Create: Day 5
April 5, 2011 
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Day 5
What thwarts creative drive?
Probably the most famous album cover of all time. Fair use.
Now that your subconscious has pointed you in the right direction–with the collage you made yesterday, it’s time to start on your next creative project. Maybe you can’t get going today, but perhaps you can spend as little as five minutes dancing or painting or writing. The conditions don’t have to be perfect. Give yourself a break. Experiment a little. Play a bit.
Remember: Nothing wreaks havoc with the creative instinct like perfectionism…especially believing you can get it right the first time.
I’ve been listening to a CD called The Lost Pepperland Reels, music, sounds, and experiments from The Beatles 1967 Sgt. Pepper sessions. And it’s revealing.
Many critics consider Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band to be the greatest rock album of all time. But you wouldn’t know it by hearing some of the early versions of the songs. Even the Beatles had to start with an SFD (shitty first draft).
So don’t be hard on yourself. Let yourself be lousy, knowing you’ll improve on your next revision of “All You Need Is Love.”
Sgt. Pepper, number one in Rolling Stone magazine’s “500 Greatest Albums of All Time”, is described by critic Jonathan Gould as:
“a rich, sustained, and overflowing work of collaborative genius whose bold ambition and startling originality dramatically enlarged the possibilities and raised the expectations of what the experience of listening to popular music on record could be.”
If the Beatles weren’t afraid to experiment and make mistakes, why should you be?
If perfectionism has held you back in your creative endeavors, today would be a fine time to journal about it in the Create section of your BOP or in your Create notebook. End your journal entry with the words: “From now on, its SFDs (shitty first drafts) for me!”
Create Month 1
What to do so far:
In case you missed a day, the reminders below are clickable.
Have fun.
Be violent and original in your creative life.
Make collages (dream boards, vision boards).
Leave perfectionism behind.
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[...] fun. Be violent and original in your creative life. Make collages (dream boards, vision boards). Leave perfectionism behind. Take risks by throwing out tons of ideas. Set aside time every Sunday to work on art. Moodle (going [...]