Liquid Imagination

What Do Cameras Look Like in Heaven?

by Creativity Coach Dare Kent

The brain is an awesome piece of machinery. It lets you drive to work and review the things that need to be done at the same time. And then in the middle of all that you can have a brilliant moment of inspiration.

Where does inspiration come from? I don't know. And I don't want to know. Part of the great mystery of life is where those little nuggets of creative gold from. Its magic and I like it that way.

Think Kaizen

Kaizen is a Japanese word that means small improvements over time. There is in essence two ways to succeed. Innovation – a big leap forward, or small improvements over time.

Innovation looks like a big step; however it is often the product of many small steps. Such as, gaining knowledge, experimenting to see what works and what doesn't, exchanging ideas with other people in the field, and being open to inspiration that exits all around us. And then in a stunning moment of clarity, the clouds move and the answer is there.

Sometimes the answer comes to a person in a dream. This person is not some newbie entering the ring for the first time, they are a veteran having stepped into the fight many, many times, and now when they sleep they can access their unconscious and see the answer. Innovation comes to the persistent, to the person who is open to possibilities, to someone who understands the significance of the answer that popped into their head or dream.

We all want to win the gold medal, to be the genius, to be the belle of the ball. It's been suggested that you can be a genius at anything as long as you spend 10,000 hours at it. Genius isn't so much about talent, it's more about persistent. If you want to succeed keep at it, keep practicing, and keep experimenting.

Over and over as a Coach I hear about the power of small, small movements forward to make things happen. Small is great, because small gets you there without overwhelming you, or making you create perfection on the first try.

I like to make house designs; maybe I'll even get to build one someday. When I sit down to create my masterpiece I don't succeed on the first try. I have to try the kitchen here and the living room there, and then erase it, and move it someplace else. The changes at first are big. And then as I get happier with the design and the placement of the big stuff I start focusing on smaller design details getting them right.

Creating anything is like that. You figure out how to do the big actions first. And once you can do that, you move on and fix the smaller actions. You learn to walk and then you learn to dance. Of course the creativity process isn't quite that smooth, you can go from big to small to big and back to small again as you sort out what works.

Questions Lead to Unexpected Places

The brain cannot reject a question. If you ask a question the brain goes looking for an answer. The answer might not come to you right away. If you keep at it though, and keep asking the question an answer will appear. And if you don't like the first answer keep asking the question and another answer will appear.

Next time, for fun, when you ask a question reject the first answer. The first answer is usually the one you are conditioned and taught to find. The first answer is often the answer of your habits. So if you discard the first answer and keep looking you may find a better answer.

Or you can brainstorm and come up with a bunch of answers. What's cool about brainstorming is you don't normally find the answer in one option. Often you combine a tenth of one option, with a quarter of another option, and you keep adding and subtracting parts of the options until you find a blended answer that meets your needs.

The question that starts this article came to me after my mother passed away. I was wondering what the afterlife looked like and how my Mom would take pictures in Heaven. (My Mom loves to take pictures and wherever she is now, she is most likely taking a picture.) That led to a bunch of other questions: What does the camera look like? How do you process film up there? Where do you show your pictures? Is there a soul camera?

These questions are different and answering them, even if it's only in my imagination may lead to some intriguing ideas. And these ideas might lead to a new story, or picture, or solution. You need to be willing to ask small questions, even odd questions and see where they take you. They may lead to a road to nowhere and sometimes, sometimes they lead to a place of wonder, inspiration and innovation.

Questions Require Bravery

It's easy to access the status quo. It's easy to follow the crowd. It's easy when you do what you are expected to do – go to work, watch TV, and spend money on stuff you don't really need. That's the easy life.

Creativity requires bravery, the courage to move forward and risk failure, the courage to keep trying when the answer can't be found. Questions have changed the world. The small questions that led to a big answer: What if the world isn't flat? What if men and women are equal? What if I create a comic book about a guy who wears blue tights and leaps over buildings in a single bound?

Many questions and their answers seem crazy at first. Don't let crazy scare you off. Crazy might be good. Crazy might lead to a new solution, or direction, or idea. Take a moment to step back and contemplate your crazy answer may lead to a wildly successful outcome. You just have to be willing to consider that crazy isn't always crazy.

Ask a Better Question

Take some time to figure out what you want so you can ask a better question. I find it amusing that Google says its motto is "don't be evil", because how you define evil will determine whether they are evil are not.

Google doesn't think its evil; Google thinks it's a good corporate citizen. Many people consider Google evil because of the way it treats data, especially data that many people consider private. Using the word evil has you thinking about evil. What if Google had decided its motto was, "do good"? Would that have changed their perspective? Would that have led to different business practices?

If you ask yourself why you are a loser your brain will come up with an answer. (And right at this moment, I don't like the answers my brain is giving me.) If I change the question though and ask what makes me successful, I get a different set of answers. Although in essence I'm asking the same question, just using a different perspective.

Ask a question and you will get an answer. Ask a better question and you will get a better answer and one that may motivate you. When I ask myself the loser question I don't want to do anything with the answers because they depress me. When I ask the success question I am motivated to apply the answer.

Ask Many Questions

Asking one question will lead to one type of answer. Ask a different question about the same issue and you will get a different answer. You want to ask many questions because when you change the question you change the answer.

One of the things that help people spark creativity is to change the perspective. One time I was working with a client who was making a film and they were stuck moving forward. I asked them who their favorite director was and the client answered, "Alfred Hitchcock". I asked the client to pretend they were Alfred Hitchcock and how would he move forward if facing the situation the client was experiencing.

This change in perspective got the client out of stuck and into the possible. That's what changing perspective does; it gives a different view of the situation. You can achieve different perspectives by asking many questions.

Questions = Power

Questions and their answers open up solutions and possibilities. As a creative person there will be moments when you feel lost, afraid, and stuck. This is a normal part of the creative process. One way to move forward is to ask questions, all types of questions, so you get a bunch of possible answers.

You can contemplate the answers, play with the answers, add and subtract from the answers. You can consider many possibilities until you find the solution that works for you, for this situation. Questions allow you to craft a solution.

Questions give you power. They give you power because they give you answers, they give you perspective, and they give you hope. Questions belong to people who changed the world, who dared to consider the impossible and the crazy, who found a different and better way.

Be brave -> ask questions!

Coach Dare
Create success with a coach!
Right Brain Coach

BIO:

Coach Dare is a Right Brain Coach that helps you find fulfillment, meaning and purpose through creativity. Whether it be with individual creative projects or entrepreneurs with their small businesses. Her heart's mission is to support, celebrate and contribute. Support you to be successful, celebrate the steps forward, and contribute her knowledge so you may reach your dream, goal or intention. She started her creative passion as a storyteller and screenwriter and discovered along the way that supporting others to be successful brought joy and meaning into her life. What attracts her to the creative community is that we are willing to work and play together to create success for you, for me, and for us. Everyone is welcomed!

Support, Celebrate, Contribute
Dare
Certified Creativity Coach

Site: RightBrainCoach.com
Toll Free: 1-877-ART-VIBE (1-877-278-8423)
Hire Coach Dare for Art Vibe repair!

What Do Cameras Look Like in Heaven? by Creativity Coach Dare Kent