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creativity

Daily Routine of Famous Creative People

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The Daily Routines of Famous Creative People
Had this shared with me from the folks at Podio, a collaborative work app. They mapped out the daily routines of some of the more famous creative people in history. I see a lot of sleep and leisure mixed in with their creative work. Much of their fitness or workout times were just going for walks. Very few workaholics in the bunch.


Want to develop a better work routine? Discover how some of the world’s greatest minds organized their days.
Click image to see the interactive version (via Podio).

Does the UMC really want us to disengage? #umclead

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In pondering the whole “Call to Action” and my thoughts yesterday on “Poking the Church” it had me wondering. Why don’t more people get involved and take on their communities and their faith.. What is the one thing? Are we all just to lazy? or maybe we claim to be to ‘busy?’

Maybe, as Dave Meslin puts in this short talk, its more a web of things that compound. He’s talking up a civic cultural apathy. But this in many ways translates into our church cultures. Especially found his framework of intentional exclusion very insightful.

why a Fear of Artists?

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Last night I watched a Frontline episode that was really fascinating. It was chronicle of Ai Weiwei a Chinese artist who has the government fearing his persona.

Watch the full episode. See more FRONTLINE.

He’s an artist, who has some anti-government views and a social media following because of his art and now branded self. And is the subject of scrutiny of his own government..

It had me wondering.

If the Chinese government is fearful of an artist.. Why do we diminish the value of art in our own culture? If it can strike the fear into one of the largest governments in the world then the artist has some power and influence.. But yet, we in America push our arts to the side of our education system as having little value alongside of math or other more tangible (less abstract) type disciplines.

Why does a power institution fear the artist? Yet we don’t even value them at all? or is our devaluing our subversive method of diminishing the artist because our institutions fear them as well?

Maybe there is reason for fears.. in Egypt, some of the figureheads of the revolt were writers.. So the pen is mightier than the sword?..

What does Julia Roberts Have to Do with Raising My Kid?

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**This was highlighted in last month’s reflection newsletter. Sign up to get upcoming months.

I’ve been thinking

Lately I’ve been feeling totally consumed in raising our son Brooks. He’s hit that 16 month mark now and is into all kinds of things, completely responsive to interactions, saying a number of words and laughing a ton. It is more of a work out chasing the lil’ man around the house, but I’ll definitely take it.

In the midst of this fun Erin & I have talked up what are the hopes & dreams we have for him and some of the aspirations we seek to instill in him. Some big questions to ponder

So then I travel back in time to 1990 to a scene of Julia Roberts & Richard Gere in Pretty Woman, maybe you remember it.

Roberts: You don’t actually have a billion dollars, huh?
Gere: No. I get some of it from banks, investors… it’s not an easy thing to do.
Roberts: And you don’t make anything…
Gere: No.
Roberts: … and you don’t build anything.
Gere: No.
Roberts: So whadda ya do with the companies once you buy ’em?
Gere: I sell them.

So this wasn’t one of the talks surrounding sex in the movie.. It’s about business, but more importantly, about the creating and there is a grand soul to creating.

If you remember the scene, or go watch it again, Roberts character puts on this innocent face that looks at Gere’s character with a puzzled, “but why?” Why doesn’t he make something? To her, in her childish innocence to business, creating something is the ultimate goal & endeavor.

I love the creation story found in the book of Genesis. Many folks read it & take some literal reading to and move on. But how cool to think about this being ‘the beginning’ of a story of people in a relationship with God. But in “Pretty Woman” ideas, God spends a lot of time imagining and creating. Really like to that we were created in his image, an image that can imagine & create. We are like that, we can do it.

I hope to raise a son that is not afraid to imagine and to create. So many of us give up our creative selves to critics or forms that define what good art or a good idea is. My hope for Brooks is that whether it is music, art, design, community building, faith, mission, management, whatever it is he does he is confident in self to creatively make and approach all situations. Hope I am able to un-build myself to live that way as well & maybe that will help.

Gere’s character, in his transformation during Pretty Woman, makes his big step when he breaks from his business model to state with the old business ower, ‘We are going to make something.’ Does not matter what it is, but he knows it saves him to re-associate with his creative soul.

How do we get there?

I really do not know. But I’m trying some things out and getting inspired by a few people. Some of you might have seen Sir Ken Robinson give his TED Talk, it has gotten its share of views. He challenges the killing machine that is the education system. His talk is 20 minutes that has change my approach to ministry and teaching. There is a new endeavor that he’s a part of that has some great videos with a like minded message.

shalom
-gavin

Waking Up Our Young People

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Ken Robinson first caught my radar some years back when TED started putting their talks online. Mitch Joel suggested Ken’s talk. I’ve used his talk in many teaching environments for youth, adults & other educations.

This RSA video is a great fusion of the visual with the oratory. It is also a different talk than what Ken gave at his TED talk, which was great to digest. The video is just over 10 mins long, but totally worth it!

Definite tip of the hat for this video to Mark Riddle.

How are we engaging the soulful creative character that is within the young people? It appears we are not doing it very well.