Yesterday was huge for me. It was day 7 with less than acceptable levels of sleep and long as prairies are flat. Days like this only mean one thing. Change.
I sat in a room for 2 hours yesterday learning a little something about creativity and collaboration. As part of this amazing program a trio of musicians were brought in, along with a composer to help us understand the creative process a little bit better. I connected to this in a number of ways but what struck me most was when the composer spoke to consistency, to practice, to sitting down to create everyday whether brilliance was flowing or not. This is writing to me. This is photography. If I do not practice I find inspiration less. If this blog has taught me nothing it is that, like Picasso said, inspiration must find you working. You must sit down ready to let creativity flow through you or you are unlikely to create at all. You can all bear witness to the fact that sometimes this blog is atrocious. It is not well written, the ideas are unimaginative or not thoughtful. These are the practice days for when there is more. For when greatness strikes. Creative careers are just like any job, you must be there to get it done. You must be productive whether you like it or not. I am in love with writing all over again.
This brings me to my second learning (yes, learning as a noun is not a word... I know). So I did something that truly scared the crap out of me yesterday. I have always been fearful of running for elected positions because the fear of failure, the fear of not seeming qualified, of not being liked, paralyses me. When I heard that the were a position on our exec titled VP Strategic Vision I fell in love. I couldn't not run. So my name went down as a nomination and low and behold so did the name of one of the most charismatic people in our program. Now that most of the voting is finished with I will admit that I almost dropped out at this point. I proceeded to thinking about doing it until the moment I got up to give my speech. Two things kept me going. The first was the simple fact that I really want this. That this position aligns with what I am great at, with what I am passionate about. The second is, frankly, that this is 2011. When it started I swore I wouldn't let any opportunity go un taken, this was my year to really see what I could make of my self and like hell I was going to give that up. Plus, if I lose i guarantee no one will hold it against me, or even remeber.
This push to try new things without fear of failure leads me to one last point. What legacy will we leave? This was the basis of my speech, my vision. It comes up in strategy class, whether our prof knows it or not, and glimmers throughout our whole course load. Who are we going to be and what will we change in our passing through this program and through the rest of our lives. It is something to put thought into now and in the coming months. I know that I want to live this next 14 months with no regrets. I want to leave a legacy of passion.
I sat in a room for 2 hours yesterday learning a little something about creativity and collaboration. As part of this amazing program a trio of musicians were brought in, along with a composer to help us understand the creative process a little bit better. I connected to this in a number of ways but what struck me most was when the composer spoke to consistency, to practice, to sitting down to create everyday whether brilliance was flowing or not. This is writing to me. This is photography. If I do not practice I find inspiration less. If this blog has taught me nothing it is that, like Picasso said, inspiration must find you working. You must sit down ready to let creativity flow through you or you are unlikely to create at all. You can all bear witness to the fact that sometimes this blog is atrocious. It is not well written, the ideas are unimaginative or not thoughtful. These are the practice days for when there is more. For when greatness strikes. Creative careers are just like any job, you must be there to get it done. You must be productive whether you like it or not. I am in love with writing all over again.
This brings me to my second learning (yes, learning as a noun is not a word... I know). So I did something that truly scared the crap out of me yesterday. I have always been fearful of running for elected positions because the fear of failure, the fear of not seeming qualified, of not being liked, paralyses me. When I heard that the were a position on our exec titled VP Strategic Vision I fell in love. I couldn't not run. So my name went down as a nomination and low and behold so did the name of one of the most charismatic people in our program. Now that most of the voting is finished with I will admit that I almost dropped out at this point. I proceeded to thinking about doing it until the moment I got up to give my speech. Two things kept me going. The first was the simple fact that I really want this. That this position aligns with what I am great at, with what I am passionate about. The second is, frankly, that this is 2011. When it started I swore I wouldn't let any opportunity go un taken, this was my year to really see what I could make of my self and like hell I was going to give that up. Plus, if I lose i guarantee no one will hold it against me, or even remeber.
This push to try new things without fear of failure leads me to one last point. What legacy will we leave? This was the basis of my speech, my vision. It comes up in strategy class, whether our prof knows it or not, and glimmers throughout our whole course load. Who are we going to be and what will we change in our passing through this program and through the rest of our lives. It is something to put thought into now and in the coming months. I know that I want to live this next 14 months with no regrets. I want to leave a legacy of passion.
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