[RANT] CREATIVE PRIDE

2009-06-03

Black people have black pride. Gay people have gay pride. Heck, even autistic people have autistic pride (which happens to be on my birthday). So people who are black, gay, and autistic AND creative should have CREATIVE PRIDE.

Being creative — making wonderful stuff for fellow humans (and pets) to enjoy — is being alive, really living. Your friends may be too shy — they may not understand! (Familiar story.) Even though they (and you) call them your friends, they may be afraid to express themselves artistically. Secret hopes & dreams. Perhaps you'll set an example and inspire them to action, I hope you will. Otherwise, you'll be hampered, and you'll need new friends to grow with.

It's OK to say goodbye.

It's unjust how creativity is laden with so many negative slurs! To be "eccentric" usually carries an air of being kooky or peculiar, rather than, "LOOK AT THIS MAN/WOMAN/OTHER HERE, HE/SHE/IT IS REALLY LIVING! TAKING A RISK! AND NOT IN A CLICHÉD WAY!"

Make YouTube videos? Post any kind of content to the world at large? Got lame comments? Hey, I do. I have. Let's be thankful at least they took time from their life to talk about you. You don't bash something without secretly agreeing to yourself that it's worth the time & energy to.

Being creative + unstable is one of those conjoined Siamese-twinned personality pairs, like being a comedian + booze/drug addict. Making people laugh in new ways is creative, self-destroying yourself is not (otherwise, insert wasteful pedantic philosophy here, blahblahblah words).

Creativity, at its core, is Heisenbergian.

The more you try to find out where it's going, the less likely you know how how fast it's traveling — whether that's away or towards you. This is why I wrestle with blog posts, why I struggle to find the words to say, only to realize that often, I need to invent new words — but by the time I spread their meaning, their manifestation will have outgrown the mere scribbly context they were birthed between the linguistic thighs of.

It's easy to call someone creative "crazy". Wait — you thought I was going to say "it takes courage to be creative"? That's true, but I'll go further: once you learn to continually overcome the naysayers and self-doubters whose inner guilt is blocking them from their own creativity, it's even easier to be creative.

So, celebrate it. Yourself. So you can enrich your existence. CREATIVE PRIDE.

{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }

Alexis 2009-06-03 at 9:06 PM UTC

Hey there, Torley

Warning: This comment will be off-topic. I apologize.

Well, I listened/watched the video of you synth improvising (the one still on the front page) and I'm still very impressed by it. It's nature; its character; its emotion. It almost has that rushing feelings of excitement that makes it hard to decide whether you should be in awe or dance; perhaps comparable to what you feel when you listen to Rydeen.

Anywhoo, I graduated from high school today. June 3rd to be specific because our time zones are different. It's probably really irrelevant or unimportant to you, but for some reason I feel that this rite of passage, or inauguration, to the real world, is of some significance because I think that this monumental event might of been of some significance to you, if not, a similar event, if not, you can comprehend it. I'm not really sure where I'm getting at, but I just think that somehow you might say something interesting to say because of the level of comprehension you possess of life (physical, mental, and metaphysical) and of life changing experiences.

I'm not demanding your words of wisdom or opinion, or even a simple response. I just felt like letting you know because of how much that improv really impacted me in a creative aspect (and all your previous works rushed into my head at the time, too) as graduation impacted me in all aspects in life, which your music has done, and continues to do.

Perhaps it's a little cheap that I only talk about your music, but that's because music is at the very epicenter of my life. So far there are three very strong mediums in which we may connect: Music, SecondLife, and your personal life that you express freely on the internet. Since I don't have a computer that can handle SecondLife, I use your music as a way of understanding you, in a sense, interact with you as a person. I could try to be more casual like a real life person, or friend. Also the way you go about exhibiting your creativeness: rants, improv, dancing, reciting, your very character is charming when you're displaying your creative bubble. I find that speaks to me more than the notes and chord progressions your cook up. I guess that might be a little weirder, but I like it that way.

Perhaps now I'll be able to more actively read your blogs and become more of a casual person and be less motivated to speak out because your music, and more motivated by just you.

I hope that I may inspire, motivate, and catalyst a realization in you someday as you done to me.

Best wishes,
Your ally in the fight against unhappiness,

Alexis Manual Monsivaiz
(PS: Yes, that is a unusual name for a male ha ha)
(PPS: That's pronounced like "moan – see – vice" ha ha ha)

~Ciao

Alexis 2009-06-03 at 9:11 PM UTC

PPPS: I apologize for the minor grammar/spelling errors and at parts that I might jump subjects. I wasn't paying attention when I was expressing myself and I might of gotten a little incoherent ha ha. It's very common from me 8P

Lorimae Undercroft 2009-06-03 at 10:42 PM UTC

Yeah! Creativity! :)

I get a lot of strange comments both in RL and on the internet from people. I get strange looks from people even sometimes when I'm carrying around or wearing something I've made. I've even had some people have the nerve to tell me I need to be medicated because I'm, in their opinion, "overly creative". Puhhhlease, that's just silly, there is no such thing! I pity those kind of people because they aren't creative enough to appreciate the world around them. What kind of cat crap life is that to be that uncreative? Pretty crappy I'd think. I could not live if I wasn't creative. Creativity saved my life, I'd say.

I do loads of creative projects to keep busy and SL is just a great extension of that for days I am too ill to embroider, crochet, paint, sculpt, blah blah blah whatever else I find to do. I finally worked up the nerve to try making YouTube videos again, so that's been fun this week. I've been reading up on your machinima wiki page too! I had no idea that's what it was called, I always just sort of.. played with fraps and stuff.. but it's been a couple years according to the files on my drive haha. Just did my first SL video this week yay! :) Thanks for putting all that info out. Yay for more creative avenues! I have more creativity than I can fit into a day usually, got to schedule things haha

I think that people who diss on creativity are just jealous of how boss creative people are. We're totally boss, btw. I've been called all sorts of names all my life for my creativity. Crazy, nutty, weird, silly, mental, eccentric, and the list goes on. Not always are they meant in a hurtful manner though, but sometimes.. and those are just silly people who are very boring, so they don't really matter anyway.

I know I'm quite a bit different compared to most people I know, but I'm okay with it. I'm just different, it's hard to just be me sometimes still, but I'm working on it :) I figure my real friends like me even though I'm odd, and the rest of the people who think I'm nuts can go find some serious friends to be uncreative with haha.

*high fives Torley* (and Rav too)

P.S. Watermelons were on sale this week at the grocery store, I thought of you and Rav as I picked one out haha They even had them cute little "personal watermelons" those crack me up. They're more expensive than a big one! It's a scam, dude! Don't fall for it!

Torley 2009-06-06 at 9:45 PM UTC

@Alexis You've got a great name that initials fantastically, AMM! I really appreciate you sharing all this with me — around the time I graduated high school, I wrote to some people who really influenced me positively to let them know.

I was reading a music magazine and there was a mention of how a previous generation's electronic music pioneers, Spooky, had inspired Ulrich Schnauss to put his own tunes forth. That's pretty powerful that all goodness isn't necessarily attributable to one work of art like that, but it's definitely a stepping stone — perhaps to extend the analogy further, a fulcrum that helps that stone tip to the other side. So thank you, and thank you. Keep speaking up and doing the things that you care about in life, and I hope you amplify the awesome of others too!

@Lorimae Your cat avatar has such great dances in SL. I remember seeing you at BunnyJam and that was very recognizable, especially with the bright (opal-ey) blue eyes.

LOL @ "overly creative"! Sounds like they have to ascend and tap into more of their creativity so they have a better vantage point to appreciate you from.

You're totally welcome re: sharing SL video info, when I first started learning, it was incredibly tedious and painstaking at points, and simplifying the process, I knew, would help others unlock their creativity in the future. So I built a professional case for why it was important to do this at work, and did it. Woohoo.

There are also people who aren't just afraid to be creative, they're jealous and threatened by those who are — and that's a shame, because their cruel words try to drag down creaticians instead of uplift each other.

I encourage creative people (self-identification is fine!) to connect with each other. Here's a big HIGH FIVE PAW FOR YOU.

Funny how miniaturization can demand higher prices.

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