Hi all
Thanks for responding to my question lessismore, katakowsj, thenewgreen, Hapi, forwardslash, and humanodon - and also the ever-lurking flagamuffin. I'm interested in tools and environments for creativity. katakowsj said I started thinking about creativity recently after reading this article posted by BLOB_CASTLE. The article suggests that you are happier the more you create, especially if you create more than you passively consume. I think Hubski has contributed to my creativity, to answer my own questions. The presence of a responsive community challenges me to contribute creatively and thoughtfully. Because of the easily accessible archives, I can take my own earlier comments and develop them further elsewhere, perhaps in a new post or blog. People sometimes use hubski as a place to post a rant. Even these rants can be quite creative and often get the most intense response from people.I've always found that reflective thought is the food for creativity in my teaching.
Reflective thought seems necessary in creative change in our lives, in finding solutions, in figuring out how to get along with others. The articles, questions, and comments on Hubski ("an online pub with creative and thoughtful people belly-up at the bar of reason and sanity") have led me to be more informed about a number of ideas and led me to new conversations very often with face-to-face humanity.
I find that I am happiest when I am extremely creative and active. One thing that I don't think people realize is that routine can be a big part of creativity. I think that having a routine or even the word "routine" has a negative connotation. People think that having routine means not having spontaneity. When I am not in a routine, I'm not able to be as creative. Of late, I have been traveling quite a bit and haven't had enough time to spend on Hubski, enough time to spend on making music, or enough time to spend podcasting and reading. As a result, I've not been as fulfilled as I normally am. I have some more travels planned for the next few weeks, then after that I have resolved to fall back into my normal routine. I miss it. I can tell when I have not made music in a while, because the tips of my fingers on my left hand start to soften. I like it when they are calloused, calloused fingers make a happy me.
I totally agree about routine. Routine is the infrastructure of our lives. Our society more or less works when the infrastructure of plumbing, hydro, law, emergency rescue, education, transportation, health care, food supply, and so on are all in place. In a war, the first thing to go is the organized infrastructure. I think sadly about the siege of Sarajevo, Iraq, New Orleans during Katrina, and on and on. Routine keeps our personal infrastructures in place to allow more spontaneity and creativity everywhere else. Lots of questions come to mind: Who maintains the infrastructure in your lives? How fragile is it? What can you do to prop it up? Nice to be chatting again tng. As the theme of this thread suggests, your response has sparked my creativity around the topic of "creativity and routines."
Are you back in CA or still traveling? How was the trip? Was it inspiring?