One of Those Weeks

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19607_10150561253524956_1804358799561093639_nHave you ever had one of those weeks? You might know what I am talking about here. There are weeks when a lot of things decide to happen together. Last week was one of those weeks for me when so many great things happened together that I am still trying to recount them all. I am so thankful for each one of this blessings. Among all those blessings, I had the opportunity to teach three nights, three different subjects: basic computer skills, painting, and sculpting. Of course, on each one many other teaching opportunities came along.  My wife says that no matter what I am doing I find the chance to teach something. I can’t stop myself from teaching something, because I learn through teaching.

11073071_10150564957424956_9088131320696504778_nBeing an educator is a challenge but it is also an amazing blessing. It doesn’t matter what the subject is. In ancient Greece the concept of subjects was technically the concept of branches of practice but it came from the three of knowledge and had to be connected to its trunk and rooted in practical life. Subjects were not isolated concepts. Specializations, so to speak, had a purpose in service. Switching subjects was a continuum. Math and music could be having a discussion together, and philosophy could assist the conversation inviting science to share its point of view while a poet put to rhythmic speech the historical account of the piece of art being created with the brush or under the chisel.

I see knowledge as one unlimited supply of interconnected events, points of views, interpretations, results from experience and experimentation, explanations of our surroundings, assumptions of what we don’t know based on the things we do know, and abstract descriptions of an idea. As I explained to one of the participants: “Everything we see, hear, and say is an abstraction of an idea”. Letters are the abstraction of the idea of a sound that we translate into a symbol, but that sound itself is an abstraction of the idea of that particular sound. Objects are abstractions of ideas producing symbols we get attached to. The object perish, and the symbol changes its value based on time and context, but the idea remains. Sadly, humans attach themselves to so many perishable abstractions instead of taking hold of the idea. Even more so, we often forget to rely on the source of life who put the idea into visual and palpable realization with just speaking.

11150225_10150566159194956_8952423942549070099_nOn that thought, I begin my week still in awe and spiritually refreshed after witnessing how 43 individuals made a profession of faith last night through baptism at City Church. It is such a fulfilling experience to hear each story towards transformation. It is also great to share this experience in community with a bunch of strangers that become family in Christ. This week we just began can be one of those weeks too if only we focus on being thankful, on keeping the faith with patience to see the fulfillment of the promise of God.

April is almost coming to an end but there are still things to do and classes to teach. I continue the computer class at The Literacy Center of Milford, and if you are missing on all the fun of the painting and sculpting parties, we are going to be sculpting at The Grove in New Haven, Friday, April 24. The events for the month of May are listed also so you can RSVP with time. You can also request private sculpting and painting parties, as well as art lessons.

Stained Glass Window

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stained glass window

There is an idea. I can see it but it is not completely clear. I know is there. I can pretty much describe the shapes I see, the size, the movement, the action, the intention, and the plan. Still, I can’t see it. It feels like looking through a stained glass window. A fog of color and shining lights are not letting me see the full image. The idea gets lost for a minute, then it comes back. The closer it gets to the glass the better I see it. Nevertheless, the image I get is confusing and distorted.

Have you ever experience that first glance of an idea when it is not completely clear? A lot of my ideas begin like that. I see it but I don’t. It becomes a little confusing while at the same time it provides me hope. It also forces me to stop and take time to look, to pay attention, to imagine the parts that are missing from my eyes, to explore possibilities, and to get closer. To my surprise, I find myself ignoring the stained glass window or trying to hard to see through it. Maybe, I should take a look at the stained glass window instead.

The idea is there, on the other side. There is no rush to get reach it. I always tell my family, “If it is for you, no one can take it away”. Maybe that stained glass window is a reminder of your current situation. Yes, it clouds your vision of what lies on the other side, but it has beautiful colors and shapes you could enjoy here and now. The light shines through inviting you to enjoy a new vision. Maybe if you stop and look closely your idea will emerge through and provide the revelation you need to make it happen. There is no need to rush.

The Aha Moment

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You are just going through the day keeping your brain busy trying to reconcile ideas that come in many forms and then ‘aha!’ one word connects it all together. Maybe is one image that makes it all make sense. That object that was right in front of your face seems to talk to you and make you go ‘Eureka!’. Of course you don’t  need to run home naked like Archimedes did when she figured out how to measure the volume of an object. His method might not worked but I bet it was a good moment for him according to the myth. The aha moment is that lightbulb that goes on in your head that allows you to see it all clear.

I had that moment yesterday. I was working on writing a few things for the blog, organizing a few painting and sculpting parties, and doing the graphic design thing for marketing, and then it happened. The concept behind the new collection I’m working on made complete sense with just one word. That word connected events and its consequences to provide substance to the concept from which a lot can be said and discussed. I don’t want to reveal the details at this point and spoil the surprise but I want to share some advice to make the aha moment happen and what to do when it happens.

The aha moment generally comes as the result of a problem that requires a solution that has been bothering and interrupting your thoughts and probably your daily routine. It is not the same as having an idea that is taking shape and growing like a baby inside the womb. The idea is already born and other ideas are born with it. You see these elements floating around but you need a way to interconnect and make sense of all of them as one. Finding that connection is not necessarily pure luck because you are thinking about it. You might be taking time to read about it and talk about it. That is my first point of advice: take time to observe, read, talk, and play with the elements of the problem. Whatever works for you to feed the idea and make it stronger.

The idea starts growing and feeling more comfortable to see the elements together. When you get to that level of comfort my advice is to move away, step away, let it go for a while, turn around and do something else. Find something that makes you relax. You know the idea is still there. Subconsciously you are still working on it. Doing something else will allow you to loosen your muscles and your neurons. Play a game, watch tv, listen to music, take a walk, take a nap, and come back refreshed. Your senses will be ready to receive revelation. When you get it, and you will, write it down. You can also take a picture, record a voice memo. Do not let the revelation fly away. Preserve that bridge that is now connecting all the elements together.

Inspiration’s Wake Up Call

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In the middle of the night an idea begins crawling from the subconscious and sings its silent song in your ears. It is so quiet it stands out over the noise of the night. It makes you wonder the reality between a dream or being awake. No matter the hour it is almost irresistible to ignore. Maybe it was the food you had last night. Maybe is inspiration’s wake up call. You want to turn and keep sleeping but the tender touch makes you open your eyes. You could keep sleeping but that is not an option when a muse turns the switch on. The muse decides to do it the day you could sleep in. Surprisingly you feel woke awake and not tired at all. At least until that idea is out of your head. I bet you are already thinking about when during the day you are taking a nap.

A good idea should not be wasted or left alone until later in the morning. You might forget it. It might not be as exciting as it looked when it came to you. If you don’t want to leave your bed write it down. Having a notebook or sketchbook next to the bed could help. Do you have one? If you don’t, you should. Maybe that idea is the one that could change your life. Keep a nightlight too. Smartphones have applications for notes and sketching, and you don’t need the nightlight. You can also record make a voice memo. Whatever necessary to articulate the idea and keep it fresh. Although sometimes all that is not enough. Sometimes you have to get out of bed and make it happen.

The Journey of the Creative Mind

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The Artist at Work

Art looks like a destination. Art looks like a journey. Art looks like both. There are many physical processes involved in the creation of art. The eyes, the hands, and body movements combine to develop what can be called ‘technique’. Technique is connected to the non-physical world of the mind. What are we thinking when we create? That is considering the premise that we need to be actively thinking in order to exist according to René Descartes’ “je pense, donc je suis” (I think, therefore I am).   What are we feeling? Considering that we are also emotional beings and feelings are our connection to a physical world. What are the antecedents that provoke those things? That is accepting that we are influenced by something or someone triggering thoughts, feelings or ideas that are now materializing in our art. Are there ‘energies’ outside the physical brain motivating creativity? That is the concept of the ancient Greeks’ muses and the conception that inspiration comes from outside of us.

Humans are always trying to explain abstract ideas in a ‘concrete’ manner even though language itself is an abstraction. Moreover, I believe writing is not a way of making the idea concrete but a visual way to make it abstract. The idea becomes a sound and the sound received visual symbols we call ‘letters’ which consequently forms an alphabet. We form words with them providing a visualization of the idea. Cognitive psychology attempts to explain this phenomena. In instructional design we pay attention to learning concepts that help us design learning activities. Concepts as making sense, consciousness, perception, reflection, intention, action, and so on. Psychoanalysis, made famous by Sigmund Freud, explores what I am going to call ‘the dark side of the moon’. In psychoanalysis the focus is on what happens in a conscious state but in the unconscious mind. Concepts like subliminal messages, dreams, suppressed memories, instincts, and other factors that connects us to the conscious world with an unconscious root. Think of Salvador Dalí and surrealism.

We can try to explain or map the journey of the creative mind and we will always fall short of explaining its full ‘reality’. We can take a piece of art as a destination and trace back the steps to the beginning of time in an attempt to explain creativity by its result. I will argue that the artwork is not the result or the destination of the creative mind more mostly a souvenir from the trip like that card, t-shirt, or the famous coffee mug we get as a memory. Creativity is much more powerful than its result. There might be more happening in the subconscious mind than what is happening in the conscious mind when art is created. The journey of the creative mind is not to be fully explained or understood but to be enjoyed and experienced. It is what we talk about to entertain ourselves with the possibilities and not to prove a point. We just enjoy the trip, the memories, and the souvenirs.