Find Your Open Mind And Fill It With Imagination


“Expectation is the root of all heartache” William Shakespeare. Our expectations of a certain creative journey or experience can ruin the true purpose of its being made. When we go to an art gallery or read a book, our preconceptions can make it hard to enjoy what is actually given to us. Imagine buying the new album from the band you like and it sounds totally unlike the other one that you enjoyed so much. Without even giving it a chance, you might decide that it's no good simply because it didn't do what you wanted it to. Listening to it again, yeas later when you have gotten over your limiting ideas, you might discover that it's brilliant. Keeping an open mind with every new creative experience will ensure we get the most out of it. We need to be open minded ourselves and of course we need to find open minded people to communicate what we have created with.


It's All On You


A creative exploration in any form is a complete expression of the self. From the things you have learned and practised, the techniques you have adapted, the time you put in, the focus you maintain, the emotional story of your life that determines what you want to do, all of this and more aspects of the self end up in the finished product. This makes art and creativity an incredibly personal and soul-bearing thing to do, which requires a degree of bravery and thick skin in order to manage on any sort of scale.


Becoming Part Of The Story


Society is in constant discussion with itself. We are always looking again at the things we do and creating new things in equal amounts. The direction of change and the focus of our lens is determined on the things people say and isolate within conversation for further expansion. Creativity is essential in this process as we rely on a flux of novel ideas and viewpoints to refocus and redesign the way we live our lives. These personal and formal aspects of life are continually governed by the decisions made by those presented with new information. This means that the language of creativity is an essential tool for implementing the process. The way people choose to interpret new ideas and viewpoints mainly depends on how they are communicated and “sold” to those who they are given to. Art and creativity finds all manner of ways to do this with artistic devices ranging from drama to songs, books, comics, and stills, that do their best to give us something to think about and enrich our understanding of society as a whole.


First Impressions Mean The Most


Because we make decisions based on quick guesses from given information it can be difficult to shake off a bad reputation or image. People are difficult to get through to when they put up their walls so creative people need to ensure they do their best to keep walls down. Creative people are often seen as bohemian and counter-culture. The societal image of the creative is often a white male who dropped out and decided to spend their life doing what they love instead of serving society. This privilege point of view needs to be addressed by ensuring your message is about service and reaching other people. If you're not white, male, and financially stable then art and creativity is equally as valid. If you are white and male then remember this before you start getting yourself noticed. Let people judge you by your character and everything will be as it ought to be. The sacrifice that creative people make in social capital and cultural mobility is often unrewarded and looked down upon, so it's important to have a clear vision of why you do it and who it is for.


It's Ultimately Just Like Everything Else


If creativity is to be successful and long-term then it ultimately needs to have a good business model behind it. This is either done with a separate funding source or it funds itself. Creative output has many faces and the industry of art is heavily reliant on the say-so of peers and established names. Selling art and creativity is highly dependent on the way it is marketed and the people it is marketed to. Reaching the people who matter and finding the endorsements of those who they listen to can be a real challenge. Art is seen as highly lucrative and for many it is, however the majority have to make up for challenging pay with job satisfaction and self-actualisation. Despite the absolute necessity of creative thought in society as a whole, it is rarely given the value it deserves.


Despite The Setbacks It Is Seen As Attractive


Many jobs use the word creative in their description to sell the position when in reality it's being told what to do by someone else. The word creative is seen as a romantic and ideal destination for reasons well beyond the scope of pay. When we understand the true relevance of new ideas and new points of view alongside new technology, being part of this does indeed seem to be very attractive. Industry benefits completely from these new ideas as a popular novelty will be used to sell products and create new ones at the same time. New rhetoric is gleaned by marketers to persuade us to part with our money. This funds jobs and improves society so although it feels like we're on the wrong end of the equation, it's absolutely necessary. We need to work and that means people need to make an income. When creativity is aligned with society and its passage of progress, it becomes a sought-after and powerful aspect. This means we need to be able to continually ensure that our journey involves catching up with the pace of the day. Solving problems and improving quality of life is when the creative process meets the practical world and they begin to get along.    

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Just Think About It


We're all pretty lucky to be here. Of all the possible things that could have happened, a unique set of circumstances led all the way to you. What are the odds? It depends on how far back you want to go. Before space and time, before light needed somewhere to shine and so made it, before the stuff you're made of was created, the journey up to this moment is truly extraordinary. It's truly up to you how you want to spend your time, however something we are particularly good at and that is typically highly rewarding is creativity. From the time of jungles and caves, human beings have improved life with little steps. They add up over time, and the fruits of civilisation can be found where ever you go. Of course not all the fruits are good ones and with each new solution a new family of problems grows from that seed as well. Creativity is about turning this into something positive. We learn a lot about ourselves as a species when we find out what new problems arise from society and its gifts. With this understanding we can come up with new things and new ways that aim to satisfy the issues of the day.


What Is Creativity?


When we speak of creativity many people immediately think about having new ideas and dreaming things up. This is actually imagination, which is only the first step. The art of creativity is about being about to turn these ideas and mental images into something that's in the real world for other people to experience. It's a form of magic, if you like, in that we produce something from the mind in reality. The only difference is that we have to apply ourselves and not an outside or mysterious force. It's not a simple operation either, to be creative we must apply ourselves in several ways. Thinking of a good idea only works if we actually know what we're thinking about. It's all too easy to extrapolate from given observations and assume we know what goes on underneath. We need to study the entire thing before we can begin using it in creative ways. Otherwise we will not fully understand what our changes will actually do. This means taking risks, and managing them by understanding everything we can before assessing the best action. It involves being open to new aspects and to have your assumptions or misinformed knowledge challenged by new information. We need to be able to observe for ourselves the reality of what is happening without listening to misguided perspectives from those who do not see the full picture. A sense of mental strength is required to have the focus, determination, and fluidity required to be successful with creativity.


It's Gets Personal Too


We often have unhelpful thoughts and behaviours that we wish we didn't have. We sometimes see people in a bad light when in reality we care about them and want them to be happy. Being able to challenge the first thought we have about something is a skill that requires creativity. We need to be able to address new perspectives and new insights that help us to see a different point of view. When we choose positive points of view on as many of life's situations as we can, we experiece a lot less stress. There are times, of course, in which we are being subjected to circumstances that are unhealthy for us mentally or physically. This cannot simply be addressed by changing our thoughts. We are not responsible for other people's behaviour but we are for our own. We can change how we behave in order to remove ourselves from the situation we cannot simply look at in another way. We can plan an escape.


Solving Shared Problems Builds Bridges


Issues and problems cause division. We can find all kinds of opinions about shared problems in our lives and in a democratic society we have to listen to each other. The division is caused when strong emotions about what is happening cause people to feel extremely passionate about it. This passion drives strong words and heated discussion. When discussion gets heated people tend to not think things through and say things that only have the most basic focus on the situation. Solving these problems means being able to see the reality of it and taking a calm assessment without letting your emotions force you into a corner. When problems are solved in genuine and effective ways that benefit everyone in the ways they wanted then the cause of division is eradicated. When people are content with a situation because everyone's needs are being met in a safe, fair, and equitable way, the result is community cohesion and solidarity. Problems are not solved alone, especially big ones that affect society as a whole. When we tackle these big-world problems we find ourselves in a huge army of like-minded people who also want to bring a better quality of life to those around them. By working with these people and building networks with organisations that share the same desire to bring stability and joy to people's lives, our creative life journey can make a serious impact on many lives for the better.

We've all heard of Cheech and Chong, two people who tuned in and dropped out some time in the 70s. They're of course fictional representations of a genuine breed, and when you realise their popularity, the work of the duo undoubtedly continue to influence further generations. Cheech Marin, the actor, is still making a name for himself. He's famous for collecting and highlighting Chicano Art. This brand of creativity exclusively owned by Mexican-Americans demonstrates a genuine cross pollination between two deeply entwined yet vastly separate cultures.


Called “The Cheech”, and situated in the Riverside Art Museum LA, the Centre for Chicano Culture and Art opened its door in June 22. Culminating his 40 year history as a cultural icon, the collection boasts a huge array of artefacts that fully describe the concept of the art form. The Riverside community is around 50% Latino which makes the venue a perfect situation for this exhibition.


Marin's prominence in the art scene lifted off in a serious way when he opened the doors for the first time to demonstrate some of his extensive collection. Chicano Visions: American Painters of the Verge toured for several years around various institutions and galleries. Once the Riverside Museum sponsored the new permanent exhibit and pledged to support the community through apprenticeships and routes to development, Cheech was happy to donate over 500 pieces of his collection to the museum to benefit the whole community.


Because of the vast number of pieces now under ownership of the museum, it's impossible to show them all at once. Not only does each piece deserve a good space for it to be admired on its own, there simply isn't enough wall to put it all. This means that the show pieces will be rotated and it's expected to take four years to get through everything. Who knows how many more items will be available by then?


Via LA Weekly

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