A Blog from Nowhere covers a lot of creative ground, and after I’d written about seventy-five of my first posts I sat down and organized them into themes. This isn’t a book and was never written to be one, but readers might get some value of thinking of it that way anyhow… and reading on topics that are most relevant to them.
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- The creative self, from the one you left behind to the one you are looking to become, is an introspective look at the very basics of creativity. The heart of who we are, how we came to our craft, the preconceptions we bring along, and the tools to which we have access, this is the story of the steps we take to start a creative adventure.
- Whatever happened to the artist you were as a child and can you find them again.
- Unlearning what society probably taught you about talent.
- Observation and awareness of the universe as a creative life skill.
- Finding your medium of focus through words, images, and pretty much everything in between
- Who is the creative professional and what does it mean to create at and for work, pay, and career? The work of creating of is more than a job, but rather it can form the foundation of how we work, why we work and the purpose we find in pursuit of making interesting stuff as we contribute to a complex society.
- The myth of the starving artist and other lies we seem to tell ourselves.
- How creative practices make you better at your job, a better employee and a better colleague to others.
- Burnout, boredom, and the hunger for meaning in the work you do.
- Building a practical creative practice around a busy life.
- When your passion becomes your profession.
- The creative human fits into a bigger picture spanning the gamut of society, technology and tradition. The grit of creativity sometimes means grinding through external pressures and expectations, creating against the grain of the worlds in which we live and play, and existing beyond the vacuum of self.
- How culture, opinion and truth shape the stories we tell and the art we make.
- The weight of representation and creating when your identity seems political.
- Finding your tribe and building a community for collaboration, and to beat creative loneliness.
- Social media, comparison with others, and the commodification of creativity.
- Reclaiming tradition and making your own, randomness and ritual at the heart of creativity.
- From birth to death, we are souls who imagine our worlds and make them real through our actions, but the aging self manifests differently across that span we call life, and what each stage of that life might teach us about making things changes like the seasons.
- The early days and joy of learning something new and why it so often fades and hides.
- Midlife and the urgent need to make & participate in something that matters.
- What late-bloomer artists might teach us about persistence.
- Creativity in retirement and learning from health, memory, and letting go.
- The concept of decay, error and wabi-sabi leading to the beauty of an imperfect life.
- The soul of creativity is often burrowed deep within a search for a path to connection and purpose in a complex universe. The inspired self and creativity go hand in hand, and the philosophical conundrum of mashing legacy, vulnerability and purpose into our art is worth pondering.
- Creativity and the philosophy of being of a creative person in your heart and soul.
- Vulnerability in the universe and the creative act everywhere you are.
- How creativity builds bridges across difference and indifference.
- Fitting in, standing out, standing up and the tension in the heart of every artist.
- Leaving something behind and why legacy matters.
- And in the end, some will tell you that the only thing that matters is building a self identity and a methodical life around creative expression, putting in the hours, and learning from the effort, that this the true heart of creating stuff. They may have a point.
- Doing the work of creativity and why consistency beats inspiration.
- Iteration and the simple practices of routine that can have with profound compounding effects.
- Silence, solitude, and finding the conditions that let your creative self breathe.
- Embracing failure, imperfection, and the happy accidents of trying something new.
- Flow, presence, motivation and those moments when everything else falls away.
- This site is about the dirty side of creativity, the getting down on the ground and exploring through hobbies and habits.