Non-creative creativity

MrBond's picture

Hello everybody,

A few small changes already in place and more upcoming for how we're archiving our two podcasts - Seeking Infinity and Insert Credit(s):

  • A new combined landing page for both - streamlined content blocks (current and previous episodes), and both stream players on the same page
  • A new URL - http://zerohour-productions.net/?q=podcasts - the old addresses will automatically redirect here, but you should still update your bookmarks if needed
  • A new combined stream player is in the works - will play both podcasts' episodes, as well as the always-on live stream

Plus, a few words on a topic I've given some thought off-and-on for some time, now - how to deal with "non-creative" creativity.

It's pretty eay to fall into a trap of thinking that any work outside of fields that are traditionally "creative" (like art, music, writing, etc) is inherently non-creative.  I know I frequently consider myself an uncreative type.  But the real fact is that just about everything is creative work, no matter how you chosse to see it.

For example, I'm a developer - I deal with code on a daily basis, and I'd wager most would consider this not creative.  On the contrary, it's very creative - you are inherently solving problems all the time, usually with some clever (and hackish) solutions.  Discovering the problem(s), designing the artitecture, algorithms, and systems to solve the problems, and then finally implementing that solution all take a very large amount of creativity; sometimes, more than I'd like (creativity, after all, is difficult - I want easy and quick solutions).  Still, it's important to realize that just because something doesn't have an immediate (and pretty) visual outcome that there isn't a great deal of creativity behind it!

Sometimes I feel myself falling into this trap, the worst outcome of which is regarding my own work with derision - "I wish I were more creative, just look at this mess" - when the reality is, I'm quite creative; just not in the traditionally-held way.  And a part of that is branching out to new areas, and trying things that will be creative in a way that I typically am not.  It's tough, but rewarding.

That's all for now.

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