Let me ask again, maybe for the first time here but not for the first time in my experience... Can Creativity be trained?
I think yes. I am a professional photographer but my proficiency comes through journalism. However, I started on that path because of my love for arts and the aesthetics (but also purpose) of photography (and arts). I also have a master's degree in Psychology so I have learned about this vague but certainly present and powerful thing called Creativity.
Well, I think of myself as somehow lacking the inborn part of it.
To generalize it, I will define it here as being original. Thinking and acting 'outside the box'.
Now that is encouraging because that is something I can train to do - getting out of boxes. I just have to identify them.
The first one I would like to identify for us all is Rejection. Of ideas. So the exercise I decided to force upon myself was to wait before rejecting something and to ask myself:
Why not?
Let me tell you a story.
I drank my coffee in front of a four-year-old boy while I was teaching him to brushes and paint on paper. Probably watercolors, I don't exactly remember. He asked me if we could paint with coffee. I was about to reply with a negative, meaning most probably 'No, you little rascal, you cannot waste mine.'
But then I thought about it, immediately knew that I would be trying it for the next few days or weeks ans told him we could try and make another cup later and then paint some.
On the following weekend I made the image that you see on top of the article and my fiancee, experienced artist Silviya Shoseva, made the one that follows - a cleaner job by far:
Since I love both her and minimalism, I couldn't help but put it on my wall where it still stands. Actually, I've changed walls between then and now.
It turned out to be a very nice meditative exercise for me during the following few weeks.
I have to admit, when it comes to drawing or painting I am shy and reluctant to show my results but since I am writing about going over rejection (my own in the first place), why not?
It was all exercise, using favorite sketches or artworks as references, in a field where I don't have the time to get much better, anyway. But why not? Who knows where I will be in a few years? Maybe I will have all the time in the world to waste more good coffee and paper just to satisfy my soul. Maybe something good will come out of it.
Maybe some good artist among you will get inspired and do great stuff... Why not?
And also I thought I should start returning the favors and give away some of my work as free references to unknown artists. Those can be found on my recently made Patreon profile at https://www.patreon.com/manoldonchev - visit the featured tags Reference and/or Free Content by clicking on them below my Goals on the left. Some of the references will be free and some of the free content will be references. They are few now but in a few months there will be more.
Since I am all crazy about good art being produced I have made it my purpose to support that in ways that I find.
Which includes this platform. And I am happy that I was able o find more than expected. To connect to distant people and ideas and to witness the birth or growth of communities.
My latest discovery fits the topic of this article quite well. The #freewrite who were kind enough to make me feel welcome as a new member. And who have projects that could help you get out of the box. Read on, visit any of the links below and you will know what I am talking about.
.....
Did I need coffee
Or simply adopted it
A measure for time
This is my suggestion to @vdux - I think coffee, but maybe time is also not a bad idea. Maybe they were done before, maybe we could repeat them at some point. Learn about the project here:
@vdux/the-one-haiku-contest-you-cannot-miss
Other freewrite projects:
@freewritehouse/week-26-win-a-membership-in-steem-basic-income-tell-us-about-a-favorite-freewrite by @freewritehouse
@jayna/new50-wordshortstorychallenge-izk1rtmnh1 by @jayna
@mariannewest/day-348-5-minute-freewrite-wednesday-prompt-vinyl by @mariannewest
Writing may not be your personal passion but it we all have the tools to do it so you can just take it as practice. Those challenges above are all designed to train your creativity and to help you meet other creative people. Of all the people I met on the platform before last week, the first one I can think of inviting to any of these is @tarazkp. Maybe he has history with the #freewrite community, I don't know.
I think I will be connecting to artists' and musicians' communities as well and I will even try to increase the bond between them in the future. More people may connect and write songs or draw illustrations for others. And we are given a currency to flow between us.
I just think 'Why Not?' It's up to all of us ('all of us' was previously 'the rest of you' - I think I've just upgraded my own soul).
Yours,
Manol