In nearly every sliver of warming light my conscious turns away, averting its gaze to the cold comfort of darkness. Even amidst its enchanting matras, it fears the light of progression for all the change and new consideration that it brings. The friction of evolution, the uncertainty of progression, the possibility to fail. The progressive ideal is easy to recite, to echo out in self justification, but the embodiment of such is a far different undertaking.
In this life I will dedicate to progression and personal growth. I will move through challenges and unexpected encounters with vigor and malleability. I will transform conflict to knowledge and use it against those who emerge in opposition.
I will approach interaction with others with open mind and compassion. Approaching encounters as gifts, I will glean unseen perspective from another’s eyes. Leaping from collective experience, I will vault into the sea of discovery far beyond the limits of one.
The dedication to following the ever expanding path of personal growth consistently brings one outside of the realm of comfortable understanding and across landscapes of the unknown. That is in fact the essence of exploration, pushing known limits to discover the new horizons and fill open eyes with sights unseen, forever changing the perspective of your previous view.
It is a common habit of humans to declare intention of a goal before any effort has been put into it. Such declarations are often public and to an audience from which one can expect positive response and affirmation. It seems this effort in itself is enough to trigger a response of accomplishment within the motivational centers of our brains. Seemingly more often than not, these declarations are stated with true and honest intention, yet in strength and efficacy fall quickly by the wayside when it comes time to act and deliver.
We have a strong appreciation and love for various mediums of art. Apart from music, visual is a creative expression with which we resonate the most. Like all forms of art, there are many ways in which to create and develop an idea. It ranges from stream of consciousness execution to constructed and planned detail before a work is even started. It is fascinating to explore and analyze all the different and infinite pathways to creation and art. An interesting of these approaches, (which initially almost seems counter intuitive), is through mathematical formulae.
Today, March 3, marks the anniversary of my departure from the confines of a former existence to take the risk and set out to pursue the open world of opportunity and dream of a creative life. Geographically it meant traversing across the country from a given home in the MidWest to a chosen destination of opportunity and experience. Symbolically it meant casting aside the limitations of my previous outlook on life, wrought from a youth of limits and conservative impression and succumbing to the conviction of bold aspiration toward a creative life and progressive self improvement.
Emerging through the darkness, you reveal yourself to me
Form and figure captivate as presence comes to be
Full and flowing beauty, elegance undenied
Shadow laden fluid grace fills fixated eyes
How much does environment affect creativity? How much does any context affect the production of creative ideas and ease of their creation? I think almost all of us can relate to environment in the context of shifting the state of mind to prepare for use in a certain way. Either to alter mood for creativity, or heighten focus for productivity in some way. How much does that make a difference in results? Is it ubiquitous, or does it work differently depending on the individual and their ability to project and focus?
Philip Seymour Hoffman
State of Music Industry Taste
