Perhaps it can be attributed to a hangover but it’s happened plenty of times without alcohol being remotely involved so I’ll blame this phenomenon on something else. You know when you’re tired all day then bed time comes and you suddenly find yourself wide awake, restless even.
What do we do with this time? Is it a gift? Should we be bending our body clock into some handier pattern? Perhaps if I forced productivity in the tired hours my brain would use the nocturnally allocated down time to sleep rather than insist on writing time. My writing time has suffered immensely this year, My brain has been incredibly busy and I decided to at least publicly censor a lot of what would have been public writing, some of it i just didn’t choose to write. At some point long ago in this blog i mentioned elizabeth gilbert talking about artists being the medium for a great idea, rather than art being someone’s personality. Something I’ve re-percieved by reading keith johnstone’s book impro. What idea’s are trying to come out. Maybe they are mine.
I often wish i had a transcript of my brain, alas it happens too fast for me to remember really, I’m sure keith johnstone would laugh at it.
We do censor ourselves, it’s a social thing. Growing up we don’t get the social rules (and at some point we realise there aren’t any, just reactions) so we always try to find the right things to say or do, despite the fact we’re not really sure who’s deciding what’s right and what isn’t (but it’s never us…) Trying to be right always means conforming to someone else’s idea of what right is. And if you want to lead a socially smooth life then I guess conformity is the way to go. You’re unlikely to make enemies by being a conformist (assuming you’re flexible enough to conform with everyone). Conformity is the enemy of creativity though. dammit i totally lost my thread! If you aren’t worried about being right (or pretty much any other adjective you care to name) then you will invariably end up being something. Continuing to create, or avoiding not creating, will lead you to producing many things so long as you aren’t trying to achieve something in particular. that’s a bit milton… Your brain already understands what makes something funny if you’ve ever laughed at something, indeed the more you laugh the more you understand laughter. Your unconscious will be able to crete funny if you let it. If you consciously try to be funny you’ll start censoring everything your mind gives you.
What i’m doing right now is censoring my unconcious. I know what to teach you, or anyone, i’m just blocking it because it isn’t something enough. and I’m still not tired. You can’t harness creativity, you can only ride it bare back and see where it carries you. sorry copying over quotes for later reading.
