Creative inspiration is not a bolt of lightning that hits you at random. It's a process of cascading train-of-thought. If you never get that train to leave the station, you're never going to get anywhere. You need to stop procrastinating and force yourself to work to put yourself in the necessary conditions for creative work to happen. Sitting around, watching movies, eating cheezy-poofs isn't going to do it.
Procrastinate Until You're Ready
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Re: Procrastinate Until You're Ready
#12I think it is only possible to say whether one's work is great in a while after it has been done. It's a good idea to take up something that you really like and dive into it because the fact that you like the subject raises the odds of your success. It is quite useless to look for an area where the average chances are high unless you are interested in the subject matter.
In terms of the Mark's hypothesis that "our greatest life’s works will be inspired from both within and desired externally" I would definitely emphasize the "inspired from within" part.
Re: Procrastinate Until You're Ready
#13Couldn't paint what I'm painting now, if I didn't paint what came before it first --- even if what came before was utter drivel.
I will agree with this: Always work when you're inspired. Don't let it slip past you.
But: Always work when you're uninspired. The work is the source of the inspiration --- not contemplating the opening lotus blossom.
Re: Procrastinate Until You're Ready
#14No. Greatness is not achieved by waiting for the right moment for inspiration to strike - it's achieved by years of dedication, commitment and hard work.
I don't think anyone can tell you when to be creative. You need to decide. If you want to do so for years on end because you have the gift to, more power to ya.
Re: Procrastinate Until You're Ready
#15Natalie Goldberg, in Writing Down the Bones , described how for a while, whenever she sat down to write she would just have this immense feeling of inner peace flow through her, as if she were close to enlightenment, and she thought "Well, I will just sit here and meditate, because after all, this is the state of mind that writing is supposed to bring me to." She finally described her feelings to her Zen master, who…
We've all been guilty of laziness at one time or another. But there are definitely some BURST periods of time (weeks/months) where I'm super productive, versus quasi-productive or outright unproductive.
Re: Procrastinate Until You're Ready
#16Steven Pressfield (author of Gates of Fire and Legend of Bagger Vance) would disagree: http://home.stevenpressfield.com/books/war_art.asp#excerpt I highly recommend The War of Art, his book on overcoming procrastination for artists. Sit down every day and work.
Thanks for the recommendation, looks damn interesting. I hope folks don't think I'm proposing to do nothing. Keep active in all the areas you can manage. But when it comes to producing your finest work, the inspirational energy will keep you going. "Fire when you see the whites of their eyes".
Re: Procrastinate Until You're Ready
#17Wrong, possibly evil advice. Just my opinion.
Well, the name of the site is "the defeated spirit"...so maybe it's that on purpose...
Re: Procrastinate Until You're Ready
#18For me, I need both creativity and grunt work to make progress. And they depend on each other. Sometimes that creative leap is only possible because I've done all the little stuff to put me at the point where I can finally "see the light". OTOH, a creative breakthrough usually generates a whole bunch of tasks to be done in order to implement that creative idea. I have never been able to "force creativity". It comes m…
Perhaps rotating your activities is a better suggestion, than simply putting one of them off. I'm wondering if everyone that comments is reading the post?
Re: Procrastinate Until You're Ready
#19Procrastination is inversely correlated with motivation and is usually a sign of disinterest or misunderstanding of a task or project. Usually this problem can be diminished through setting realistic goals that one feels passionate about achieving. I believe an aura of constant mystery within a project is a key motivating factor for most individuals due to the intriguing unknowns and self discoveries that one constan…
No, procrastination and slow pacing can be a sign that your creative batteries are recharging; it is a cycle. You abruptly plunge into intensive focus on a problem, rest, and repeat. On a long project you just take many, many cycles to finish, and the key to success is simply to be able to fight through the melancholy that occurs at the bottom of each wave, getting enough done to get back on the upward trajectory aga…
I agree with boss possibilities (you could be on a project that dead ends after a time).
I definitely believe in the cyclic nature of our passion driven energy, that's why I wrote the post. Wait till your ready (of course keep working as long as you're interested), but don't expect to produce a masterpiece every time you sit down.
Re: Procrastinate Until You're Ready
#20Wrong, possibly evil advice. Just my opinion.
Well, the name of the site is "the defeated spirit"...so maybe it's that on purpose...