Regarding the first, imitating someone rarely works because I am not that person. Regarding the second, as Louis Pasteur said, “Chance favors the prepared mind.”

Rob

Like most makers, I’d suppose, the act of creating leads me to ponder creation generally and look for insights as to what leads to the best results. My ideas in this regard are ever evolving, but some realizations seem to have held true for long enough that I’ve begun to trust them. Here a couple:

First, sincerity is essential. By sincerity, I mean being yourself and following your own instincts – your own bliss. If I try to emmulate someone else or satisfy some imagined audience, I lose my way. By definition when I move away from myself, the work becomes contrived. Sincerity is my compass through the creative process; my own honest reactions inform me throughout. If I were playing at being some external audience, I would be driving through the dark in the rain without my wipers on – that is, much more likely to go off the road.

Second, welcome fortuity. All works require bending the medium to one’s will, but chance and luck can be invited to the table, and oftentimes, will take a seat whether invited or not. We cannot control the placement of every atom, and therefore, it’s merely a matter of degree. Fortuity leaves a place for the subconscious. Fortuity allows one to go beyond the preconceived and find new, and often better, paths than the ones I had imagined.

Thanks. I spend a bit of time pondering these matters because they are interesting, but especially because I believe it can help me improve what I do.

Thanks for reading.

Rob