N385 - Seeing Sideways - The Secret Library

As promised, this is my "Wellspring of Creativity" assignment.

Allow me to preface this by saying that I was very much inspired by Mr. Glasscock who only a few weeks ago built a large spinning animation rig (which I can no longer remember the name of and Google refuses to help...)

As a New Media student, I don't do very much building that doesn't involve a computer. However, I really enjoy working with my hands and making things. So, I decided to do just that for this project.

I didn't just want to build something though. I wanted to build something that A.) I would use, B.) I could do with a little help from others as possible, and C.) I would think was clever and original and funny.

I decided on this:

Tada! A bookcase that looks like a giant book!

I know, I know. I'm awesome. I am also an avid reader, so I can't wait to bring this home from my parent's garage tonight and fill it with all my books. I'll upload pictures once it is filled. ;)

Helmet's Helpful Hints (Or Rather, Something Helmet Noticed in this Entry): This entry is brough to you by the letter 'A.' I don't really know why, but it just seemed to me like I used the letter 'A' alot...

N385 - Seeing Sideways - Day 8?

I haven't done one of these in awhile. They have kind of been merged with the assignment posts. This week was no exception. We talked about what gets our creative juices flowing and that's what I talked about in great detail in my last post.

One class member shared about how she felt like she had lost her creativity. I know exactly how she feels. I think every creative person goes through that many times in their life. Creativity comes and goes and you can't force it to come to you. The best you can do is try to coax it back out, but even that won't always work.

It is definitely a frustrating feeling, but all I can suggest is that you just keep trying and just keep your head up. You never know what is going to inspire you, so just live life! See a movie every week, read a book, try new types of food, learn a new language, meet new people! The more I take in, the easier it is for me to put out. (No sexual innuendo intended... God, that sounds bad. But you get the idea, perverts!)

N385 - Wellspring of Creativity

Creativity for me stems from two main things: Emotion and Limitation.

The first part is very simple and, I believe, quite common for most people. My emotional state plays a big part in how creative I can be. Sometimes when I am sad or angry, it puts a complete block on my creative state. There have been times when I have been getting awesome work done on a project or assignment just to have it come to a screeching halt because of some outside factor putting me in a crappy mood.

This isn't always the case, however. There have been times when my work is actually improved when I am angry or sad or depressed. For me, it really depends on what I am working on and what happened that put me in that mood, but emotions play a big part in whether or not my work is any good or whether or not I can even get it done!

The second part is a bit odd, but without a doubt it is my biggest wellspring of creativity. As long as I can remember I have worked well under limitations. Before I had Photoshop, I would create things in Paint. Anyone who has worked in Paint knows that it is severely limited compared to Photoshop, but I was able to find ways to do many of the things that people believed it was impossible to do without Photoshop.

I always felt most creative doing homework assignments in school where the teacher would tell me what I had to do. Working within the parameters of the assignment while still making it something that I would enjoy doing was challenging and exciting to me. I like to write sequels and prequels to books and movies because I am limited to keeping it within the boundaries set forth already.

The lack of freedom makes me think of things I wouldn't normally think of, because I want to make it something entertaining to me, but I will abide by the limitations unwaveringly.

I've really struggled coming up with what to do in this class on most assignments because there has been a HUGE lack of limitations. Beth is not one to set down rules for what should be done or how it should be done. She will give you a parameter like, "Look at fear" or "Use this egg," but within that, there is a vast amount of wiggle room.

I think this is good for me, because it makes me work much harder to come up with something just as creative even though it isn't playing into my strengths. I've definitely had to sit around for hours at a time trying to hash out what my project for that week was going to be.

For this week, we are supposed to examine our "Wellspring of Creativity" and immerse ourselves in it. Then create something memorable and share it with the class. Unfortunately, I am currently in the middle of a weird transitional period occupationally and got slammed with two full-time jobs for the last couple of weeks. I had to work 40 hours this week and 32 hours this weekend!

Needless to say, I didn't have much free time (that I didn't spend sleeping). Therefore, I do not feel that I had adequate time to give this project the effort that it deserves. So, I have decided to skip class today and create something awesome and memorable that I will show during next weeks class.

N385 - Why are you here?

I am going to assume that we are asking this question on a philosophical basis and that you don't want to know why I am sitting on my couch drinking Mountain Dew and eating Funyuns waiting for the next episode of Family Guy to start. (Or maybe you do. I like to think I could make my fairly boring life seem interesting through the magic of words.)

Anyways, why am I here?

Well, I don't have any religious beliefs, so I can't say that I am here to serve God's will or to find Nirvana or anything like that. I can only say how I am choosing to live my life, which I believe says a lot about what I think my reason for being here is.

I try to live my life with no regrets. To be the best man that I can be. I go to bed every night, knowing that I did the right things that day. I can honestly look back on my life and say that I am proud of the way I've lived it thus far.

I don't know what happens to us when we die, but I do know that no matter what, I will have lived a life that I know was full of good deeds and void of poor moral decisions. No matter what the afterlife (or lack thereof) holds for me, I will have the knowledge that I stuck to my guns and stood up for what I believed to be right and true.

So, why am I here?

I guess I am here because I want to show the world that you can be moral and just without conforming to the norm or leaning on religion. I want people to understand that it is up to you to make the right decisions whether someone is watching you or not. You can't live your life trying to please others. You need to do what makes you happy. Be you!

What is fear? (Conclusion)

My Fear Presentation went off pretty flawlessly, if I do say so myself. Thankfully, the topic of caring about what others think/say about you came up as an aside conversation during one of the other presentations, and that made the perfect transition for me to get up and let people publicly take a swing at me on my own blog.

If you scroll down to a few blog posts back you can see what all was said about me. Not unsurprisingly, it started with my personal appearance, quickly turned into a flame war, and ended by questioning my sexuality. Ah, the joys of the internet! I really wasn't offended or upset by anything that was said about me. In fact, the whole thing was a lot of fun. Everyone was laughing, including myself. I kind of expected this. I really didn't think anyone would be seriously "touched" by my presentation, but I do hope that the next time they are worried or upset about what they believe others are saying or feeling about them, they will remember how much fun we had in class when I decided to say, "Here I am, I don't give a fuck!"

One thing happened afterwards though that I did not expect. Two days after class, I was talking with a couple of my buddies on campus when Mr. Glasscock walked by. Without thinking about it, I gave him the head nod, he returned it and I said, "How's it going?" to which he replied, "Not much, you?" and I said, "Same." (Or something to that affect. It was over a week ago so I don't remember our exact words, but I think that's pretty close.)

Ladies you probably are reading this like, "aaaaaaand? So, what?" but what you don't understand is, that that exchange of "Sup?" and "Not much." is something guys do with people they are somewhat friends with. Perhaps it would help to say that Mr. Glasscock and I have never talked at all before that day and that he was one of the big contributors to my blog during my Fear Presentation.

What I am trying to get at is that I believe we inadvertantly connected a little bit that day. I literally told this guy to make fun of me on the internet, he did, we laughed and now we are bros.*

Uhhhh... WTF? Who saw that coming? But it proves my point ultimately; being afraid of what other people say about you or think about you is just silly. If you can let it roll off you or you can laugh about it or just stop caring altogether, you'll be so much happier. And ultimately, that's why the fear doesn't exist for me! I am happy with myself and how I live my life, and I am not going to let anyone's words or thoughts take that away from me!

*I don't know if Mr. Glasscock actually considers us bros. I can't speak for him. I am just going off of what I personally experienced and believe to have happened. Not trying to force you into a bromance, Glasscock. ;)

N385 - Fear Presentations (Part 2)

I was unable to attend class last Monday due to some family medical problems that I had to attend to, so this post will not actually be about the second round of fear presentations. Instead, I'd like to talk about something that Beth brought up in class last week that we have in common.

A fear of the eternal.

I'm not even sure I can call this a fear, but I don't really know what else to call it. I think the fear comes from not being able to wrap my head around the idea of forever. Just thinking about what happens to people after they die inevitably leads to two very terrifying thoughts: At some point in time we cease to exist OR we continue on indefinitely.

I think most people can understand the fear that is attached to the first of those two thoughts, and honestly, I think that is why so many people cling to religion (especially in their later years). I mean, no one wants to believe that when they die, that's it! No more. No afterlife, no reincarnation, no nothing. That idea is hard enough to wrap your head around. It is impossible to imagine not existing at all! But as much as that scares me, existing forever is equally terrifying.

I think this stems from the fact that we are programmed in life to think that everything comes to end in due time, and for that to not be the case after death is almost uncomprehendable. Even if I imagine the afterlife as a huge party with all my friends and family around me and we can do anything our hearts desire, I still get nervous knowing that it would never end.

I would say that this is the closest thing to a true fear I have. I hate spiders. Hate them. But if I think about a spider I don't feel fear start to well up in my chest. However, every time I think of eternity, I do! It's strange, and I wonder where the fear stems from. I spend a lot of time thinking about this, and the fact that Beth mentioned it last class made me realize that I am not the only person who thinks like this, and knowing that is good enough for me right now.

N385 - Fear Presentations (Part One)

Last week in class we started presenting out fear assignments, and honestly, it was one of the most interesting classes we have had thus far this semester. I think the fact that it was required to present your "experiment" in class made people work harder to come up with something that they would be proud/excited to show off.

There were live spiders, chocolate covered crickets and peanut butter maggot cookies, air horns, roaches and old people. It was quite an entertaining 3 hours. I presented myself and it went off about like I imagined. (Random internet phrases, that's what she said and a sexuality questioning conclusion.)

My favorite presentation of last week was probably the gentleman who had an aversion to old people. It was hilarious to listen to him talk about why he felt that way and honestly, I could see where he was coming from. Who doesn't feel a little creeped out in an old folks' home?

This week we have more presentations, so I am really looking forward to that. Hopefully, this second batch will be just as exciting and entertaining!