Author: G. Steve Jordan

“We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.”

                                        Anais Nin

In a recent interview discussing her new novel about a photographer, author Anna Quindlen made this observation about the creative process:

That's the dangerous game of producing art; that, especially in this information age, there's a sense that taste is not what you bring to the table, taste is what other people tell you it is, whether they're critics or sales figures or the like. And I think that when you produce any kind of art, there has to be that moment when you know that it's good.

A recent issue of Photo District News included an essay on noted photographer Harry Callahan's influence on his colleague, photographer Emmet Gowin.

Apparently, Gowin shot some street photographs in the style of Callahan's earlier work. When Callahan later saw them, he remarked: "I wish I could've done all of those. There was a time I could have and now I can never go back to where I was."

"This is a very important thing for young artists to know,"Gowin said, "to be in the time and place which is appropriate.  That which is appropriate – which is to say, that which is your property.  Something is proper to me, it's right for me, it's near my core, it belongs to my emotional orientation.

From an interview with George Saunders in the Paris Review about his new book, Tenth of December:

So much of that process [ of writing] is intuitive. Just deciding minute-by-minute, over and over again, over the period during which you’re writing the story. Sort of like seasoning to taste or something like that. I think that’s one of the maybe under-discussed aspects of process … the quality of the split-second decisions you made…I just know from experience that my instincts are better than my cerebration.

Alan Watts [1915 – 1973] was, for many, the author who first introduced eastern philosophy to western readers, and in a very accessible way.  Here's an excerpt on a theme we've explored many times in this blog –– "instinct" vs. intellect.  One finds almost universal agreement among artists, poets, musicians that, when at the peak of creativity, intellect takes a back seat:

Working rightly, the brain is the highest form of “instinctual wisdom.” Thus it should work like the homing instinct of pigeons and the formation of the fetus in the womb — without verbalizing the process or knowing “how” it does it. The self-conscious brain, like the self-conscious heart, is a disorder, and manifests itself in the acute feeling of separation between “I” and my experience. The brain can only assume its proper behavior when consciousness is doing what it is designed for: not writhing and whirling to get out of present experience, but being effortlessly aware of it.

A reflection on writing applicable to any creative enterprise:

"… that’s what art is for—for both reader and writer to overcome their respective limitations and encounter something true. It seems miraculous, doesn’t it? That somebody can articulate something clearly and beautifully that exists inside you, something shrouded in impenetrable fog. Great art reaches through the fog, towards this secret heart—and it shows it to you, holds it before you. It’s a revelatory, incredibly moving experience when this happens. You feel understood. You feel heard. That’s why we come to art—we feel less alone. We are less alone. You see, through art, that others have felt the way you have…"

                                                            novelist Khaled Hosseini from his meditation on writing

It has to be drawn well enough, not perfectly.  

No one goes to a rock concert because the band is in tune. They have to be close enough to not be distracting, but being in tune isn't the point.  No one buys a house because every floorboard is hammered in at the six sigma level of perfection. They have to be good enough, and better than good enough is just fine, but perfect isn't something that's going to overwhelm location, beauty, peace of mind and price.

As creators, our pursuit of perfection might be misguided, particularly if it comes at the expense of the things that matter.

                                                                                                    Seth Godin

“Everything has its testing point in the eye, and the eye is an organ that eventually involves the whole personality, and as much of the world as can be got into it.”

                                                                                                        Flannery O'Connor

I'm always looking for, and finding, parallels between writing, photographing, painting, making music … etc., and recently came across this observation that is true of most creative endeavors –– it is in the act of creation that we are most fully present:

We are all unsure of ourselves. Every one of us walking the planet wonders, secretly, if we are getting it wrong. We stumble along. We love and we lose. At times, we find unexpected strength, and at other times, we succumb to our fears. We are impatient. We want to know what’s around the corner, and the writing life won’t offer us this. It forces us into the here and now. There is only this moment…

Dani Shapiro  "Still Writing: The Pleasures and Perils of a Creative Life"

Came across this interesting excerpt from the book Intuition Pumps and Other Tools For Thinking by Daniel Dennett:

The chief trick to making good mistakes is not to hide them — especially not from yourself. Instead of turning away in denial when you make a mistake, you should become a connoisseur of your own mistakes, turning them over in your mind as if they were works of art, which in a way they are. … The trick is to take advantage of the particular details of the mess you’ve made, so that your next attempt will be informed by it and not just another blind stab in the dark.