Hi there, this is Teller. We have a yearly topic here at the DreamAnvil and September is the best time to sit down and have a chat about how we create. You may have wondered why The Dream Anvil’s logo is a steaming, glowing, rainbow ring of greatness. Why not something, you know, like an anvil? Well it’s time your questions were answered! What? You didn’t ask that question? Who cares, it’s getting answered anyways!
I believe that every one of us can be creative. Yes even you. We may not all be able to sculpt like Bernini but that doesn’t matter. What matters is that we all have the capacity to create something. All of us do it in our own little ways. We shape and we mold, we paint and write, sing and dance, every single day. It brings us joy. It allows us to escape from our world for just a moment. Everyone creates, in their own little ways. Be it a pencil sketch or a little ditty you just made up in your head, we make stuff. What separates us from the other species on this planet, is our ability to create. That is what the ring represents, that unlimited creativity and its vast potential inside us all. I call it the Creative Loop.
Yet why is it that some of us seem so much more creative than others? How can an author write words on a page that transport us to another world? How can a painter capture the light reflecting of his subjects eyes in such a way that makes our hearts stop? It’s all application and hard work (and a good smidgeon of talent). Do you think that the Sistine Chapel was painted on a whim? Or that the Lord of the Rings came about as a happy accident? Of course not. They were crafted. Forged with the fiery passions of their creators. We look at these masterpieces as they are now, and think that the artists who created them must have always been able to produce such high caliber work. Doubt’s creep in, we will ever be able to craft anything approaching that level of skill and talent. My answer to these doubts is, “So?” So what if you can’t paint as well as Michelangelo? Who cares if you can’t write as well as Tolkien? What you make is yours. It is unique and it is yours alone. Once you learn that and accept it, then you are ready to create. And once you begin, you will quickly realize that the creative process is a journey. One that starts with a rough idea and is gradually transformed into something that is real and tangible and uniquely yours. The creative process is a journey. From start to finish you will learn things about yourself and about your art as you travel it.
The ring also represents the creators journey, the journey we all seek to take. Just like a ring, a creator’s journey never ends. Not truly. You will quickly discover that new projects will bubble up from the ether as you work to complete your projects. New ideas, new stories, new and different ways of going about your next project will open up to you as your talent and imagination grow. If you let it, your creativity will be limited only by your imagination and your desire to indulge it. The journey doesn’t stop. Hence the term, the Creative Loop, and the ring.
So there you have it, that ring is my personal view on creativity. It represents the creativity inside each of us. It demonstrates the creative process and the never-ending journey that accompanies it. Over the next few weeks we will be explore each of the four phases that go along with the creative journey. Since I am a writer I will make many analogies back to my own experiences, but the Creative Loop is for everybody. Whether you’re a dancer, a singer or a baker we all have a few things in common when we create. That’s what we’ll be looking at, the process from start to finish. Next week we’ll take a look at getting the ball rolling, with Inception. See you then!
(A version of this post was originally published September 3rd 2015)