Can Creativity Be Calculated?

August 25, 2010

The weather has been awesome this summer and for the first time in ages, I’m really sad to see fall approaching. Warm weather allows me to sit on my front porch and work on my lappy all day without feeling caged in. I’ll be the first to admit I’m terrible at multi-tasking and I really don’t believe anyone can do it well, but sometimes while I’m pounding on my keys I’ll listen to a podcast or watch a live show at creativelive.

A few weeks ago I was watching a show on creativity and how to draw inspiration. I don’t usually have issues with being creative, but a particular idea really made sense: if something really inspires you in a scene, figure out what is creating an emotional response and photograph it. Sounds simple but sometimes it isn’t.

So I decided to take a photograph that day of the grass. For days I had been overwhelmed with how happy I was to be working on my front porch and I realized I loved watching the grass sway in the wind. It really represented why I love being outside. So with my new theory in mind, I set out to photograph the swaying grass.

Ugh…it really didn’t go as planned. I took many photos of blurry grass but they looked like I dropped my camera. To me it looked like…grass. Blah. I really tried photographing the movement and beauty of my lawn for 30 minutes then gave up because I just wasn’t feeling it. I sat in my chair defeated looking at my crappy photos on my camera.

The wind picked up again and as I was muttering to myself I saw this:

This was what it was all about. I needed my pooch in the scene to portray how wonderful it felt to feel the wind in his face. Here I was trying to capture the object, when in reality it was the touch of wind on my skin that was inspiring me. It’s the random shoe next to my dog because he’s enjoying an occasional chew. It’s was the feeling of happiness knowing I was privileged to work at home with my dog and make a living.

So can creativity be calculated? I think so…just expect a random result. :)

Posted In: The Deelicious Life

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