REFRESH YOUR HEAD
DOWNTIME DOESN'T MEAN DUMB TIME
Last thing I want to do is sound like some one's Mom but, "Turn off the damned television and go do something."
Honestly, television is probably the greatest destroyer of creativity I can think of. It is a weapon designed to annihilate brain cells at an apocalyptic rate and aimed at reducing the IQ of the general population to the dreaded lowest common denominator. It's the great intellectual override. The minute the picture appears on the screen the lights go off in your eyes.
The same with too much of the music being pumped out by major labels. The same repetitive beats, the same repetitive lyrics, the same repetitive brain numbing effect. Why? So that you'll wander around all day going, "I could have done that." Given the resources of most recording studios and Auto-tune, yes, you probably could. Does that mean, just because you can, it will be better? I'm giving odds on the next person with a ten minute career.
Go to a museum. Go to the library. Go to a historic site. Especially one with devoted docents and re-enactments. Go to a beach, or a mountain, or the middle of a desert. Take up a musical instrument or art. Get involved in theater. Go to world music event.
Why? Because a challenged mind is a an active and imaginative mind. By getting out of your own head and into someone else's you expand the vocabulary of your own creativity. Take a good look at the painting above. This is by Marc Chagall. The intensity of the colors, the fanciful and playful composition. Other than right now, you probably would never encounter this work. I wouldn't if I hadn't taken the time yesterday to go to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. I saw this and several other of Chagall's works, along with the costumes and sets he designed for opera and ballet.
When Chagall was asked why he chose such a broad palate and such dream like presentation he said, "Because I can." But it was the exposure he had to the music of Russia, the art of Paris, and the metropolitan life of New York that filled his 97 years with images and inspiration.
A couple of years ago I was lucky enough to visit the village of Ste. Paul de Vence in Province, France. It was a place that was special to any number of artists. In a small cemetery on the end of the old walled fortress, opposite the main gates, rests Marc, and his second wife Vava. I walked away feeling lucky to have been able to connect the man, his art, and his final resting place. Where have you been lately?
The temptation for too many is to rush through museums or to walk rapidly through that hike, rather than to stop and savor the time. I went to the Museum of Art in Boston with a friend and she was growing frustrated with me because I chose to look at each piece and read the comments by the museum, enjoying every angle and every word. I also went on a hike with a large group of people that was led by a park ranger. We marched along, never pausing to look up at the trees or down at the ground to discover what was existing in front of us. I now realize that to truly enjoy our world can mean taking the time to be in the now.
ReplyDeleteIt's the old adage. If you want to see the forest - Drive. If you want to see the trees - Ride a bike. If you want to notice a leaf - Walk. I can't think of how many hours I spent in the Museum of Fine Art in Boston. I never saw more than a fraction of what was there on any given visit,but I kept going back.
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