Dec 17th 1-2-3: Seeking Connection
1: Seeking Connection ( 2 minute read )
Connecting with people is sometimes like throwing fuel on your raging fire of inspiration and creativity.
Other times it can be like looking at the world through a completely different set of eyes.
Yes this is a bit nebulous and maybe a tad bit situational, but I really do believe human connection is frequently like this for artists.
Many times I have been in deep conversation with someone who just happened to say a string of words that ignites the inspiration for an entire world and story within my mind.
Characters, moments, relational connections, and vistas, all within my brain.
Typically sparked from some rather simple perspective I had never thought of myself.
Or maybe I’m talking to someone about a concept I ‘thought out so carefully and thoughtfully’, only for them to just break down with one simple factor I overlooked.
Frustration, irritation, and pride typically follows those moments.
…
They ultimately force me to turn my cheek and go back to the drawing board.
…
But regardless of the outcome, or if the ‘connection’ is even creatively focused, I find that the more I decide to ‘connect’ with other people the more I grow as an artist.
It can be very difficult for some people to seek relating to other people, however it is a very fruitful and enlightening thing to do.
For us artists, I’d go as far as to say its integral to making ‘Great Art’, the kind that proudly stands the test of time.
Part of creating great art is consuming a lot of great art, and a huge reason to ‘consume a lot of great art’ is for you to expand your referential library alongside your overall perspective.
I often end these entries, or sometimes the Newsletter greeting section, with:
“Now go make something uniquely you” .
I say that because everyone has something that makes them, well...them.
Inline with that sentiment I’d also say that everyone has something that you can learn from.
Human connection is insightful, energizing, and it leads to growth.
It is typically, nowadays, a source of a lot of friction and thus it is a weakness that can be strengthened.
Seek to connect with more people in general, but also seek out other fellow artists, both within your medium and within other forms of art.
You’ll learn more than you can imagine from this.
Plus,
You have absolutely nothing to lose, and everything to gain.
Now go seek connection!
Then,
Go make something uniquely YOU!
2: Creative Prompts From Us (ex. Write a short story, a poem, a song, or draw a quick illustration of these! Let your imagination run free.)
I. Next time you find yourself deep in conversation with someone, seek to find a prompt within that conversation. Whether it's personifying a phrase from the conversation, or maybe a particular recurring theme from your talk, make art inspired by that talk. Seek to find inspiration within day to day conversations.
II. Hayao Miyazaki would say that, as a child, he’d look out the window of his school and imagine a child running on top of the school moving, or rather flowing with and like the wind. George R.R. Martin would say that as a child he’d never seen the street right over from his and so he’d imagine what kind of fantastic creatures and aliens lived one street over from him. Both had incredibly high functioning imaginations, and so they looked at the day to day through that childlike lens and saw great wonders. For this prompt I want you to exercise this imagination and create something from day to day inspiration.
3: Inspirational Quotes From Others
I. “Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.”
-Carl Jung, Swiss Psychiatrist and Psychotherapist
II. “Human relationships are primary in all of living. When the gusty winds blow and shake our lives, if we know that people care about us, we may bend with the wind … but we won’t break.”
-Fred Rogers, American TV Host and Author
III. “Imagination is more important than knowledge.”
-Albert Einstein, Theoretical Physicist
Thank you so much for reading!