Faith

This video is from the movie Facing the Giants. It is long, but worth watching. I wanted to start the blog post this week with this video, because it captures how I view faith. In the clip from Facing the Giants, the coach pushes one of the leaders on his football team to accomplish something the player thought was impossible. The player thought he might be able to get to the 50 yard line, but because he listened to his coach he went much further. If the player had not been wearing the blindfold he probably would have given up much earlier than  he did. It is easy to feel defeated when you can see all that stands in your way. That is why faith is so important. Believing without seeing can take you so much farther in life. Whenever you hear about a famous person in history or a story about a hero, one of the most common attributes that they had was perseverance. They stayed strong through hard times, hoping and believing that there would be a light at the end of the tunnel. 

When I hear the word faith the first thing that comes to my mind is God. It's the obvious word association choice. However, faith is not limited to believing in God. Don't get me wrong. I think that believing in God is one of the biggest tests of faith. I mean really, we don't get physical proof that we are right until after we die, which means for our whole lives we choose to believe in something that cannot be proven. Scientifically anyway. I see proof of God everyday, but I'm getting off topic. I guess what I am trying to say is that faith does not just pertain to faith in God, but I believe that my faith in God benefits all other aspects of my life. I think that C.S. Lewis said it best (see picture for quote). Through my faith in God, I see everything else. Faith teaches me to trust that even though things don't make sense right now, someday they will. 

This idea of believing when circumstances give no reason to can be carried over to creativity. I think that doubt settles in when we are not given a sign or an answer right away. Everything has to be right now. If we would all take a moment and look back at our pasts, the pasts of our families, or even the pasts of others recorded in history we would see that good things take time. You must believe that the amount of time and effort you put into something will not be for nothing. You have to believe that when you face a problem or a roadblock, there is a reason for it. I recently experienced this in a small way when I was working on creating an online portfolio. I was almost done when the internet went out. I tried saving it but it just kept saying that there was a problem with the connection. So, I let it sit and the next morning I tried to save it again. Luckily the internet was working again, but unfortunately when I went to save my work it asked me to log in again. When I logged in, it erased everything I had done as it refreshed the page. Hours of my time was wasted. I often give the advice to other people that when these sorts of things happen, being frustrated and angry won't change anything. Whether I am furious or apathetic, the truth still remains that I must do it over. I found that when I finished the portfolio the second time it was much nicer. In fact, it made the first one I made look awful. If the internet would not have went down, I would have posted a mediocre portfolio for all to see. Again, the point is that good things take time. I found this quote on Pinterest yesterday and I think it really goes well with what I have been saying. It talks about pushing yourself to be the best you can be and fighting to get where you want to be. You have to work hard, keep you head on straight, and have faith that it will all be worth it.

Formed by Family

“If you look deeply into the palm of your hand, you will see your parents and all generations of your ancestors. All of them are alive in this moment. Each is present in your body. You are the continuation of each of these people.” -- Thich Nhat Hanh

Family is what defines your character. Whether positively or negatively your family has shaped you into the person you are. From generation to generation, traditions and customs have been passed from family to family. You may not have ever met your great great grandparents or even your great grandparents, but their decisions in their lives have impacted yours. This process will always continue to progress as we make decisions that will impact the lives of our kids, grandkids, and so on. Being a part of a family is like being a part of an exclusive club. There are things that you have in common with your family members that no one else may understand. I think one of the most telling examples this is the family portrait. If you google "awkward family photos" some crazy things show up. It makes you wonder what those people were thinking when they all decided to wear 

matching green and red striped outfits or wear ballet uniforms and lay awkwardly on top of each other. They have some common bond that links them together and that is what makes them a family. Your family is the one group of people who you can completely be yourself around because there is a good chance they are just as weird as you are. Your family also gives you a sense of identity. You belong to your family. Whether it becomes apparent through matching leotards or similar personalities, everything you are stems from your interactions with your family.
 
There is also a sense of pride that can be related to family. The family name is something that most people try to respect and uphold. You do not want to embarrass or disgrace your family, so you work hard to be successful so that you can make your family proud. People show their pride in many creative ways. Some people get tattoos in honor of their family members. In a way this represents the permanent commitment that families are formed around. Other people use their family name to promote their business. There are so many companies that are house hold names today that started as a family business. One that sticks out in my mind is Carlo's Bake Shop. This is the bakery that is featured on TLC's Cake Boss. The bakery is family owned and it is often comical to see how they work together. Buddy, the main baker, took on this business after the passing of his father. He carried on the tradition and has now made their family name famous.
On the TV show, you constantly see the family working together, bouncing ideas off of one another, joking around, and creating amazing cakes and other baked goods together. The creativity that they have stems from the relationships that they have with each other. The whole family works together to constantly create a product that would have made their father proud. There is an old story that talks about how family traditions are formed. It goes something like this: 

 One holiday as a little girl watched her mom cut off the ends of the roast before putting it in the oven, she asked curiously why her mother always cut off the ends of the roast. Her mother replied that her mother had always cut the ends off. When the little girl's grandma arrived for the holiday meal, she asked her as well why she cut the ends off of the roast. Her grandma replied that her mother had always cut off the ends. Finally, when the little girl's great grandmother arrived, she asked her why she always cut the ends off the roast. The great grandmother replied that that was the only way the roast would fit in the pan at the time. 
Many traditions are formed in the same way. Whether we realize it or not some of our actions are a result of the actions of those who came before us. Our connections and ties that we have to our family are so numerous that we may not even realize most of them. As I started thinking about my own family and how they have impacted me creatively, I realized that I too am a result of all my family members. 

I have my mom's creative eye. I notice details and I really enjoy making things look esthetically pleasing. She loves to create and design everyday things. She is always coming up with creative ways to decorate our house.When I am feeling burnt out or out of creative ideas I talk to her and she helps me start thinking creatively again. I also realized that I get my humor from my dad. There are times that we start laughing at something that no one else thinks is funny. He also gives me my love of all things weird. Most importantly, it is from my dad that I have gained my confidence and the respect I have for myself. He has taught me to be the woman I am today. Aside from my parents, my brother has helped shape my competitive spirit. I always want to beat him at everything. Who doesn't have some sibling rivalry? It is from him that I have found my drive to succeed. All of these elements from my family mesh together to make me the person I am. My creative thinking process is directly affected by them and that is what makes the way I do my design work unique. Every artist or designer is creates differently because they all come from different families and backgrounds. It is through family that creative minds are formed. 

Feel free to be yourself.

When I think of freedom, my first thought is the cliche "America land of the free, home of the brave". I don't care much for politics, so I started to think of other associations I could make to the word freedom. Immediately, I started thinking about creative freedom and what it means to be free creatively. When I started to dive into what I think it means to be creatively free, I also started to think about what it means to not have that creative freedom. Our society today is preoccupied with conformity. There is pressure to look a certain way, think a certain way, and act a certain way. It is truly rare to find someone who is free of this conformity, if there are any people free of it at all. Because of this pressure to conform, our creativity can sometimes be hindered. I found a really good quote that talks about breaking free of the chains of conformity. It says:

"The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion." --Albert Camus

After reading this quote, I began to wonder what it would be like if I really did live that way. It made me wonder why I conform to what society wants me to be. I found a video on youtube that humorously displays what we look like when we blindly conform.

The people in the video that are not in on the gag are being mocked for their refusal to question what is going on around them. After seeing this, I do not want to live in conformity any longer. In Michalko's Thinkertoys book he talks about asking the question "what if?" It is kind of ironic, because just recently my boyfriend and I had begun to start playing a "what if?" game at dinner. Most of the time the question is something like "What if someone paid you 5,000,000 to live in Mordor for a year. Would you do it?" It is always a dreadful place and a large sum of money. I always say no until he throws in something like "But what if you could cure cancer if you did it?" Then I feel obligated to say that I would do it, but only for that reason. It wasn't until reading the chapter about asking "what if?" questions in the Thinkertoys book, that I realized how much creativity and imagination are put into playing our little game. After thinking about this, I googled the word imagination. I found this picture which made me realize a few things.

First off, I love this picture. Secondly, it made me realize how much we lose our imaginations when we grow up. Kids come up with the most imaginative and crazy ideas because when you are that young you don't care what other people think. You are free to be whatever you want and are often encouraged to do so. Why does this have to change as we grow older? I think that it would be amazing if adults would start asking the question "what if?" and used their imaginations on a daily basis.

All of these thoughts tie into my view on creativity. After really thinking about it, I realized that I do not want to be confined to what society tells me to be. Often times when I am designing something I look at other people's work for inspiration. Sometimes I start to feel like my work is too different or not good enough. After thinking about creative freedom, I realize that the best thing about my work is that it is MINE. If I get hired somewhere or someone buys a logo from me it is because of my creativity. Not because I am like everyone else. This freedom to be myself is a privileged and it would be a shame to let it go to waste. So, from now on I am going to try to focus on cultivating my own creativity that is unique to my style, not society's. I found this last picture when googling the word freedom.

This picture is the epitome of what I think it is to be free. Not a care in the world about what society thinks. Free to be myself. Free to have my own creative thoughts. Free to design and create things in my own unique style. Creative freedom gives you the right use your imagination and follow your dreams not the chains of conformity.

Nature As Art

"Nature is a revelation of God; Art is a revelation of man."

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The Connection

For as long as I can remember, I have been inspired by nature. There is just something about being in the 'great outdoors' that has always made me feel more alive. Now, that I am

interested in graphic design, nature has an even bigger impact on me. I made a connection not so long ago that has really made me look at nature and God in a different way. I have always thought nature was beautiful, but that was all the thought I really put into it. Then, one day it hit me... Nature is like God's canvas. God is the most magnificent designer that ever was. From that point forward, I have seen nature as art. Changing my perspective has transformed my creative mind. Now, when I see a beautiful sunset I see the colors and shapes that make up the artwork. Seeing nature as artwork is teaching me a few things that I think will help my creativity.

It's All in the Details

One thing I have discovered I am learning from God through nature is to pay attention to detail. Sometimes it's easy when I am in a rush to not make every last piece of a design perfect. I cut corners and make sure that all the pieces of my design fit just right. But then I saw this picture of snowflakes and the detail of each snowflake caught me by surprise. Usually when you see snow you think of how pretty it is when it covers trees or other things like that. It is not necessary really for it to be so beautiful up close. But it is. And because of that it is beyond amazing. This made me realize that paying close attention to detail in my designs can put me a step ahead of other graphic designers. It can take my designs from mediocre to something that deserves appreciation.

Variety Is Key

Another part of nature that really inspires me is the variety. There are so many different climates, seasons, animals, plants, etc. God could have created a world that was basic and boring, but he didn't. There are places that experience hot, tropical weather and there are places that experience snow and ice instead. When I was browsing through pictures of landscapes one caught my eye. It was taken after a sandstorm in Africa. It made me think about how different it must be to live there, and at the same time how amazing it is that there is a place so completely opposite of where I live. Seeing the amount of variety in nature shows that God is not just skilled in one form of art. This makes me want to continue to learn more about design so that I can be multifaceted as well. Being able to create a plethora of different things will certainly help me in my career someday.

The Endless Sky

The thing that probably inspires me most about nature is the endless sky. I love the sun, the moon, the clouds, and the stars. The sky is probably my favorite part of nature. It's so vast and beautiful and it makes me feel so small. The sky gives me perspective as to how insignificant my problems are. It is easy for me to have a one track mind and zone in on things that are less than perfect. But when I take a moment to look at the sky, I remember that there are bigger things at play. One of my favorite photography ideas that I have ever seen is star trails. I don't remember

the first time I saw a star trails picture, but it is still one of the most fascinating pictures I've ever seen. I think it is the epitome of a picture that captures how big the world is. This helps with my designing because it gives me perspective. It shows me that no matter how many times I hit a roadblock or I screw something up, I can overcome the problems I face because they are so small in comparison.

I think that making the connection from nature to God as an artist has really helped me open my creative mind. Whenever I see something I think is really beautiful I analyze it so that I can learn from it. Like I said before, God is the most talented artist that has ever existed, so I look forward to continually learning from His beautiful artwork.

Creating New From Old

Chapter 6 of Michako's Thinkertoys talks about examining parts of a problem instead of trying to fix the problem in its entirety. One thing I really grasped from this chapter was how examining specific parts of a(n) project, object, or problem can help you come up with a creative solution that you might not have come to otherwise. One thing that I think can come out of this exercise is finding new functions or uses for objects that may no longer serve their original purpose. The book talks about analyzing the attributes of the object and then trying to improve each attribute. I think that seeing how an object can be otherwise used is a great way to challenge your creative mind and help you think outside the box the next time you run into a problem.

One place that I have seen this done numerous times is on Pinterest.
People come up with some crazy, creative uses for old things you might have lying around the house. There are also a lot of ideas that combine ordinary things to come up with something really creative. Seeing these DIY (Do It Yourself) ideas for fashion, food, crafts, ect. inspire me to make new creations out of the things I have lying around. It makes me realize that if I look at something in a new way and I analyze the attributes of an object, I could come up with something really creative.

Here are some examples of things I saw on Pinterest that has inspired me to look at things in a new way:

Source: gigglesgalorenmore.blogspot.com via Alida on Pinterest

Turning old tissue boxes and egg cartons into Valentine's Day boxes for kids.

Source: fab.com via Chelsea on Pinterest

Turning an a light bulb into a creatively unique fish bowl.

Source: lakelandlocal.com via Christina on Pinterest

Turning an old t-shirt into a new fringe scarf.

These examples have inspired me to look at problems that I face with new eyes. Even ordinary objects like tissue boxes, light bulbs, and old t-shirts can be made into something creative. The ability to be creative comes when you are willing to train your mind to think outside of the box.