Creative people see things differently. Not necessarily better, mind you, but differently. In fact, that’s pretty much the definition of a creative person. As the saying goes, “Some people see things as they are and ask, ‘Why?’ Others see things as they could be and ask, ‘How much could I make from that?'”(footnote 1)
It’s unclear when I first understood that my own perspectives often seemed a wee bit cattywampus to those of surrounding humans. I’d like to think that it was after realizing something clever. More likely it was after saying something stupid. Whenever it was, I was early accustomed to having those I interacted with consider my ideas odd. That’s how I state it nowadays. They, however, generally found more expressive terms than, “odd.”
Fortunately, odd-thinking kids of various genres have always managed to cluster into appropriate subgroups for mutual encouragement, support, and (in, let me stress, a strictly non-biological manner so don’t get creepy on me) cross-fertilization. So it was with me and my cohorts. Then, as juvenile years fell behind us, we were amazed to discover that a small but growing number of the aforementioned surrounding humans started enjoying our odd thinks nearly as much as we enjoyed oddly thinking them. In time, some of us even got paid for things we oddly thought.
By the time even the most modestly creative person, professional or amateur, hits their sixties, you can be assured they have a massive mental garage overloaded with spare parts. The place is bulging with assorted notions, insights, ideas, plots, plans, and opinions that they never have and never shall use to build some greater work. They are instead reserved for regaling friends, associates, and folks we’ve backed into corners at social gatherings.
This blog is for displaying stuff from my own such garage. Some of it is stored neatly in labeled boxes while some is strewn about the place, mixed together both higglety and pigglety. They include thoughts about art and communication and performance and dreams and stories and language and advertising and comedy and the wide variety of assorted knick-knacks that a person might consider part of the extended creative tool kit.
Some of what I’ll offer (assuming we can consider my pontifications “offers”) will be lighthearted and, hopefully, droll. Some will not. Still others will be just plain bonkers. Most will be a bit of mix and match.
In short, this is one person’s views on matters both trivial and consequential as seen through an allegedly creative lens. Most of the time, the one person in question will be me. But as I have numerous creative friends and acquaintances with their own perspectives, I may manage to wrangle occasional contributions from others, or to at least gain their permission to momentarily represent them.
That is, to date, my best laid plan for this blog. I do hope you’ll join me as we discover together how aft it gangs a-gley.
1 The “that” in question could be an idea for a book, product, screenplay, oil painting, process, poem(footnote 2), TV series, formula, graphic novel, gadget, etc.
2 In which case the answer is, “nothing.”