Paul Richards
CONNECT
  • Home
  • Book Paul
  • Magicians Only
  • Lecture
  • Schedule
  • Blog
  • Contact

Who Do You Think You Aren’t?

6/30/2018

0 Comments

 
Last month I was one of the featured acts at the GeniiCon Convention in Sydney, Australia. It was a fantastic event and I was honored to share the stage with a wonderful assembly talent. As part of the event, I presented two workshops on creating magic for the marketplace - or just for fun. During the session, I shared not only my own insights but material I’ve collected over the years on the topic of creativity.

If you have any favorite books on creativity, drop me a line. I always love a good recommendation. There’s a lot of sameness in material written about the creative process. Ironic, right? But every once in a while I stumble on to something a bit refreshing. Currently, I’m finding some interesting ideas in the new book "Creative Quest"  - where musician, Tonight Show bandleader, designer, and all around creative - Questlove, explores the topic. He shares an interesting anecdote about a short talk with one of my favorite musicians, David Byrne. He said Byrne suggested that to grow as a creative person it often helps to figure out what you are not.

I really like that idea.

I’ve long believed that limitations can help feed the creative mind. It seems counter to the idea of the open minded freewheeling artist – but, personally, I feel too much room can lead to a lot of unexecuted ideas. Having some guiding principles helps immensely. The problem is that coming up with guiding principles TOWARDS what we want to be and achieve can sometimes be hard to define. How exactly do we come up with the plan to become something we’ve never been - or created? A good place to start might be to figure out where we don't want to finish.

What do you NOT want to be – or create?

​Coming up with those answers might surprise you. Establishing these types of guide posts can help provide a direction when you find yourself in a creative rut. It’s an interesting exercise and one that I’ve had fun exploring.

As an aside, neither Byrne or Quest had a name for this process. I’m calling dibs on “Going Dobler”.
0 Comments

    Author

    I'm the guy from the homepage. You probably already know that.

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed