anything creative lately?” This question pleased me. More and more, I find that doing creative things is my sole raison d’être. (FYI I am learning French one overused cliché at a time.)
The truth is, I try to do something creative every day. I achieve this by having a very broad definition of what “creative” means. Basically, anything that I do from the right side of my brain counts as “creative.” (With the possible exception of watching mindless television, which is an activity that definitely takes place on the right side of my brain but is as uncreative as it gets — yet, still of value in its own way, I suppose.) So, for instance, here are some creative things I might do:
- Read an article that makes me think (like the latest National Geographic article “In The Footsteps of the Apostles“)
- Take a snapshot of something I just happen to see
- Invent a salad dressing
- Have a crazy dream
Aside from my daily creative bursts and my monthly creative hooky days, I decided that 2012 was going to be the transformative dragon year of fire-breathing creative inspiration, with monthly themes. In January, I created something small every day for the River of Stones project. Leslie and I dubbed February “Cultural Awareness Month” and began to take advantage of the plethora of arts and performance opportunities here in San Francisco. We bravely joined the Chinese New Year Treasure Hunt and gamely sucked at it. We attended a Litquake event called “Love Hurts” in honor of how ridiculous Valentine’s Day is. This past weekend, we saw Miranda July give one of her brilliant creative performances at the JCC. March’s creative plan is still TBD, but I have some ideas.
Creativity matters. It’s the line between existing and thriving. It’s the thing that makes each of us unique — not in a DNA way, but in an intricacies-of-the-human-mind way. Creativity is a practice, and it should be nurtured. It’s a way of looking at the world; it’s permission to turn your tragedies into stories. One of my favorite quotes opens the book Running With Scissors:
“Look for the ridiculous in everything, and you will find it.”
(Jules Renard)
What about you? Done anything creative lately?
