We also live in a world of convenience and easy access. All of this is all fine and good, and has made modern life quite the breeze. I am not writing this post to condemn an entire generation and make everyone feel bad for using their phone for literally everything. This is not the point. Understand that I too am glued to my phone an irrational, and embracing amount of time. This is about something else.
I have always been a right brained creative. Ever since I was little, and had teachers scolding me for doodling pictures all over my school assignments. Creativity comes quite naturally to me. Over the years my creativity has evolved into many things, and I have found use for my creativity in nearly everything that I do. It is not just used for making art.
All of this in mind, there is one thing that is perhaps most important to me when it comes to creativity.
The Creative Process
The thing that I have come to realize is that I actually enjoy the process of being creative more than I enjoy finishing a project. This actually explains why there are so many unfinished things in my life. I'm a habitual "first 5-10 chapters" reader. I have finished very few books all the way through. (Sorry to every english teacher I have ever had.)
There are many things that I do, and I believe strongly in, and lately it has come to my attention that there are many things that the short cuts of today have truly stopped. Many lost arts, and things that kids of my generation don't truly think about. These are things that I believe enhance the creative process itself, and are so important to use in our lives in some way. Some of these people might argue are due to my natural talents of creativity, which may be partially true, but I am an avid believer that talent is merely a small amount of ability. True ability is much more hard work and patience than anything else.
First thing's first. Music.
How can I not talk about music? The current "streaming" industry has made the world of music so easy and wonderful to use. As I've said in previous posts, it has enhanced our scope, and taste of music so much, and has made it so easy to cater one's music to one's personal tastes, which I think is totally awesome. However there are several things that the enhancement of digital has done to music.
Let's talk about LP's. Vinyl as the kids are calling it. Vinyl is definitely making a come back thanks to the hipster crowds, but there are more reasons to listen to vinyl than to just keep up with the trends.
Yes, vinyl does have a better sound quality. Digital sound truncates the sound. It takes off the top and bottom registers. Now it only does this with a very unnoticeable part of the sound, the kind that only dogs can hear. So it isn't really THAT noticeable. But there is still a difference.
The digital age has also made it so easy to find the music you want. This is of course a wonderful thing, but if we are talking about the creative process, there are some things that we lose.
The idea of a "Playlist" didn't really come until iTunes came along. Even CD's had the same idea as an LP. If you liked a song, you had to buy a full length album. This is something I think my generation doesn't understand. We are a generation of "picking and choosing", and myself included tends to just pick and choose singles from every group I listen to. Not every group is a one hit wonder. The art of creating an album is becoming a lost one. It really is an art form, as even the order in which songs appear can make or break the songs themselves. Having to buy an entire album even if you originally bought it for just one song meant learning to fall in love with an album.
We also no longer have to even leave our homes to get great music. Which is again a wonderful thing for anti-social home bodies such as myself, but there is just something about that record shop.
One of the only ones around me is what I'm pretty sure used to be a smoke shop. You walk in and it smells like some sort of substance. I don't know enough about drugs to place it. #sheltered. Even though that can scare off some people, there's something kind of great about it. Anyway, you walk into this little store that still has bars on the windows, and you walk to the record shelves, and you begin to meander. Through genres, and artists, and sometimes you are looking for something in particular, and other times you are just looking for anything that might catch your eye. No matter what, you are always surprised by what you find. This is the amazing part about record stores. You always find some kind of lost treasure. Truly lost treasure. Many records these days are pretty old, and spent considerable time in someone's attic or garage. I listen to a lot of classical music, (which is great as a vinyl listener, because the classical shelves are always super cheap because they are just trying to get rid of the stuff.)
Vinyl albums also tell a story. A lot of the vinyl of modern artists often come with hidden surprises. Here are some of my favorites.
Clear Vinyl? Pink Vinyl? That's what I thought opening both of these, but I absolutely love it. It's such an amazing feeling opening up a new record and putting it on for the first time. Most of these albums I have listened to digitally a thousand times before, but there is just something about that first sound.
Another thing I love about albums is the cover art. The art of covers is something we don't really notice as much anymore. I mean apart from the album cover on our iPhone screen while we listen to it, it's like...meh. But there is something about holding a huge blown up version of that album art that just whisks you away. Here are some cool ones.
Great band. Awesome cover.
I mainly love this album because it is the most awesome compilation of 80's jams ever. On Vinyl. That is impossible to find. But the cover art is pretty sweet too.
I was at an antique shop recently, and I found a beautiful Carmen album that I bought for my sister because Carmen is currently her Bae. When I took the album to the register, the lady admired the beautiful cover and asked me if I was buying it just for the cover art. I said that I definitely was buying it for the music, and she replied that she has a lot of people buy it just for the cover art. While the art is very beautiful on the front, I would never buy it just for that.
Many of my records also have sentimental meaning, and tell a story.
This album is not for the faint of heart. Very contemporary. It is one of my favorite cellists, playing a piece written by one of his greatest friends. Shotokovich and Rostropovich. What a duo! My senior year of high school I was in the thick of musical pedagogy. Practicing my head off. I also had many friends in the band. I was an orchestra kid who didn't discriminate. (; One day the band teacher told me that he had gotten his hands on this Rostropovich record, and I was jumping up and down trying to convince him to hand it over. He then did his little band teacher giggle and told me that maybe I could have it as a graduation present. Well I had orchestra after lunch, so I would always come in early to get my cello out and warm up. This band teacher's office had a window that was connected to the hallway that I walked passed every day to get my cello. One day was walking in, and I saw this face, the one with the glasses, in the window. And I thought, "That looks a lot like Shostoko-Wait a minute." So I banged on the glass of his window, and was like yelling at him. After I got my cello I walked out, and was like, "How long has it been there?" He said he just put it there today. Eventually he handed the record over. I was so grateful. I asked if he wanted anything in return, and he said if I ever find a Miles Davis record to give it to him.
This album is actually one of the first things my husband ever gave me. It was my first Christmas present from him. Apparently he spent hours at a few different record stores before he stumbled upon this beauty. Which is amazing because he remembered that I love Edith Piaf, and even found a really old record in amazing condition. It remains one of my favorite albums.
Now of course this is not the only avenue of the creative process to talk about. My husband recently dug out his old 1982 Nikon SLR. I love fiddling around with that thing. I'm definitely still a novice at film photography, so I can't sit here and tell you all of the do's and don'ts. I grew up with photography as my mom took pictures of everything, and I have a great eye for layout, but there are so many things we don't really think about with photography these days.
Of course everything is manual with a camera like this, so you have to know what you're doing, and what lighting you're working with and what all of that means, but that's honestly the least of your worries. There is not an unlimited amount of pictures with a camera like this.
With the film we use, you have 24 shots with one can of film. Basically 24 chances to get a good picture. Obviously you wouldn't want to use all 24 shots taking the same exact picture. (Like we do with our camera phones.) You really want to use every shot for everything it's worth, so it takes a lot longer to actually push that little button. But this also makes every shot worth that much more, as it is really one of a kind.
Like with everything on this post, I am not saying that phones, and camera phones are bad. I love my iPhone's camera. I use it religiously. But there is something to be said for REAL pictures. The kind that only pop up once every 20 years with a national geographic magazine.
I also love the idea of taking pictures for myself. So often I catch myself taking pictures for the sole purpose of posting them about something. We all do it. The dialogue in our brain goes something like this, "I have to take this picture from this angle so that I get this many likes on it. Oh, and I'll caption it with this hashtag, and this hilarious thing, and everyone will love it, and think I live the most wonderful life." Maybe not exactly but... C'mon. It's pretty dang close.
Why don't we take pictures just to take pictures and document our beautiful lives for ourselves? This way of picture taking really forces you to take pictures in a completely different way, and that's why I think the art of actual photography has changed so much, and deserves some kind of renaissance. A rebirth of film photography, or just thoughtful photography at the very least. Let us not forget that "Selfie" was once called a "self portrait," and took a lot of time and practice.
There are so many other ways that we can use the creative process more in our lives, and I believe that it is such acts that can enhance our life. I am not saying that a little mindless activity on our phones is totally bad and we are all heathens for it.
But working with our hands is so wholesome in such an enriching way. It never hurts to try something that makes you think about or see the world in a different way. It's how we grow, and it's how we unleash our minds. If you aren't creative, or you feel like you aren't creative, stop it. Everyone is creative in some way. Just as everyone is technical in some way. I used to think I only had a right brain. We need Yin and Yang in our lives. Find the best way to use both in your life. And just use your hands and do something awesome.
I suppose we might not be killing the creative process, as many professions are hands on, and many people put their best foot forward in many things in their lives. Just keep in mind, that just because something takes longer and is more tedious, does not make it not worth it. Hard work is always worth it, and often yields better results.
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