I really want to experiment with photography more. I always complain that there's nothing to take pics of here, but the fact is there is plenty; I just don't know how to find it. This seems to be a problem for me in general. I think there's three general types of people - some are technical, some artistic, and some are business-minded. It seems I'm more of a technical person, and yet I have this strong desire to be artistic. I really want to write cool music or take creative pictures or write things that are thought-provoking and enjoyable to read, but nothing comes. I've talked about this here before, and I titled the post "the artistic dry heaves", and that's really a perfect description of how it feels. I really want to create, and it's incredibly frustrating that I can't.
Yes, it's true, I've taken some pictures that I feel look pretty good, but the fact is, they're very seldom acts of creativity. Usually they're just things I happened to see that looked good and I happened to posess the technical ability to capture.
As I think I've mentioned before, I remember learning in my sociology class that creativity is not a fixed attribute that you have X amount of and that's what you're stuck with, but rather it depends on:
- Being in an environment that fosters creativity,
- Regular use of that creativity, and
- Having a solid knowledge base in the field
That last one is my one strength of the three. The second one is definitely something I'm lacking; I haven't written a song, or even played much music at all, since the TSB days back in high school. The first one is arguable. It's not really referring to the place that you live (which is admittedly very pretty in my case), but rather it refers to the things you actually interact with on a day-to-day basis. Living near friends who are also musicians, as I did in high school, or working in a graphics design firm, would be good examples. When it's taken in that sense, I'm definitely missing that right now.
So I remain hopeful that I'm wrong above. That despite how completely uncreative I feel, it's not just an immutable aspect of my personality; something I wish I had but was born without, like an attractive face or a Ferrari. I really gotta surround myself with musicians again. It'd be awesome if I had taken the job at PamLab and was living with (or at least near) one of the two people I've always meshed best with, musically. Bryan seems to have such a cool life, playing in various bands, occasionally doing acoustic stuff at open mic night at the coffee shop, etc. I'd love to be a part of that.
Posted by Amy 7 hours, 1 minute later
I feel your frustrations at times. I too, haven't been very musical since highschool, and I feel like I am losing what I once had (or had the possibility of having). Same goes with traditional art. I took art in highschool every year and often was getting the highest marks in my class, but lately, I haven't had time to be drawing, and doing the other things I used to love doing. True, my program I am in now is artistic in a sense, but not the way that I used to be. I feel artistically deprived. And now, as I get older, and surround myself with other people of talent, I just feel it is too competitive. Like, experssing yourself artistically shouldn't be competitive, but I just feel like my art work is always being based one what someone else has done, and it has to be unique and good. It's just tiring any more to come up with (and create) all these unique art pieces. It's kinda frusterating. I see where you're coming from.
Posted by Dan 1 day, 6 hours later
Yeah I definitely find that. Everytime I see an awesome sunset and want to take a picture, I just go ugh, there's so many pictures of sunsets already. I know you're not supposed to care what others think and just do what you enjoy, but even I'm tired of seeing pictures of sunsets. Really the whole tropical island thing as a whole has gotten old for me, which is another reason why I haven't been taking many pictures since I moved down here.
Posted by pissy 2 weeks, 1 day later
i feel your pain too, brudda. millions of artists out there are pandering to the status quo, trying to take food and prizes out of the maws of people who really try and challenge the mediums with which they work everyday. what i recommend as the solution: don't charge. whatever you do, don't give up art, or least don't give up behaving artistically. if you feel unoriginal, just release everything as "beta" ;) that makes it free to be enjoyed, and free to be given, and non-competitive. with practice, you may feel ready to joint the ranks of the paiiiid... or you may just find that doing what you do for the ones who are close to you is more than ample reward :)