Thinking it real, making it real
Lately I've been spending a lot of time exploring in the world of possibility. Call it the imagination, inspiration, the writing on the wall or the divine will, one way or another, it all adds up to a virtual world that I believe is interdependent with the material world I occupy on a daily basis.
I think most creative people will say that the first step in making something or expressing something is the idea, the germ, the feeling, the vision that can be made real in the material world. And it's well-known among athletes that visualizing a desired outcome there, in the realm of the possible, is a major step toward making it happen in the realm of the actual.
It's a funny thing. Artists have the reputation of being great dreamers, sometimes so much so that they may fail to make good - choosing to live mostly on the idea plane, some just can't get stuff to happen in the physical world. And yet athletes, the most physical people of all, make it a practice to deliberately live on the idea plane as part of a rigid discipline.
In either case, success depends on three main factors: inspiration, visusalization, and actualization. You must first recieve the gift, the taste, the touch, the desire, the calling to take on the task at hand. In a simple example like songwriting, that inspiration can be as mundane as a catchy turn of phrase. Visualization involves seeing the path of possibility that leads to completion of the task. The athlete may literally imagine himself running the marathon, in rich detail, all the way to the finish line many times before the real race is run. Actualization is about making it real, actually running the race, writing down the song, putting the practical processes in place that will make the dream come true.
I always loved the ideas part the most. I am a dreamer, for sure. I stayed up most of the night last night doing everything from installing steel beams under the sagging kitchen of my old house, to planning the liner notes of my upcoming CD project, to scoring goals in my weekly hockey game, to methodically working through a series of major issues in my corporate day job. In my mind, that is! My poor helpless body was just lying there on the couch, wondering why I never let it sleep. As I said, I always loved the ideas part the most.
But ideas are a dime a dozen. Maybe not everybody is comfortable enough in the realm of the possible to get lots of inspiration there, but believe me I always come back to Earth staggering-full, as if I'd just walked out of the world's greatest buffet restaurant. The trick is putting them into practice.
By the sheer quantity and inspirational quality of ideas I'm stuffing into every pocket of my mind these days, putting it all into practice is going to be a pretty big project. Maybe one worthy of another seven-year stretch....
I think most creative people will say that the first step in making something or expressing something is the idea, the germ, the feeling, the vision that can be made real in the material world. And it's well-known among athletes that visualizing a desired outcome there, in the realm of the possible, is a major step toward making it happen in the realm of the actual.
It's a funny thing. Artists have the reputation of being great dreamers, sometimes so much so that they may fail to make good - choosing to live mostly on the idea plane, some just can't get stuff to happen in the physical world. And yet athletes, the most physical people of all, make it a practice to deliberately live on the idea plane as part of a rigid discipline.
In either case, success depends on three main factors: inspiration, visusalization, and actualization. You must first recieve the gift, the taste, the touch, the desire, the calling to take on the task at hand. In a simple example like songwriting, that inspiration can be as mundane as a catchy turn of phrase. Visualization involves seeing the path of possibility that leads to completion of the task. The athlete may literally imagine himself running the marathon, in rich detail, all the way to the finish line many times before the real race is run. Actualization is about making it real, actually running the race, writing down the song, putting the practical processes in place that will make the dream come true.
I always loved the ideas part the most. I am a dreamer, for sure. I stayed up most of the night last night doing everything from installing steel beams under the sagging kitchen of my old house, to planning the liner notes of my upcoming CD project, to scoring goals in my weekly hockey game, to methodically working through a series of major issues in my corporate day job. In my mind, that is! My poor helpless body was just lying there on the couch, wondering why I never let it sleep. As I said, I always loved the ideas part the most.
But ideas are a dime a dozen. Maybe not everybody is comfortable enough in the realm of the possible to get lots of inspiration there, but believe me I always come back to Earth staggering-full, as if I'd just walked out of the world's greatest buffet restaurant. The trick is putting them into practice.
By the sheer quantity and inspirational quality of ideas I'm stuffing into every pocket of my mind these days, putting it all into practice is going to be a pretty big project. Maybe one worthy of another seven-year stretch....
Labels: actualization, artist, athlete, dreamer, inspirtation, visualization
posted by David Newland at 11.2.04
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