work

So, I have followed my husband to London and am now working remote. A pleasure, I can tell you. Well, it is and it isn't.

Technology makes it possible in way never dreamed of even 10 short years ago. And that's a good thing. But while technology can help it can also hurt. Hurt your poor little mind (or at least mine) and hurt your poor little ego. Because no matter how adept you are, or think you are, there is so much more to know and really, there aren't enough hours in the day to get it all done.

For instance, while writing this very blog I accidentally hit the "send" button. Bye bye email, hello embarrassing truncated message. Oh well... As I navigate new technology there is one overriding message that is coming through loud and clear – GO SLOW. Yep, that's right. The technology that is there to make it easy needs a little love and care. It needs time, and it will make you make time, even if you don't want to.

The moral of this new era story: No matter how much we try to speed our world up it keeps slowing us down. And that may not be a bad thing!

Creativity. Now, this is a subjective word if there ever was one. Most people consider artists creative, and obviously there is a lot of merit to this assumption. But many of the best artists are just tapping into their inner mathematician – making connections, seeing the world through an ordered process that may, on the outside, look like chaos.

Pollock’s splatter art tableaus have been studied by a complex computer program (mainly to detect fraud) that found what may have seemed like happen stance was really a methodical approach. In fact, his work has the same affect on the brain as looking through the interwoven branches of trees. Some people are just gifted.

Understanding Creativity?

So, creativity, how does one “get it?” And if you don’t feel particularly creative can you manufacture it?  I think creativity is about the lack of fear.

Fear kills creativity…

Fear tells you nothing is really possible, that what you want can’t happen, that your dream is crazy.  Creativity is the ability to suspend disbelief.

When I need to get creative I picture my mind as an open field and all the good stuff is on the outside.  So I shake that field and watch the edges open up and all the good stuff roll in.

If you want to be creative, then you can’t be afraid of limits.  For the creative mind the word “no” does not exist.

If you want to get creative you have to kick fear to the curb.  It can be a painful process to defy the odds (and the system) as many artists can attest — just take a look at Pollock’s unhappy end, never mind Van Gogh. But to really go there, to push your creative boundaries you have to take risks.  If you want to get started, start saying no to fear.

Try it, it works!

This AM I was in my 42nd floor apartment looking out at an early morning NYC vista and dancing to Lime. That's a group that was popular in the early 80s when I lived in Miami. I started thinking about the somewhat odd trajectory of my life - there have been quite a few phases...

Back when I was in high school there were the rocker years. Then, there was the helicopter, Porsche, Cigarette boat years. That's when the Saudis came to town and my girlfriend was seeing Don Johnson (oh gosh!). Then, I was redeemed by art and I moved to EARLY South Beach (lived in the apartment building Gianni Versace made into a private home) and co-founded an art "movement" ahem... Next, I moved to NYC and started all over again. When I was working as a receptionist at a PR agency, one of the VPs came back from a trip to Miami and said, “Val, you're a little well known down there.” Who knew? Hey, I needed a re-invention.

And now here I am, in the WORKING phase. That phase in which you seem to WORK all the time. I missed the baby producing years, sigh. Oh, and I rediscovered my faith, something I guess I had all along and got me through all the SCARY years...

Well, we're about to launch a new business, so I'm thinking about my past. Honestly, if I could do it over again there are DEFINITELY things I would do differently. But you can't go back, just forward. So, I'm looking forward to my future and getting ready for a new phase that's looking pretty darn good from where I'm sitting (on the exercise bicycle in my gym). LOL!