8 (more) paths toward creativity
Zero-dollar activities to get the juices flowing
It might be a personal crusade for me to encourage people to engage with their artistry without spending money. The commercialization of one of the most basic human activities is highly suspicious to me. If we think we aren’t artists because we aren’t rich, we don’t nourish our creative selves, or our communities, properly. Creativity is, and should remain, accessible to everyone!
Here are a few ideas that cost zero dollars, but can open pathways to new ideas, projects, and disciplines.
Walking in an unfamiliar neighbourhood
Do this with no music, podcast, or audio input, unless you are listening to an in-progress song you are working on. Insights will come.
Be sure to bring a pocket notebook so you can stop on a corner and jot them down while the crossing guard ushers the kids past.
Hanging out with an animal
Perhaps not your pet. Observe a bird, squirrel, fish, raccoon, or deer for several minutes if you can. How do they move? What is their rhythm like? What sounds do they make? Are they friendly and curious, or skittish? If they were an instrument, colour, plant, fictional character, or building, what would they be?
Do you want to try to be more like this animal, or imbue your work with the animal’s personality somehow?
Performing bibliomancy
Bibliomancy is the act of turning a book to a random page to receive a message. It’s especially fun to do with a particular question in mind, like “what is this painting missing,” “how does this song want to end,” or “what makes my character freak out?” The joy then comes from imagination of interpretation.
I did this yesterday with The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett, and found a note I had scrawled in the margins: “liars are never free.” That line reminded me of an unresolved conflict with a dishonest person, and wrote a while song inspired by that situation.
Revisit an album you used to love
The music I had on repeat in 2007 still speaks to me in some deep, invisible place. It feels special to listen again, feel the same feelings, and some different ones. I like to think about why those songs appealed to me, what questions they answered, what ideas they inspired in me.
One example is the album Rockferry by Duffy. The songs were hit and miss for me as a teen and still are — certain production choices grating, some lyrics underwhelming, but the open heartbreak in the vocal performance startled me the first time I heard it. It’s kept me coming back.
Write about a day in the life as someone else
Exaggerate the details based on what you know, or invent where you don’t.
Does your high strung co-worker wake up at 5 in the morning to a gaggle of children jumping on the bed?
Does the guy next to you at the gym in the listen to sci-fi audiobooks with his girlfriend while they make dinner?
Is the lady at the post office with the Lilo & Stitch keychain getting a Disney themed manicure on the weekend?
Does your best friend’s quiet grandfather clip the crosswords from his daily paper, saving them neatly in a binder?
Collect colours
Colour is everywhere. Magazine, scraps of fabric, coupons, , food packaging, paint swatches, everywhere! I did this with dusty rose for a while. Now, I’m onto forest green. You don’t even need to hunt for it. Once you pick a colour, it finds you.
It can be fun to make collages, sculptures, assemblages and outfits with our findings.
List your favourite things about someone else’s work.
This is an especially lovely exercise to do for the work of someone we know. It’s easy to forget to slow down and absorb what folks are making when we are running from project to project ourselves. But taking the time to connect with their work and notice all the great things about it reminds us that we are part of a community. In case we’ve forgotten to appreciate our peers, now is a great opportunity to reach out and tell someone why they are inspiring.
Prepare for some warm fuzzies!
Go through your own catalogue
Pull the sketchbooks out of the closet. Go through your old fashion tumblr page. Listen to your first demos on Bandcamp. Re-read the short stories you wrote in high school.
This has been a helpful exercise in seeing what I still want to say, and what ideals I’ve moved on from. When I’m in a slump, looking through old works also reminds me that I have done cool stuff with fewer resources and confidence. That young lady is so precious to me!
xx