What is it to be creative?
5 stories of a creative Life.
People talk about creative Ireland and we like to think of Ireland as a creative hub for everything from writing and music to software and animated film, from theatre to food. My 5 points on creativity.
- Projects: I always have multiple projects going on at once. Projects keep us busy but also allow us to always have something interesting going on. At the moment I’m working on educational videos, a video called magic mushrooms, a short film on schooling in tea plantations of Sri Lanka and one on foods of Sri Lanka. I’m passionate that we all should have our projects and side projects from our main work - it’s what Tom Peters called - the project life.
- Environment: Growing up: I liked to be creative, I loved to grow things in the garden, to make imaginary dens and dream up adventures, I had a darkroom in my bedroom and wired up the lights and sockets myself. I took pictures, played music and played Football. Every day was an adventure. I was a football Manager, wildlife warden, electrician, chemist and adventurer, Photojournalist, and organiser of World cups! Finally, I started my own photography business at 16. I had a supportive environment to be creative, that’s important. I’m Grateful to my parents and family for that support.
- Creativity is not confined to the arts music or literature, we can be creative in every area of our lives, creative in our learning, in our relationships, in how we think about things.
- Tested risk. Creativity is about taking risks, being bold and the best risks are the ones you have tested out beforehand. It’s about having the courage to try new things, with the feeling that you can make things better.
- After Action Review. The After-Action Review is my little black book. It comes from the military. After every shoot I write a few notes about what was expected to happen and what happened, the learning for the future. I keep notes of lighting set ups and technical stuff, so if I need to do something similar, I can refer to the notes.
- What is creativity?
- Robert Breson said that Creativity is” The simultaneous precision and imprecision of music. A thousand possible, unforeseeable sensations “
Deductive v inductive
Academics love to take things and Ideas apart to see what’s behind these things. A creative mind likes to take things that may not belong together and make new stuff.
Creativity is about making connections.
