Sometimes when I create, it’s difficult to get new ideas. But more often than not one idea leads to the next and I can catch a new idea every hour.
A flood of ideas. For example, the ideas for the last 5 or 6 posts I wrote came to me suddenly, sometimes while I was writing one post. Sometimes when I was re-reading the last one. Usually I find new ideas when listening to inspirational podcasts. It doesn’t always work that way. I have to think harder when the subject matter doesn’t move me. Then it can feel forced. But when we are talking about creativity, I get very passionate. I guess this is what helps me suddenly find new ideas. Or maybe the other way around - new ideas find me. Then there is the question of retaining ideas, not losing them. Have you ever had a curious idea come to you and you would be walking with this idea entire day but then suddenly forget and when the time comes to create, you can’t remember it… It’s very frustrating. That’s why I carry my notebook with me whenever I go. Sometimes I can draw Pinky and Spiky comic strip while waiting in the car or when others would simply scroll the phone. But I guess even better way would be journaling. Sort of writing a diary. Then I would be able to write down all those interesting ideas and later act upon at least some of them. I have tried to start writing a diary more than once but failed to continue. You probably know that feeling. At first, when the enthusiasm is high, you write every day but after a week or so, it becomes a drag, sort of one more thing you have to do with your limited time and you quit. One diary writing technique that cartoonist Lynda Barry teaches might be easier to pursue. It only takes 7 or 8 minutes. In your notebook, you list 7-8 things you did in the last 24 hours for 2 minutes. Then list 7-8 things you saw in the last 24 hours. Also for 2 minutes. Then write something you heard someone say for 2 minutes. Like a sentence or two. And the last 2 minutes you spend drawing a picture from those previously listed ideas with something you did, saw or heard in the last 24 hours. That’s it. That’s only 8 minutes and you have your daily diary entry. I think I’m going to try to start this type of diary again. But I have to figure out where to write it. It seems like it should be a larger notebook than the pocket one I use for drawing my comic strips. But then the problem is that I won’t be able to carry it with me wherever I go. I’m lazy. I like to have everything I need within arm’s reach. So we’ll see which one works best. Then I’ll always have something to choose to create from. A sudden flood of ideas.
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Yesterday I heard Elizabeth Gilbert who is the author of Big Magic: Creative Living Without Fear and other books share on her podcast Magic Lessons this idea that only a few people who run a marathon are winners. And there are others who finish the race and those who don’t finish it.
Those who don’t finish tend to look down on themselves. And society of course doesn’t help here. They call them quitters. But, Elizabeth continued, majority of people don’t even start. So those who did not finish are actually ahead of them. It’s so true in creating art, too. If you are frustrated with yourself that you tend to start various projects and not finish them, know that most people don’t even begin creating either because of fear of failure or fear of success. That’s why true artists are so hard to find. I started but not finished practicing many things, including writing diary, swimming, running, Navy SEAL’s workout, fugal improvisation, playing euphonium, drums and violin and reading many books so I know how you feel. I probably quit because they didn’t matter to me that much. But I’m glad I’m continuing to practice a few things now that are important to me. And by trying many different things I’m finally finding a few that stick. It’s better not to finish than not to start at all. This morning I drank a glass of water, put my fitness gloves on and went outside to the garden to do my pull-up routine. As I jumped on the rings, I felt a little nervous if it will go smoothly today.
This time I was able to pull myself up once without too much trouble. Then I picked up some fallen apples for a couple of minutes and came back to the rings. To my surprise, the second and the third pull-ups went also rather smoothly. Maybe I’m getting stronger? But the fourth and the fifth felt like real work. Not as hard as yesterday (and I didn’t let the fart out this time) but they were taxing nonetheless. I wonder if I could do some pull-ups in the evening too? Maybe my progress will go faster this way… For the last 3 days we’ve been visiting my mom and I’ve been doing my push-up routine on the stand where people clean the rugs. The height there is suitable for children only so I was really struggling to do those push-ups because in addition to the upper body, my legs too had to be tensed. I actually went back to do 20 second dead hangs most of the time.
Today I’m happy to be home and the first thing in the morning I did was to go outside in the garden and jump on the rings. It made all the difference. I felt like I could do push-ups much easier. So while I picked up fallen apples in between of exercises, I did 5 sets of 1 push-up. Push up 4 and 5 were funny - I made some sound effects with 3 farts each… I was lucky the neighbors weren’t around… Before you tell me I’m crazy, hear me out:
What if everybody who has Internet connection in the world and knows how to write would write a personal blog? Even those who don’t have Internet, could write it in a notebook and later go to a nearest library to type it out. Even the act of writing down your thoughts in a notebook with a pencil or a pen changes things completely. I strongly believe that the world would be a better place. Everybody could write just 3 things: what their dream is, what they are struggling with and what they have found inspiring today. Basically, this is the process of documenting someone’s life. My nephew who will be in 12th grade next year could write about the things that he learned at school. He and his girlfriend are fascinated about photography right now. They could write about that too. His dad who is a doctor could write about the operations he had that day and about his hobbies of fishing and para-gliding. My mom could write about how she teaches kids to draw. My aunt who is retired art teacher is drawing with watercolor on silk. She could write about that. My friend who is suffering from Multiple Schlerosis could write about his day-to-day experiences with this illness. Or if this is too painful, perhaps about his hobby, what helps him not to think about the MS. My parents-in-law could write about how they grow vegetables in their garden. My friend who recently quit his main job could write about his struggles to find new profitable passions that might turn into another income stream for him. So that’s only the people whom I met or thought about in the last few days. What about others? What about billions of people on the planet? Oh, and by the way, by blogging I don’t mean just writing words. Creating could be done in text, pictures, audio, video or any combination. You see, I believe every human being is a creator but a lot of people don’t know that. They accept the rules that society has given them without even questioning them. Many people never had a chance to speak up about the things that matter to them. To have a public voice. A lot of world’s problems would go away if people found the guts to tell the world what it is they are struggling with or find inspiring. Now you can tell me I’m crazy. Oh boy, it felt cold when I came out to do pull-ups this morning without my t-shirt on! The morning dew was everywhere, cobwebs where flying in the air, the sign of approaching autumn. The smells of freshness penetrated my senses as I walked towards the rings.
As soon as I jumped on them I realized that it will go easier today than yesterday. Maybe because I slept better but more importantly, because I didn’t have breakfast yet. I felt lighter. So I did my 5 sets of one pull-up with 2 minute breaks in between. But it will be awhile before I’ll be able to complete 2 pull-ups in a row in my routine. No need to rush. During the breaks I picked up fallen apples from the trees and put the good ones in the tray. We will take this tray along with other goods from our garden to my moms later today when we’ll drive 325 kilometers west from Vilnius to Klaipeda, Lithuanian coastal city to visit with her. I’m not sure how I will workout without my rings tomorrow and the day after that when we are in Klaipeda. Hopefully, I’ll see some opportunities in the area next to their apartment building. We’ll find out soon enough. I feel particularly lucky in life. A lot of my dreams have become a reality.
I wanted to create additional revenue stream from my online creativity so that I would be able to quit my job. I did it. I wanted to teach myself how to improvise on the organ. I did it. I wanted to start drawing every day. I did it. I wanted to start being more active physically. I’m doing it. I wanted to write books and publish them on Amazon. I did it. Some of my ideas have not come true, though. About 13 years ago I started practicing Karate but didn’t last long. I wanted to create one music composition a day but couldn’t keep up the pace (I will figure out how to do it without burning myself out soon, I promise). I wanted to teach myself Swedish and Italian but lost motivation. I didn’t get lucky in those areas. Maybe in others, too. I have a track record of not finishing what I start. Here’s the thing: I didn’t know what will work out and what won’t in advance. I just did it. At the time all of the ideas seemed equally valid. But some ideas stuck more than others. For some reason I keep doing some creative activities every day. I got lucky with those. But of course I can’t get lucky, if I’m not playing, can I? So it’s OK to try a lot of things. To keep looking for your purpose. To be open for your curiosity to take you wherever it wants to go. I know some people who wouldn’t even play. So they can’t get lucky no matter how much they dream. No matter how much they want success and happiness, they can’t win in the game of life unless they play. Maybe it’s not their time yet. Maybe they will break out free later. So this morning I stood up in front of my writing stand and banged out these words on the keyboard for you. In about 10 minutes I will edit this thoughts and publish them online for the world to see together with a Pinky and Spiky comic strip I drew the day before. I don’t know if they will lead anywhere. I don’t know if I’ll get lucky this time. All I know is that I have to keep playing. Oh, this day was hard for me to do pull-ups!
Maybe it was the fact I lacked some sleep from last night or that I exercised a couple of hours later after breakfast, but I did feel heavier. Or maybe my muscles needed more time to recover. I guess all of the above contributed a little bit. Even my first pull-up was a little shaky. While I was lowering myself down I thought how am I going to finish my routine this morning with 4 more pull-ups with 2 minute rests in between. So I picked up some fallen apples from the garden and jumped again on the rings. In my 2nd pull-up I was already out of form helping the upward movement with my legs. So were the next 3 attempts as well. I’m not going to beat myself up for this. I’m quite happy that I didn’t miss the morning routine and continued my workout even for a little bit. Sure, maybe I could have simply done four 20 second dead hangs after the 1st pull-up. I’m confident that if I sleep better tonight or exercise before breakfast pull-ups will come easier. The most important thing when the going gets tough for me is simply continue moving. I just have to do something small. And be quite content about what I’m doing. Because the alternative would be to watch one more episode on Netflix. And this won’t get me any closer to my goals. An organist writing about creativity AND drawing silly comic strips about a piglet and a hedgehog AND doing 10 pull-ups challenge AND writing about it. How many organists do you know who did it or are doing it?
It’s crazy, isn’t it? Of course it is. I should be playing organ more. Everyone would tell me that. But for some reason I feel compelled to write and draw and do pull-ups and document my process. My heart excites when I stand in front of my writing stand while typing words into Scrivener. My heart excites when I take my pocket notebook (I finished the 6th one yesterday since I started doing it 8 months ago) and start drawing the frame without actually knowing what exactly I will draw. My heart excites knowing that in about an hour I will go to my garden and jump on those rings only to struggle to pull myself up once five times with 2 minute breaks while picking fallen apples and maybe eating one or two. My heart excites when later in the day I’ll come back to Scrivener and recount my pull-up workout experience knowing that some readers will be waiting to read it online. If my dream would be to take those fallen apples and make it into an apple sauce, would that be exciting? Would my friends tell me that I’m crazy? Of course not. This is a normal activity which we all do without even dreaming about it. What about you? What are you the most excited about? Or perhaps afraid of? Until recently one of my biggest fears were that I will not be able to lose weight. I have a weak will and a big appetite. So I started doing pull-ups. While still being scared of them. We will see where they will lead me. Back in 2011 I was afraid that my new Secrets of Organ Playing blog will not attract enough readers to start generating some meaningful income and I will always have to work at a school as a music theory teacher. Teaching ear training to kids which they hate. This prospect of being stuck at the dead-end job was terrifying but I was also afraid that my efforts to get out of it won’t go anywhere. However, I did it anyway. A Lithuanian writing articles in English… Fast forward 7 years later and this summer I was able to quit my job. Nobody believed in me at first. Nobody in my circle understood what I was doing. I didn’t fully believe in this dream myself. But when on March 27, 2012 I made my first $100, I started realizing that this little side project of mine might have some potential in the future. It wasn’t that little, of course, because the blog was occupying my entire free time. Whatever you are excited about or scared of the most, do it. If your friends or family tell you it’s crazy, even better. Start it now. No, you won’t be ready. No, you won’t feel prepared. No, you won’t know if it will work. And it might not work. There are no guarantees. But what’s the alternative? To wait until it is too late? I hope you can do better than that. I believe in you. No, I wasn’t able to continue the pace set from yesterday. I mean I didn’t do 2 pull-ups at the first try. Yesterday I did total of 4 pull-ups. But today I did 5! Let me tell you how I did it.
After writing an article in the morning before breakfast, I went to the garden and jumped on the rings. I felt quite sure I could do 2 pull-ups right away. But I decided to settle for 1 instead. After all, it was morning and my body was stiff so it was better to start small. Then I picked up some apples for 2 minutes and came back to the rings. My initial plan was to attempt 2 pull-ups with the second try but I decided I could do 1 pull-up but 5 times with 2 minute rests in between. It worked! Until set 3 it was OK but 4th and 5th time were kind of forced. The form wasn’t there and I did help myself with the motion from the legs. Nevertheless, now I know where I’ll go from there. Starting from tomorrow I will strengthen my 4th and 5th set and after they become easy, I will attempt to do 2 pull-ups on the last set. No forcing, only when I feel I’m ready. This day might come sooner than I think. |