Another WOW post. This week we were asked to write about "Creativity" with specific reference to this quote:
“There is a correlation between the creative and the screwball.
So we must suffer the screwball gladly.”
– Kingman Brewster
Quotes such as these make me feel vindicated. Damnit, I’m immature! Immature and proud of it! Yes, I’m still laughing at Beavis & Butthead humor and every time … EVERY TIME I pass the “Hump Zone” sign I giggle.
There is a point in almost every creative product where something that I began with dramatic intent suddenly just becomes funny. Just tilt it on its head a little and the parody of the original is just worth so much more. Often I have that moment and then refocus on finishing what I’ve already started but maybe the funny thoughts lead to something else.
And screwball is nearly the same as having a screw loose. I’m of the “mad scientist” variety with my hair all awry and an inability to complete common logical tasks (like figuring out that if something comes in pairs then I only need to buy half as many as I need). I need a caretaker and specifically somebody that understands that while I may be an idiot at putting an outfit together or basic subtraction I can come up with ideas for stories and concepts for projects seemingly out of nowhere. My parodies of bad poetry turn into good poetry. I write good bad poetry. I create because I can laugh at everyday things.
I’m also a mess. There is no space safe from my clutter (though I’m trying very hard to keep my car clutter-free since it’s my safe space). While writing this I found another quote by A. A. Milne: “One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries.” This is true too. Sometimes I set myself to the task of finding out what is in a certain pile only to discover a magazine I intended to but never read. And then the rest of my “cleaning time” is spent discovering the exciting travel destinations in Oceanside or learning about the new line of metallic nail polish (circa 1995). Everything leads to something and I’ll add that the timing of discovery borders on the supernatural and Fate. And of course if I didn’t have a wandering mind capable of believing in and conceiving of the weird in the first place – so many good stories would be lost. So maybe I don’t fit in with polite society when I bring up conversations about the Mothman or Irish mummies but at least I have character!
And I really haven’t met that many people who don’t “suffer the screwball gladly.” Have you noticed? There is a whole new line of Ellen DeGeneres greeting cards on the market!
Sunday, September 09, 2007
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
WOW!
In my Career Development class we're given the weekly task of writing informal essay responses to chosen words of the week. These are our W.O.W. assignments. It happens that I'm reading Stephen King's "On Writing" now so I find these particularly funny because King just described them as "what teachers assign when they can't think of any other way to waste your time" in the chapter I just finished. True that!
This week's Word of the Week was "Focus" and this I share with you now:
Having, getting, maintaining focus – this is probably my biggest daily struggle. I have a method of working “when the mood strikes.” I just simply and absolutely have to do something when I have the focus because otherwise it won’t get done. This has gotten me into some trouble in the past when I’ve attempted to hang pictures or move furniture because I was in the mood to. It’s not that focus comes with pleasurable experiences because it doesn’t. There are just some moments when I can put my mind to something and most often it’s a difficult fight to get my mind to stay on task.
Saying “I have ADD” in this era is almost a joke because it was a diagnosis that came out nowhere and gained popular notoriety. But seriously! I think I have ADD! I can generally sit in one place and appear to be listening but mostly my mind is wandering and if the mood strikes I’ll just start working on something else. In the past few years it has gotten to the point where the only way I can sit and watch an entire movie in one sitting is if I’m AT the movie theater – yet another reason I enjoy movies SOO much. They can actually capture my attention for approximately two hours. A record time! Of course that’s only if they dull my other senses by turning off all the other lights and properly inform everybody that they should shut up and turn their cell phones off.
Learning to adapt to my lack of focus is an interesting process. Mostly it’s hit and miss but sometimes I’ll come across a technique that works for me. For instance, if I need to write something and I’m not able to concentrate then I just start writing about not being able to concentrate. Eventually the typing or the pen scribbling will trick my mind into thinking “Oh I’m writing now” and the little switch will turn on that lets the creative juices flow. I would say that 90% percent of the stuff I’ve turned in as my WOW responses has been the “writing before the writing kicks in.” I’ve now started doing these at the beginning of a period when I’ll need to actually be creative because it kick starts the brain into entering into the proper mode.
Another thing I’ve learned about is listing. I cannot… CANNOT… follow a schedule to save my life. It’s simple – I may have “do homework” scheduled for 2PM but if the focus is not there it’s just going to mess up the whole schedule because I’ll sit down and do everything but. However, I can follow a “To Do” list quite well. That’s a list of things I can do whenever the focus strikes and there’s a handy little check box to make me feel accomplished when I’ve completed a task. The homework may have gotten done at 2AM but there were all sorts of things I finished before that too! The big problem with the To Do list, though, is the focus to sit down and write the To Do list in the first place. I have started mentally imagining lists instead.
I’ve also learned about the best places to read a book (the bathroom), the proper times to write a letter (2am), where best to eat my food so that I will actually “eat” it without losing focus (while watching television - it doesn't matter what's on as long as the computer is not near by) and other tasks. My biggest issue these days is how to turn my unfocused mind OFF so that I can actually sleep at normal hours. Bed time for me is usually 4AM and even then I lay there unable to stop thinking. Basically, focus is a problem for me. Either I have too much or not enough.
This week's Word of the Week was "Focus" and this I share with you now:
Having, getting, maintaining focus – this is probably my biggest daily struggle. I have a method of working “when the mood strikes.” I just simply and absolutely have to do something when I have the focus because otherwise it won’t get done. This has gotten me into some trouble in the past when I’ve attempted to hang pictures or move furniture because I was in the mood to. It’s not that focus comes with pleasurable experiences because it doesn’t. There are just some moments when I can put my mind to something and most often it’s a difficult fight to get my mind to stay on task.
Saying “I have ADD” in this era is almost a joke because it was a diagnosis that came out nowhere and gained popular notoriety. But seriously! I think I have ADD! I can generally sit in one place and appear to be listening but mostly my mind is wandering and if the mood strikes I’ll just start working on something else. In the past few years it has gotten to the point where the only way I can sit and watch an entire movie in one sitting is if I’m AT the movie theater – yet another reason I enjoy movies SOO much. They can actually capture my attention for approximately two hours. A record time! Of course that’s only if they dull my other senses by turning off all the other lights and properly inform everybody that they should shut up and turn their cell phones off.
Learning to adapt to my lack of focus is an interesting process. Mostly it’s hit and miss but sometimes I’ll come across a technique that works for me. For instance, if I need to write something and I’m not able to concentrate then I just start writing about not being able to concentrate. Eventually the typing or the pen scribbling will trick my mind into thinking “Oh I’m writing now” and the little switch will turn on that lets the creative juices flow. I would say that 90% percent of the stuff I’ve turned in as my WOW responses has been the “writing before the writing kicks in.” I’ve now started doing these at the beginning of a period when I’ll need to actually be creative because it kick starts the brain into entering into the proper mode.
Another thing I’ve learned about is listing. I cannot… CANNOT… follow a schedule to save my life. It’s simple – I may have “do homework” scheduled for 2PM but if the focus is not there it’s just going to mess up the whole schedule because I’ll sit down and do everything but. However, I can follow a “To Do” list quite well. That’s a list of things I can do whenever the focus strikes and there’s a handy little check box to make me feel accomplished when I’ve completed a task. The homework may have gotten done at 2AM but there were all sorts of things I finished before that too! The big problem with the To Do list, though, is the focus to sit down and write the To Do list in the first place. I have started mentally imagining lists instead.
I’ve also learned about the best places to read a book (the bathroom), the proper times to write a letter (2am), where best to eat my food so that I will actually “eat” it without losing focus (while watching television - it doesn't matter what's on as long as the computer is not near by) and other tasks. My biggest issue these days is how to turn my unfocused mind OFF so that I can actually sleep at normal hours. Bed time for me is usually 4AM and even then I lay there unable to stop thinking. Basically, focus is a problem for me. Either I have too much or not enough.
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