tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1210759514036256082.post8665999709918644933..comments2024-03-08T00:12:34.350-08:00Comments on Art and Quilts, cogitations thereon: Taking risksElizabeth Bartonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13928615247903165719noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1210759514036256082.post-87037430979665447652010-01-23T09:40:35.772-08:002010-01-23T09:40:35.772-08:00Elizabeth
Your resolve to take risks is a resolve...Elizabeth<br /><br />Your resolve to take risks is a resolve to be more creative. And I applaud you. It seems to me that it is often the most creative people who are trying to be more creative; the least creative don't bother.<br /><br />Your quote from William Styron,"the pain (of the creative process)comes from the 'extraordinary' risk from 'plunging into unknown territory' not 'really knowing whether you're going to come out alive'", greatly overstates the situation. The risk is not to an artist's life but to an artist's ego. When you try something new and fail you don't die. However, your self esteem can be hurt. You start to wonder if you are really as creative as you thought you were. The result of taking a risk can be devastation or exultation. There is a lot at stake but it's not life itself.<br /><br />Taking risks is key to creativity and Styron is right in saying taking creative risks can be painful. To better understand that pain we need to better understand the nature of motivation.<br /><br />Understood in its simplest, and most naive, terms motivation is about pleasure and pain, about reward and punishment, about the proverbial carrot and stick. We are motivated towards those things that gives us pleasure and away from those that cause us pain. <br /><br />But pleasure and pain can be de-motivators (negative motivators) as well. We often fail to reach our goals because of the pleasure of temptations and the pain of trying to surmount barriers.<br /><br />When we speak of taking risks we are talking about facing barriers and not knowing if we can overcome them or not, not knowing if the result of our efforts will be devastation or exultation.<br /><br />There are barriers that we have faced in the past and overcome. We feel most confident when facing these again. Having overcome them once, chances are we can overcome them again. So the temptation is always to do the same things. But there is little or no creativity in this.<br /><br />New barriers must be overcome if we are to be truly creative.<br /><br />Sometimes we discover, to our delight, that the new barriers are easy to overcome. Sometimes we discover, to our dismay, that they are hard.<br /><br />When the barriers prove difficult whether we carry on or not, whether we remain motivated to reaching our goal, depends on three things. How great are the temptations to do something else? How great are the rewards calling us on? How great is the punishment for failing?<br /><br />Your resolve to take risks and be more creative will at some time bring you face to face with pain. Remember that the barriers you fail to cross don't matter but the one's you cross do.Wayne Kollingerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12011643924846256260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1210759514036256082.post-8338972143289754402010-01-17T18:00:33.335-08:002010-01-17T18:00:33.335-08:00Time on Task is my resolution, staying focused! Al...Time on Task is my resolution, staying focused! Also, in line with risk-taking, is beginning a piece with the best of what I've got, whether or not each detail is decided. i can mess with schemes and plans for days when I know I've already done my best. I've done my homework and just need to BEGIN! Thanks for the encouragement and good example!Jackiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04730298448632087144noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1210759514036256082.post-14019108811750727502010-01-16T06:54:11.656-08:002010-01-16T06:54:11.656-08:00I think to keep the creative juices flowing we hav...I think to keep the creative juices flowing we have to keep pushing our limits... Picasso had it right, about sterility... One becomes like a production line when cranking out the same things over and over...Systematically...<br />(Although some people are happy with that stride...)<br />I gotta keep trying new things... The challenge of learning something new either in sewing, quilting, cooking, or living, keeps life much more interesting...<br />And, Knowing Bridget personally, she just keeps evolving... Amazing stuff.Victoria Findlay Wolfehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09251128530307420200noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1210759514036256082.post-39660247651266565572010-01-16T03:41:02.231-08:002010-01-16T03:41:02.231-08:00Oops - that shoudl be "notice" not motic...Oops - that shoudl be "notice" not motic!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15406590266582855880noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1210759514036256082.post-82704193649035575562010-01-16T03:39:50.877-08:002010-01-16T03:39:50.877-08:00Thank you for that post Elizabeth! My "word&...Thank you for that post Elizabeth! My "word" for 2010 is "experiment" and I see risk taking as a natural progression from there. It will be interesting to see where this year takes both of us! I'll be taking motic of which way you travel.<br /><br />HugzAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15406590266582855880noreply@blogger.com