Creative
Quest. Questlove
I
spent significant parts of my career leading, guiding, and directing
creative resources and processes. It is where I found the “jazz”
in a career of marketing as opposed to pursuing a legal career. As
in most things I have done, once setting myself to the plow I have
studied and prepared myself to be good at it; to have a comprehension
enough to make a difference. This has led me to a variety of authors
and books / essays on creative and the creative process. I believe
creative process is like day planners
– there are many approaches and plans but there is not a ONE and
ONLY; what
works for you is what works.
There
is no shortage of books and theories on creativity.
You need to discover, create, curate the process that best works for
you and leverage or ignore the others. That being said, its a book
full of ideas and ‘tips”. (I hate the word ‘tips’. It
diminishes the importance of an idea.) For me the book was meaningful
if only to get me to the last chapter No
End – Lifelongering / Persisting.
Questlove’s take on enduring to
the
end.
"creativity
is a lifelong endeavor. Practice may or may not be perfect, which is
why you should never stop practicing."
And
I had to read this because I love his name. It reminds me of
CrossLove, one of the YM in Delray Beach. I have long been aware of
Questlove, though it has only been of recent years that I have become
aware of the breadth of his brilliance. I knew of his Hip Hop career,
didn't know he was leading edge; knew of his cooking expertise and
had even shared his book on cooking with Parker. His writing style
isn't great litterateur but it is accessible, readable and
effectively communicates. He speaks of old favorite creative starter
processes like OppoScales
and Start
with the end in mind - Beginning
with the newspaper article acknowledging
the successful launch of XXX and Sticking
to your guns. He
brings new light to
Making
your environment
reflective of your taste, Widen
your circle, Seek
out boredom and embrace it; Embrace the things that scare you and
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.
Its
worthy of a quick read, And if you have never read a book on the
creative process – go find another flame and spark additional
fires. Try The
Six Thinking Hats of Creative Communication
by Edward
De Bono
“
With
the help (or hindrance of) the online world, the brain is more a
hunter- gatherer and less a farmer”.
‘Sometimes
you hear from a company that a certain work doesn’t have an
audience. That's not true. It has an audience ,,, its a matter of
finding them.’
“
creativity
is one of the few human endeavors where you can crash your plane and
walk away from it”David Bowie.
“Always
stay within sight of healthy competition.”
when
you lower your cognitive inhibitions, “more information enters into
your conscious mind, which you can then tinker with and recombine.
The result: creative ideas.” Harvard psychologist Shelley Carson
"copying,
over covering, is always a valuable exercise.”
“Healthy
habits keep you connected to the source of your ideas but you should
also keep at it when you are
older well after you retired from whatever profession. “
“How
to maintain a youthful perspective
-
Trying to eat well.
-
Keeping the company younger people
-
laugh
-
Don’t stop going down a flight of stairs just because it hurts a
little when to start stopping - you’re on your way to shutting down
entirely
“You
have to keep going, you have to take the stairs even if they hurt you
realizing it’s a long game rather than a short ...to understand the
passage of time and give you perspective not only on your own work
but on your own identity”
“...Not
acknowledge the ways in which age limits your move into the world”
It
is about finding your own unique way of fitting into the continually
repeating human experience nothing you do is new but you can still be
new within that realization
