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.