Intrepid Absurdist

First, a quick word about these prompts. Since this is really just about inspiring creativity, there is nothing to say that you cannot complete the prompt at a later day than when it is officially posted. Things get busy and sometimes all you can do is sit and stare at the TV (May I recommend Good Omens if you have not already watched it). The ultimate point (which I have stated already, but will always bear repeating) is to think more creatively in general. The process is more important than the product. This means that a creation may not make total sense, be a first draft or only partially thought out. Don’t worry! The doing is the whole point.

So, D Day. This is a hard one. The landing at Normandy was the largest seaborne invasion in history, with 156,000 soldiers and 195,000 naval personnel. This was the turning point for WWII.

On D Day’s 75th anniversary what do you feel? This day means a lot of things. Sacrifice, the power of war, it’s horrors as well, and sometimes the necessity of such horrors.

What do you think of when you think of war?

Also, did you know that the ‘D’ in ‘D-Day’ means ‘day’? So today is actually ‘day-day’. Which is weird.

The Environment is pretty important, it’s essentially where we keep all our stuff. Perhaps that is why the United Nations has chosen June 5th to be ‘World Environment Day’. And every year they choose a different theme (because there are really countless different ways we are messing the Environment up).

This year’s theme is ‘Air Pollution’.

So with the Environment on your mind do something creative! Plant a tree, paint a tragic scene of a choking city, don’t smoke for a day and then write an angry poem, write a story dedicated to the goddess of air.

Sorry this prompt post is so late. This is my first opportunity to even open my computer today. But I think this prompt is pretty self explanatory.

Anyone who has lived with cats knows they are strange and wonderful creatures. They are the source of much wonder and delight. There is a lot to say about cats, but we all know it already. They are tiny gods amongst us. They are aliens from another world. They are evil geniuses, watchers of things unseen, philosophers and jesters. They are all these things and more rolled into one!

How could they not be a source of joy and inspiration?

So I will leave you with one of my favorite poems about cats (I have two actually, the other one, by Christopher Smart, can be found here: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45173/jubilate-agno )’

‘Ode to Spot’ – by Lieutenant Commander Data

 Felis catus is your taxonomic nomenclature,
 An endothermic quadruped, carnivorous by nature;
 Your visual, olfactory, and auditory senses
 Contribute to your hunting skills and natural defenses.
  
 I find myself intrigued by your sub vocal oscillations,
 A singular development of cat communications
 That obviates your basic hedonistic predilection
 For a rhythmic stroking of your fur to demonstrate affection.
  
 A tail is quite essential for your acrobatic talents;
 You would not be so agile if you lacked its counterbalance.
 And when not being utilized to aid in locomotion,
 It often serves to illustrate the state of your emotion.
  
 O Spot, the complex levels of behavior you display
 Connote a fairly well-developed cognitive array.
 And though you are not sentient, Spot, and do not comprehend,
 I nonetheless consider you a true and valued friend. 

Pete and Repeat were in a boat, Pete fell out, who was left?

REPEAT!

Pete and Repeat were in a boat…

You get the picture. Today is all about repetition. The corner stone to learning after all! I personally love repeating patterns, like the Escher pictured above. I also love the zen feeling of repeating an action. Get a cup of tea, add milk and stir, and stir, and stir. Try to keep the tempo even and smooth – it is very calming. That are what mantras are, or repeating prayers – repetition focuses us and gives our brains a rest from the constant barrage of internal chatter.

There is this acting technique that uses repetition to help get the actor out of her head. It’s more complicated than simply repeating lines, but it has been proved effective, because repetition can be really freeing.

Repetition can also be much more creative than we realize. Everything needs a foundation, like the chorus in a song, that keeps the listener hooked, but still allowing for creative changes. There is a book called Exercises in Style by Raymond Queneau where he tells a very simple, unexceptional tale, and then he tells it again 89 more times. Each time he uses a different perspective or style. And it is fascinating, and in its entirety has a lot to say about storytelling.

Repetition is everywhere actually, it is the building blocks of creation – change built on top of repeating patterns, like the golden ratio or fractals.

So today focus on repetition. Draw a mandala, write a story from several perspectives, empty out a bag of m&ms and make a pattern, take a picture of a pattern you find in nature, so many options!

And Share!

Rocks you say?! What are we supposed to do with rocks? Well the great thing about rocks is that they are everywhere. So go do something with, about or inspired by rocks! Write a story about climbing a mountain (just a giant rock after all, right?) Make a cairn, paint rocks and hide them around your neighborhood to bring joy to strangers. Give thanks for the people in your life that you can depend on, (your proverbial rocks!) and let them know. Or make a dance to your favorite rock music.

Heck, you can even bring back the pet rock trend! How cool would that be?!

Anyway, Show me your STONES!

I started a group this week to help inspire and encourage creativity. I’m not really sure why I decided to start this group, except that things have been rough as of late. Work has been stressful, and joy in short supply. Add to that certain interpersonal issues and all around fatigue, and I have found myself spiritually and emotionally empty. So I suppose I needed something that had the potential to inspire.

I am at a crossroads in my life. I don’t know if I should keep going straight, or take another road. And even if I did take another road, where would it lead? So, in the meantime I am trying to light a fire in my heart. Something, anything that might inspire me, or at least distract me from my anxiety.

Anxiety is the worst, maybe worse than depression even. It’s like a heavy weight inside my chest, like a pressure I can’t relieve. And that pressure pushes up into my head, and all I do is think about all the things I have to do, but don’t want to and does it all really matter anyway? It’s like a balloon that is overfilled, and it just wants to pop, and you know that if it pops it will be destroyed, but all the tension would also finally be gone.

Obviously there are ways for the pressure to be released without popping the proverbial balloon. Thus Intrepid Creativity, a way to relieve some of the pressure. Or that’s the idea at least.

The truth is I love exploration. New experiences, new understand, new skills. Nothing gives me more joy than trying something new, or learning something strange about the world, or experiencing beauty and wonder, nothing else can compare. And somewhere in there is my love of creating. Because it is in the experience of making something, then standing back and going ‘I did that, and in the process I learned something about myself, however small, and I am changed because of it’. Also, there is something ineffably satisfying about creating, it nourishes the soul.

Hello All!

Today is the first day of the June prompts.  First let me say, that anyone can participate in this project.  You do not have to do every single day, we all get busy and I know how hard it can be – BUT – these do not have to be huge works of art, or time consuming projects!  The point of these prompts is to get the juices flowing.  For most of us, a ‘blank page’ is the most daunting thing we can possibly face.  When there are too many options, too much potential, we freeze up and don’t know which way to move.

These prompts serve as just the little bit of direction you may need to do something, anything really!  Because the point is to think about life creatively, to open ourselves up to our creative purpose.  I truly believe that creativity is at the core of self discovery.  What can we find in ourselves through simple acts of creativity?

So I dare you to give it a try.

I think this first one might be the most difficult prompt though.  And yet, really it is the simplest.  You can take it literally, paint the word dare, write a poem about doing something daring, tell a story about a time you did something stupid playing truth or dare.  Or DO ANYTHING.  Scribble colors on a page, write about how you hate inspirational Facebook groups, sing a song about your cat, take a picture of a flower.  Just, whatever you do, do it intentionally. Take that first step and begin the challenge, because that is what I am daring you (and myself!) to do.  The first step is the hardest, right?  So any step will do!