I’ve been told that some of the best work is produced in some of the worst environments.
Bill Peet once said that “The atmosphere of poverty” helped produce some of the best early Disney work. The composting of old and decaying materials brings forth the new life of many plants. Even the mythical Phoenix is born from the ashes of its former self. Wow, I’m getting deep after only four lines.
Well, I’ve been somewhat stagnant and unable to create as of late. Ideas are running around my head, thriving and alive, but not fully alive, since they have not yet left my mind. I have found that with free time, my mind gets overloaded with what I can or am able to do, but does not do any of it. When I am in a routine or structured lifestyle, then I fume at the lack of “free time” in which I’d rather have, so I can let loose my creativity. There is no easy balance that I can find.
As it so happens, I have so many things on various burners, with the heat on very low. From the functional such as cleaning my room; to the desirable, such as compiling a photo portfolio; I have yet to complete these sorts of tasks. I have put off reading certain books, or stopped all together in the process of them. I have been floating from idea to idea, never seeing any all the way to completion, for whatever reason.
Looking back to high school, I find that all my work, (best and otherwise) was done last minute. Some of my best art was created while rushed. Some of my best essays were written in class, during the short forty-five minute time frame. I don’t have that confined environment in which to operate any more. Sure, if I return to University, there it will be, with a much greater significance attached to it. But I need to find something to keep me going on a daily basis. How does one cultivate motivation? How do I create a confinement in which my only means of escape is through artistic expression? That’s the question now, isn’t it? How do I create again?
I also, as you know, find the same difficulty with vast amounts of time with which to be creative. I’m beginning to think lately that art doesn’t work within our confines, inspiration strikes when it wants to, and it’s up to the artist to recognize it, and make whatever arrangements are necessary to cultivate his or her creativity in that moment.