Five of My Favorite Things #2
For inspiring creativity
Welcome back to this special column, where I share five people, writings, quotations, and art, etc. that inspire me to write and create. I hope they do the same for you and that you’ll also share your own sources of inspiration in the Comments section!
A podcast
The Spark File is an extraordinary podcast by creativity coaches Susan Blackwell and Laura Camien, who bring their years of experience in theater, writing, arts marketing, and so much more. They also bring their unabashed curiosity about the creative practices of heavy hitters through interviews with Lin-Manuel Miranda, Julianne Moore, Zachary Quinto, and many others, and deep dives into creativity theories with people like moi! And if you want to join one of their unique (and uniquely inspiring) creativity groups, I can tell you that doing so got me through that first tough covid year and directly led to the creation of this newsletter and plans for upcoming writing workshops and coaching.
A teacher
The best and most influential teacher I ever had, my high school French teacher, Madame Bilsky, recently died. I want to shine a light on her here and on the way a teacher can live on through the lifelong influence she has on her students. I think of Mme’s unorthodox teaching and outfits (pigtails! Pappagallo shoes!) as performance art, and I believe she’d enjoy that description because she was a true lover of the arts, and she passed this love to her students. Her passion for all things French went far beyond the language, extending to French culture, ballet, and theater. For French Club nerds like my friends and me (some of whom, surprisingly, actually took Spanish or German), the trips to Lincoln Center with Mme were among our most precious memories. I hope each of you got to have a teacher who similarly opened up your mind and heart to the arts.
An album
When I think of the perfect album, this is the one: Stevie Wonder’s Songs in the Key of Life (1976). From the romance of “Knocks Me Off My Feet” to the exuberance of “Sir Duke” to the wake-up call of “Village Ghetto Land” to the bliss of “Isn’t She Lovely,” it’s astounding for its range and depth and feeling and musical breakthroughs. If you’ve never listened all the way through or haven’t done so in years, do yourself a favor and set aside time to take in its brilliance without distractions. In my Creativity class, we talk about whether creative geniuses truly exist, whether they’re born or made or both, and all those great liberal artsy discussions that I love. I can tell you this much: if creative geniuses do exist, I believe Stevie Wonder is one. And the very presence of such genius can inspire the rest of us to keep pushing, keep striving in our own creative pursuits.
A TED talk
You know her, you love her from her “freakish success” (her words) of a memoir, Eat Pray Love, and perhaps from her wonderful creativity book, Big Magic (especially good on audio). But, for me, her TED Talk, “Your Elusive Creative Genius,” is my favorite creation of hers and a perpetual TED audience favorite. Gilbert’s plea to us to acknowledge that the source of creativity is mysterious and perhaps even divine while also accepting that creative work is just that—work—is one I find worth revisiting whenever I find myself waiting around for inspiration rather than just digging in.
The ocean
Constant, yet constantly changing. Still to wavy, navy to aqua, sandbar hidden to sandbar revealed, angry to peaceful. The poets can describe it better, but, for me, the ocean’s creative inspiration is endless.
What moves you to write/create? If you’d like, please share a source of inspiration for you. And thank you, as always, for being part of this growing writers’ community!
A deadline ;-)
Music for sure. Sometimes it’s the tune, others the lyrics, but when both are exceptional it becomes inspiration magic. Marry that with a great view-- the ocean definitely-- perhaps overlooking city lights.
It gives one a sense of possibility of all that may be taking place in the buildings twinkling in the distance. How many lives are changing drastically as I view the lights from on high. How many people are discovering important things in their lives and about themselves. And most definitely, how many people at that instant are finding love and thereby changing the world for the better. Lots of places for the imagination to explore.