What’s the ratio of creativity you produce to the creativity of others you consume?
I ask the question to the budding art directors and copywriters I teach in my class on Creative Solutions at Brainco, the Minneapolis School of Advertising.
It’s a question I hate to answer as much as they do.
Steven Pressfield wrote in his wonderful book, The War of Art,
“Most of us have two lives: The life we live and the unlived life within us. Between these two stands Resistance.”
Last night I attended a book launch to celebrate Therese Pautz's new YA novel, Raven Creek.
It was a lovely event on a beautiful fall evening.
It was also a middle finger to Resistance.
Therese is an attorney, a business owner, a mother of two, and an active volunteer. This is her second book. She’s what Pressfield calls a professional; she shows up consistently to do creative work. It’s the only way to defeat Resistance.
It takes a lot of grit and tenacity to pour your creativity into the infinity pools of creative art, culture, and entertainment that others drown in.
Resistance has powerful allies.
Here’s a challenge: Convert an hour a day of creative consumption to creative production.
Or don’t. It’s your life.
Therese Pautz and Bonnie Morris perform a chapter from Raven Creek.