Cutting more trails through the water ~~~.
By Chris Dunmire
Oh no, that solitary row I took on the lake last month isn't over yet. Well, what I mean is that the brainstorm which came out of it still drags behind me like a net full of squiggling fish needing release. Creative release, that is.
I'll label this useful tidbit: Creative Use & Reuse Of An Experience. See, in my secret creativity workshop nobody knew that in tandem to that 26 Ways Rowboat article, I was also mocking up a design for an inspiring printable coaching tool using some of the same boating elements (and shhh! I'm not done with it yet, so don't tell anyone about it or you'll be swimming with the fishes! :).
Curiously, after making a few simple line art drawings of a boat, oars, and life jacket, I stalled on the coaching tool idea for a few weeks. But today still playing with possibilities in my head (percolating), I found myself combining my blue-sky-poofy-cloud snapshot with the art elements and soon found myself floating in the fantasy illustration above. Ooooh — I liked the playful diversion, and see how I allowed a third thing to manifest itself out of my boating experience? See?! Which now leads me to a fourth, an anecdote about fish:
During a bike ride yesterday I stopped at another lake, resting for a few minutes on a small T-shaped pier extending out into the water. The lake was still and had late-summer algae growing over its surface. Two cranes flew over above, landing in a shallow spot in one of the lakes' fingers.
I watched the cranes for a bit, admiring their sideways silhouettes from afar, and then turned my attention to the water in front of me. Looking just below the surface, I noticed hundreds of little fish swimming near the top, scooting on by and, in lulls, feeding off the drossy vegetation. They were little buggers, minnow-sized finlings, populating the shallow water like a big-city elementary school full. And the longer I watched, the more the fish kept coming: hundreds turned into thousands. In awe, I made a sudden move for a closer look and in tandem, all the minnows sped up for a split second and then slowed down again when they realized no real danger lurked. To observe the intuitive connection they shared with one another in action, operating as one, took my breath away. It was so simple, so organized, and yet, so mysterious.
Now, before this anecdote morphs into a novel and you wiggle off the hook, I'd like you to notice how inspired I am with all my recent experiences around boats and lakes and fish, and how I'm using and reusing them to entertain, inform, and tie-into my own creative work, even that of no real consequence to others (other than the joy of creating for me, like the illustration above). It's like this cool memory "bank" allows me to acquire an experience, deposit it, and then use the generated interest anytime I desire for any project without depletion.
But then...
Isn't it awesome to ponder how our unique experiences (and memories) are always our own, and yet, by sharing them with others (as a real-life shared experience or a first-hand account), they leave impressions on their minds to hold and carry on even after we're gone? Years ago I acknowledged in Learning From Others, that "much of what we've come to know and understand has been communicated to us by someone else. Granted, we learn much from our own experiences, but think about how much others have taught you — 'others' being teachers, family, friends, books, and media."
Thankfully things work this way to our benefit for the passing on of knowledge and wisdom. Every day we benefit from the experiences of others throughout history (and even now) — their life work, studies, research, and findings are the bedrock of our personal growth, medical advances, creativity and innovation. We don't have to begin at square one every time. What a time saver!
Which makes me wonder: Do we really ever create or innovate something entirely new? Or are we always using and adapting the work of others as source material and plagiarizing borrowing their ideas along the way? Life is not a vacuum for anyone. Think about Thomas Edison and all the patents he acquired during his lifetime. He's known for "inventing" many things, but take one example, the light bulb, and notice what Wikipedia notes about The History of the Light Bulb:
"In addressing the question of who invented the incandescent lamp, historians Robert Friedel and Paul Israel[4] list 22 inventors of incandescent lamps prior to Joseph Wilson Swan and Thomas Edison. They conclude that Edison's version was able to outstrip the others because of a combination of three factors: an effective incandescent material, a higher vacuum than others were able to achieve (by use of the Sprengel pump) and a high resistance that made power distribution from a centralized source economically viable."
So Edison really "improved" upon an existing idea, reusing what worked and tweaking what didn't. Don't we all do that from time to time? Use and adapt and improve on ideas and things already in existence? Take my illustration above. I didn't invent metaphors, blue skies, boats, oars, or life jackets. I simply rearranged my own version of them along with my personal experiences and created a derivative of a common experience people have. What of the painter who sets up his easel in front of a landscape to copy onto canvas? Or the photographer who snaps a moment of time already in existence? A band that covers a song? An author who rewrites a classic tale? A crafter who improves upon an existing design she saw at a craft fair? A corporation that reverse engineers a competitor's product? A simplified social network that springs from the Twitterings of another?
Oh dear, I see my mind has gone wandering again and is sprouting more seeds for another day. Well, for what it's worth, while we can't remove ourselves from working within this particular framework of existence and must have a measure of integrity in this litigious society (always, always give credit to where credit is due), the value of collaboration and getting along for progress and the benefit and good for all seems like a really simple solution for this very complex world. Are we moving more towards doing that? Will our evolution demand it? I hope so.
Meanwhile, I urge you to not be afraid to multi-task and declare your experiences into stories and pictures and poetry and songs. Share them with others in joyful shouts and whispers to incite peace, love, and collaboration. Use them in your private prayers, visualizations, and meditations. Weave them into the common fabric of life we all share and wrap ourselves in for comfort, warmth, and security.
Author John Dillon says we are living in challenging times, but welcomes us to The Creative Renaissance. In his book The 20-20 Creativity Solution he writes:
"We’re going through a major transition in our world at the time of this writing. Economic recession is forcing us to reexamine our priorities. Old ideas and forms are breaking down, slipping away. Businesses that operate on the old paradigm of greed and success at the expense of others are biting the dust. If you look at history, you’ll see that many great civilizations were preceded by periods of darkness and despair. We are in one of those challenging times. Things may be difficult for many, but there has never been greater opportunity, greater hope."
We are of one kind. Humankind. And like the fish who move in tandem for a common purpose, linked together intuitively for the greater good of all, my hope is that our own species will soon learn how to swim together smoothly as a united one. •
© 2010 Chris Dunmire www.chrisdunmire.com. All rights reserved. |
