Les Trois Inventeurs

A re post: i  never tire of  its inspiration.

Creative People Say No

https://medium.com/thoughts-on-creativity/bad7c34842a2

Kevin Ashton

A Hungarian psychology professor once wrote to famous creators asking them to be interviewed for a book he was writing. One of the most interesting things about his project was how many people said “no.”

Management writer Peter Drucker: “One of the secrets of productivity (in which I believe whereas I do not believe in creativity) is to have a VERY BIG waste paper basket to take care of ALL invitations such as yours — productivity in my experience consists of NOT doing anything that helps the work of other people but to spend all one’s time on the work the Good Lord has fitted one to do, and to do well.”

Secretary to novelist Saul Bellow: “Mr Bellow informed me that he remains creative in the second half of life, at least in part, because he does not allow himself to be a part of other people’s ‘studies.’ ”

Photographer Richard Avedon: “Sorry — too little time left.”

Secretary to composer György Ligeti: “He is creative and, because of this, totally overworked. Therefore, the very reason you wish to study his creative process is also the reason why he (unfortunately) does not have time to help you in this study. He would also like to add that he cannot answer your letter personally because he is trying desperately to finish a Violin Concerto which will be premiered in the Fall.”

The professor contacted 275 creative people. A third of them said “no.” Their reason was lack of time. A third said nothing. We can assume their reason for not even saying “no” was also lack of time and possibly lack of a secretary.

Time is the raw material of creation. Wipe away the magic and myth of creating and all that remains is work: the work of becoming expert through study and practice, the work of finding solutions to problems and problems with those solutions, the work of trial and error, the work of thinking and perfecting, the work of creating. Creating consumes. It is all day, every day. It knows neither weekends nor vacations. It is not when we feel like it. It is habit, compulsion, obsession, vocation. The common thread that links creators is how they spend their time. No matter what you read, no matter what they claim, nearly all creators spend nearly all their time on the work of creation. There are few overnight successes and many up-all-night successes.

Saying “no” has more creative power than ideas, insights and talent combined. No guards time, the thread from which we weave our creations. The math of time is simple: you have less than you think and need more than you know. We are not taught to say “no.” We are taught not to say “no.” “No” is rude. “No” is a rebuff, a rebuttal, a minor act of verbal violence. “No” is for drugs and   strangers with candy.

Creators do not ask how much time something takes but how much creation it costs. This interview, this letter, this trip to the movies, this dinner with friends, this party, this last day of summer. How much less will I create unless I say “no?” A sketch? A stanza? A paragraph? An experiment? Twenty lines of code? The answer is always the same: “yes” makes less. We do not have enough time as it is. There are groceries to buy, gas tanks to fill, families to love and day jobs to do.

People who create know this. They know the 

world is all strangers with candy. They know how to say “no” and they know how to suffer the consequences. Charles Dickens, rejecting an invitation from a friend:

“‘It is only half an hour’ — ‘It is only an afternoon’ — ‘It is only an evening,’ people say to me over and over again; but they don’t know that it is impossible to command one’s self sometimes to any stipulated and set disposal of five minutes — or that the mere consciousness of an engagement will sometime worry a whole day … Who ever is devoted to an art must be content to deliver himself wholly up to it, and to find his recompense in it. I am grieved if you suspect me of not wanting to see you, but I can’t help it; I must go in my way whether or no.”

“No” makes us aloof, boring, impolite, unfriendly, selfish, anti-social, uncaring, lonely and an arsenal of other insults. But “no” is the button that keeps us on.

Another way to fine art!

For my love of excellence!!!

Remembering a dream...

i've seen it.
green more vivid than any i've seen in this world
a blue more shiny than blue could be...
the yellow was white and  the white was yellow...

i turned about, and almost left.
it was those rays reaching that beckoned me to look..
to barely see the  path that was hardly there..
just a few blades of grass bent over from the few feet before..
 the cul-de-sac was the end of  tar and gravel.

not sure whose land i was upon,
up from the pavement i walked where i felt like i didn't belong.
i saw...i think...  the place where the sun rests it's feet. 

trust.

"TRUST"
has long been one of my least favorite words in the english language. It is a  con artist cloaked in phonics.  And I imagine the first person to ever utter it  did so with intention. Having already created a  contradictory reputation by action, they now lobbied for the suspension of another's innate and experiential intelligence with the magical plea  of "...trust me." no. I trust by deeds. They are the numbers of my quadratic human equations.  I trust a person by demonstration of self. Not more and not less. It has a negative sound, but is actually quite positive and allows me to be quite accepting.  Rather than suspend intelligence, I suspend prior expectations. And calculate and equate actions as I do numbers.


Math was not my favorite subject growing up, but it was by far where I received the highest marks. In the 5th grade I was placed in middle school math.  In  middle school,  I was skipped to  high school Math. In college, I  considered it as a major.  (Then I decided to minor in physics or astronomy. was disappointed to learn that  there were no minors in such studies...all or nothing.)
So, I instead went for studies that were less study and more doing--the making of words and things. Ink and clay.   hmph.

[ Ink and clay  | oil dye water and dirt.]

So what to do with such a being?
A heart of water. Wet with emotion, intuition---hyper with sensitivity. A mind of iron.  Churning cogs, oiled mechs  with calculations of an industrial site... 

So... who does she trust? 

everyone. 

especially me.

to be exactly as we are. 

[oil dye water and dirt.]

and she humms...
and i wish and i wish and i wish i didn't see like this
and i wish and i wish and i wish i didn't know like this...
and i wish and i wish and i wish I couldn't conclude like this...
this mind this mind this mind of mine this mind this mind this mind of mine this mind this mind this mind of mine this mind this mind this mind this mind.

i walk the path of 1 and 1
i walk the path of 2 and 3
i walk the path of 3 and 5
i walk the path of life after life
i walk the path of 5 and 8
i walk the path of the winding straight
i walk the path of a golden thirteeeeeeennn.
this mind this mind this mind of mine this mind this mind this mind of mine this mind this mind this mind of mine this mind this mind this mind this mind.

Kyoka Suigetsu

Thinking on Freedom and Discipline...

and synchronized movement...

(The burning of the library of Alexandria

the burning of Shaolin library...

Google, rare books..a digital fire. )