Sunday readings: creative work

Read something fun on Sunday

Sundays are meant to be peaceful.

And what’s more peaceful than reading?

Here’s three articles related to creative work that may inspire you keep creating.

25 Insights on Becoming a Better Writer
Posted on 99u.com

Sit down and start writing. Find your routine. Get through that first draft…these are some suggestions that famous writers provide on this article.

Go ahead and check them. Once you’re done, you’ll be motivated to get your work done. Trust me.

The Five Things Book reveals over 100 creative people’s five favourite things
Posted on creativeboom.com

Think about the amazing things you surround yourself with. There’s a book that talks about that and it’s titled “The Five Things Book.”

This article describes its purpose and what results came after asking people from all over the world to list their favourite items.

It’s certainly an interesting exercise to understand creative minds better.

“Note and Vote”: How Google Ventures Avoids Groupthink In Meetings
Posted on fastcodesign.com

Sometimes brainstorming does not provide the best results when it comes to thinking in groups at a meeting.

In this article, the Google Ventures design team shares a hack that skips the worst parts of groupthink. If you plan to work in a creative field or are already in it, click on the link and take some notes. It’s brilliant.

 

Happy reading 🙂

Photo Credit: Anna Demianenko at unsplash.com

Facing creative fears

Creativity is challenging

Creatives face challenges constantly.

Everyday, there’s something new to solve. Something to figure out in any kind of industry.

However, these creatives also get to a point where they don’t know if they can meet expectations. What if they run out of ideas?

What if they’re not good enough?

Lots of what if’s.

The other day I found this talk from 99u. In it, Christoph Niemann, an illustrator, artist and author proposes solutions to these challenges.

Let’s focus on the solution, not on the problem.

Procrastinating

It’s almost the end of the semester.

We all are busy getting our final assignments done…right?

Well, sometimes things don’t flow. Because of that, I thought of sharing this fantastic video on procrastination.

Can you relate to that?

 

Documenting epic fails

You need to fail in order to succeed

We all love talking about our success.

That’s not a bad thing.

On the other hand, there’s nothing wrong with failure. We cannot succeed without it.

Thomas A. Edison once said:

I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.

So, from now on, I’ve decided to start documenting my failures to keep track of my progress.

I’ll start by sharing some pictures that I took for my Photo class. I had to demonstrate how the panning effect works.

There’s two epic fails and one small win.

Fail 1

Fail 2

Small win

Making mistakes is part of human nature.

Portraits and Accomplishments

Jim Carson

Last week I talked about how challenging it can be to shoot portraits, especially when approaching strangers.

I went for it two days ago, and I met Jim Carson.

I spotted him around the Core Shopping Centre. He was smoking while sitting on a bench.

So I told him that I was working on a project for my photography class; I needed help, blah, blah.

He said: “yeah, I can help. Do you want me to remove my clothes?”
“No, it’s okay. It’s a cold day,” I replied.

After taking the pictures, the conversation kept going. That was pretty cool because I really felt I was overcoming my fear.

He’s from New Brunswick, but has been living in Calgary for a while. Even when he already knows what to expect from the weather, he still struggles to adapt.

Jim constantly asked if I’ll do Photography for a living. I said that I’m looking for the balance between writing, photography and design.

He wished me luck and said that if he could take a course on something, that’d be on photography. He’s thinking about it.

If that happens, he hopes our paths cross again to take each other’s pictures.

I hope so, too. That would be awesome.

Calgary Zoo Lessons

Pandas at Illuminasia, Calgary Zoo

Monos, Calgary Zoo

Felines, Calgary Zoo

Insects, Calgary Zoo

A couple of weeks back I visited the Calgary Zoo at night to enjoy Illuminasia, a lantern & garden festival presented by Sinopec Canada.

I was deeply impressed.

The concept captured cultural aspects of China, Japan and India through food, garden and art. All at night.

One would think that a zoo has a fixed schedule, and that there’s nothing to do at it after 8 pm.

That’s not the case here, and that’s fantastic.

I learned two lessons from that experience:

1. Culture can be transmitted through creativity at a zoo. It’s not an exclusive thing from libraries or museums.
2. Art is a way of expressing knowledge.

I love you, Calgary Zoo.

Portraits and Challenges

New photography challenge: shooting portraits

On November 13th, I’m turning in a Photo assignment that involves portraits.

I must confess that this is challenging for me.

It’s difficult to approach strangers with a professional camera in hand. I feel they’re going to ask me to go away.

Actually, that happened a couple of weeks back. I was at a mall and introduced myself to a guy who had finished lunch. He was sitting at a table checking messages on his cell phone.

He didn’t even reply. He was just letting me speak.

When I told him that I wanted to take his picture, he stood up and said: “no, no, no…if you want, I can go sit somewhere else. Take a picture of someone else.”

That felt weird. I was amazed at how negative his response was. A single “no” was enough.

It’s an experience, anyway. Some people will say yes; some people will say no.
One moves on, right?

Now that I have this assignment, I wonder what’s in store for me.

Yes, I’ll approach strangers. I have to overcome this.
Yes, I’ll do so on my own.

I’ll let you know what happens, and hopefully I will post those pictures here.

Photo Credit: Benjamin Combs at unsplash.com