Improvisation in Life and the Arts: What I learned from Free Play by Stephen Nachmanovitch
Can you be an artist while you're washing the dishes? In this article I share some of my learning and impressions from a chapter of the exceptional book, "Free Play", by Stephen Nachmanovitch. This subtitle of this book, "The Power of Improvisation in Life and the Arts", speaks of bringing the improvising we do as creative artists into our daily routines and interactions. The chapter we'll be discussing is titled, "Inspiration and Time's Flow". At the end of the article I'll provide some in-depth questions to help you explore this topic further. In "Inspiration and Time's Flow", Nachmanovitch challenges us to experience free play and creativity in our "ordinary" activities. He states the ideal existence as one of nonstop flow, and he quotes Balinese philosophy that "We have no art. Everything we do is art." Here are 10 key points of learning from this chapter: 1. Conversation is a form of improvisation. The sentences we create may never be heard again. This is a delicious reminder that anyone is capable of improvisation in life and art. 2. In creating a work of art, there are two kinds of time ? the flash of inspiration and the labour of capturing that in a form that can be shared with others. Performance introduces a third kind of time. It's so helpful to distinguish between these times because often when someone is struggling with their art it's with only one of these three (at a time). Artists can suffer from negative and distorted thinking which can convince us our creativity is in trouble, when really it's just one aspect of the creative process that has us temporarily stumped. 3. Improvisation exists in ONE time and outside of time. Everything happens at once; those rare and beautiful moments of being in the flow. Virtually all of the 19 creative artists I talked with for my Creativity Interviews book mentioned this state of flow. It seems like one of the main things keeping us in this sometimes difficult world of the arts ? that glimpse of "flow" that we've all seen, some more than others. 4. Our aim is to improvise in our common day-to-day activities, without being attached to their outcome, "because the doing is it's own outcome". So often we think our job is to make things turn out a certain way, to control our own fate and to keep everything together. When we let go of that job and just concentrate on doing what's in front of us, we enjoy a freedom and enjoyment of our everyday tasks that can't be possible when we're focused on the future and how things might turn out. 5. Improvisation in day-to-day life means having heightened awareness, tapping into intuition and opening yourself to fate's will. 6. The teacher's art is to connect the living body of knowledge with the living bodies of the students in the room. 7. Scripts (a predetermined set of actions) are appropriate sometimes, and are a part of being committed and responsible i.e. to perform a concert when you said you would. 8. Once you've learned techniques or craft, it's essential to let them go and just relate to what's in front of you. Create through your technique and not with it. 9. Improvisation entails surrendering to the unknown. 10. Each moment is precious and can't be preserved, even though we tend to want to preserve what we create. If you'd like to explore these ideas of "creative flow" and "everyday improvisation", spend some time answering the following questions. 1. When have you experienced "being in the flow" in your art or in your day-to-day life? 2. What precipitated that state? What helped you stay in it? What brought you out of it? 3. How do you best learn from a teacher? What have you noticed about learning based on a syllabus versus having the learning customized to your needs? 4. Where in your life is improvising not an option? When do you find it necessary to stick with a schedule or outside structure? 5. What do you think of when you imagine "surrendering to the unknown"? 6. What's been your experience in the different "times" of creativity? The flash of inspiration, the creation into form and the performance? 7. Which are the underlying techniques that you're grounded in (have learned so deeply that they're internalized), and that you need to "forget" when it's time to improvise? 8. What creative moment in your life do you most wish you had a record of? So, can you be an artist while you're washing the dishes? Watch your hands dance through the bubbles, watch the graceful movements of your arms, see the shining surfaces appear before your eyes, watch the precision as you stack your finished products, and notice how time both seems to stand still and pass effortlessly as you lose yourself in your task. I think you can. This article was originally published on the Muses Muse Songwriter's Resource website (April 2005) http://www.musesmuse.com (c) Linda Dessau, 2005. All rights reserved. Linda Dessau, the Self-Care Coach, helps artists enhance their creativity by addressing their unique self-care issues. Feel like your creativity is blocked? Sign-up for your complimentary copy of the popular e-course, "Roadblocks to Creativity" by visiting http://www.genuinecoaching.com
Related News
|
 |
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Are You Inventive Enough to be an Inventor? Some Guidelines to Invention Success!
Inventors make a ton of money when the invention is needed and when the process is done properly. There are different types of inventions. Some inventions are more practical, making the everyday lives of individuals easier (pens for example), some inventions are simply for entertainment purposes (television), and some inventions are multi-purpose (educational devices that are also entertaining). In addition, some inventions are simply answers to medical problems, as in prosthetic devices while others are simply "improvements" made to existing inventions. As you can see, inventing something successfully can be done in many styles and through many creative pathways.
Finding A Little Adventure
I have had more than my share of exciting times and I'm grateful for every one of them.
New Inventions - From Absurd to Wacky!
New inventions? Heard of a revolving restaurant combination television tower? How about color x-ray pictures? Or heard of a new invention that turns the sea's salt water drinkable? These are wacky new inventions not having been fully used!
Attraction: What We Attract With Our Creative Choices
I used to be a jazz singer. Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, they were wonderful and I strived to sing like they did. But no one impressed me as much as Billie Holiday. The tragedy and the talent meshed together into a musical offering unlike any I'd heard. I was inexplicably drawn to the drama and the heartache.
Our Limitless Quantum Reality
Modern science tells us that on a sub-atomic level -- nothing is solid. That the entire universe is really one big web of vibrating "energy stew."
Top Ten Reasons To Start Creativity Coaching
DEVELOP YOUR ARTISTIC CONFIDENCE I'd really like to write but I don't have enough time. Creativity coaching can give you back control over your calendar.
Self-Care for Creative Artists: 5 Ways to Start Today
Self-care is the path to creative expression. By paying closer attention to your self-care, you can have easier access to your creativity, to your muse and to your inner strength and resilience. You'll also have more energy, more tolerance for others and yourself and more confidence in your work.
Be Creative: 10 Easy Steps To Increase Your Confidence, Creativity and Cash In The Attention Economy
How can you be more creative? How can you turn creative ideas into cash. Want to be better at creative thinking?
Creativity Stereotypes ? Are They Holding You Back?
Here's a quick quiz:
Creating and Living Your Ideal Legacy
A legacy is more than a gift that lives on after you. Certainly, a legacy is a contribution to humanity. A legacy provides value to future generations. However, if you are creating your ideal legacy, it will also make your heart bubble with passion and excitement today!
Connect with Your Muse
Lately I've been discussing how to thrive as a creative artist by connecting with different things. I thought it might be helpful to begin this article with some distinctions.
The Power Of Your Intuition
We all have enormous reserves of mental capacity that we habitually fail to use. There is no problem that we cannot solve, no obstacle we cannot overcome, and no goal we cannot achieve when we learn to use the incredible power of our mind to its full capacity. When we us the power of our mind to it's fullest our creative capacity is unlimited.
Creativity Management ? The Value Of An Idea?
Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation.
Story and Screenplay Structure
Structure is beneficial to creative output in a number of ways. There are at least two types of structure, work processes and frameworks:
Five Basic Steps to Benefit from Your Creativity
The ability to exercise your creativity is even more important for you than you probably think. Why? First, your creativity tremendously contributes to your self-actualization, which is essential for you to feel satisfied with your life and be happy. Second, it is exceedingly important for being successful in building relationships and earning money.
3 Simple Steps To Solving Problems
You can move beyond your stuck states by contemplating all the possible consequences of your own particular situation.
Innovation: Wake Up Your People?s Creative Genius
Successful companies have innovation in their blood. The single most important element in an innovative company is the creativity of their people. Creative thinkers don't win by conforming to a given set of rules. Rather they reinvent the game by asking the 20 challenging questions and following 20 breakthrough strategies.
Creativity Myths
Sustained myths about Creativity and Innovation lead to confusion, bad practice and bad decision making. Some of them include:
Its Time to Get Out of the Box
"It is never too late to be what you might have been. "(George Eliot)
How To Let The Subconscious Mind Do The Creative Work
From time immemorial mankind has wished for an Aladin's lamp,
which would make wisheds come true.
|
