Temporary Captivity Is Important

(p.91/p.92 Steal Like An Artist by Austin Kleon)

It's been awhile since I made my last blog post with spring break and all.

Re-reading chapter seven was a reminder of how Austin's words fascinate and inspire me. At one moment he'll stress how important it is to do one thing, and then on the next page talk about how equally important it is to do the opposite. It's almost paradoxical. But, as complicated humans we are, he's right in saying that we need both contradictory things in our lives. 

For example, this chapter was about learning how to be happy in solitude: making the most out of it, giving yourself time for it, etc. Then, he told us to get out of our comfortable little world “Your brain gets too comfortable in your everyday surroundings.” he states on page 94, and encourages us to take a trip. Go to the next town over, the next state over, the next country over. Get your mind in an unfamiliar space because it makes the world look new. In a creative aspect, that unleashes thoughts and ideas that you would never have imagined if you hadn't forced yourself into a new perspective.

On page 96, Kleon mentions that being around interesting people helps motivate creative thinking. I completely agree with that. The people I love most in the world also happen to be the most interesting. Artists and chefs, photographers, foreigners, musicians, stamp collectors, manga readers, hippies, theater nerds and movie lovers. The list goes on and on. They are the people that get me into new environments, the people that make me envious of their talents and make me want to try harder to become better than them. They are the people who force me to play catch-up and inspire my most creative ideas. 

Onto another topic, here is a review of Sharpie Art Workshop: Techniques and Ideas for Transforming Your World by Timothy Goodman. While the people featured were all pretty successful and rightfully featured (I even went so far as to do a little more research on a few of them) and the images eye-catching, I found the writing of book to read like big Sharpie ad. It wasn't compelling and didn't have any solid content. He goes through the colors available in each pen, defines what a post-it note is, lists the colors of those too and even references Wikipedia (unfortunately, I've been guilty of this). It was a book that had so much potential, but besides being pretty to look at, was a big disappointment for me.

That's all for this week. Thanks for reading.

— B