My niece sent me this link to a blog post on 43folders and podcast by Merlin Mann addressing how to get started creating. - i.e. overcoming artistic block. I've run across a lot of this thinking before, but he seems to present it in a fresh and extremely funny way. Warning! He does let loose with a few off-color words in the podcast, so if this would offend you, just read the blog post.
I love the section towards the bottom of the blog post "Enough. Just for Now." It deals with that barrier to starting that we often put up - that we don't know enough yet to get started. You know, the eternal research, the sense that if you read one more book, took one more class, you would have all the resources you need to tackle this particular project. He presents 4 "kooky, opposite way of thinking" steps to get past this propensity to wait for the perfect conditions:
Assume there will will always be tools that are better than the ones you have now.
Assume that events in the world will continue to happen or not happen regardless of whether you learn about them immediately.
Assume that you understand and control an embarrassingly minute percentage of the universe.
Assume that none of this matters if you’re determined to make something you care about today.
He concludes that you have everything you need, that it is all there. Well, I'm not sure I buy that 100% but you surely have plenty to get started.
As for the picture with this post - I suppose you could view all those shoes as a sort of perceived barrier. Actually, I kicked off my shoes, changed into pajamas, got into bed and this was the view I saw. Hmm, I thought, you'd think more than one person lives here - I really should put some of those shoes away!
2 comments:
I enjoyed the heck out of this post. I listened to the pod cast and read the text. Kept thinking about a book I read called Art and Fear, and sure enough it was listed as recommended reading at the end. I think I will blog about this as well. Thanks!
Yes, I too thought about Art & Fear, only this was much more fun! I look forward to reading your take on this through your blog.
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