01 BEGINNERâS MIND
Beginning is every day.
02 REDUCE THE FRAME
Noticing is an active feeling.
03 IDEA MUTATES
Creativity = doing.
04 FAILS, SUCCESSES
Action involves experiment.
My philosophy is that beginning is every day; beginning is life. We are always beginning. Therefore, you can consciously integrate a small amount of beginning into every action, every project.
Here is the first part of the book â itâs about beginning.
Simply put: how can you start?
Itâs easy to become overwhelmed by the fear of beginning. You can get caught up in what you donât have â the perfect studio, the ideal computer, the right job. None of these are present, so you believe that you canât start.
This is usually a defence; perhaps unconsciously you donât really want to begin, so you find fault with the environment and push your anxiety onto that element.
Be careful. Starting is difficult. It demands rigour â it needs direction from you.
However, there are strategies that you can use to overcome this anxiety of starting.
My philosophy is that beginning is every day; beginning is life. We are always beginning. Therefore, you can consciously integrate a small amount of beginning into every action, every project.
In this way, you donât give the feeling of anxiety too much power; you make it a daily action, important, but not overwhelming.
Integrate continuous failure and continuous success into your creativity, so that these elements come to you like waves; they flow through you.
With these methods you can address the fears of beginning while remaining centred, dynamic.
Always, in this book, I will bring the idea back to you. What do you want, think, feel, believe? Therefore, when we look at beginning, we must also discuss what is stopping you from starting.
BEGINNERâS MIND
To help me address the anxiety of starting, I often return to the Zen Buddhist idea of âbeginnerâs mindâ â everything is beginning. You begin every day, every moment. You begin when you breathe, when you inhale and exhale.
In âbeginnerâs mindâ there is possibility, openness, curiosity: all qualities that are useful for an exploration of creativity.
When I remember this simple fact, I return to materiality, to the page. I realise itâs just words on the paper â not finished thoughts or polished rhetoric, but simply beginning with what I have with me right now.
We all feel blocked; itâs a normal condition of creativity. Everyone feels that they are dealing with difficulty â itâs part of the to and fro of being creative.
If you are stuck with your creativity, try the following exercise, which translates Zen âbeginnerâs mindâ into something physical.
Why does this exercise work?
It succeeds because it limits your output to something small and achievable â your breath. It doesn...