Recently I have gone a bit missing from this blog and the Metaverse in general (my apologies to my brave little cadre of followers). The reasons are many but boil down to a combination of; I’ve been busy in my paying job and I’ve been distracted again by learning to use new tools. Mind you these tools are ones I hope will facilitate my creativity (PS, Illustrator & Dreamweaver, etc); however, lately I’ve felt suck. It is time for me to actively seek out sources of inspiration.
Sometimes I think of Inspiration as, that which gets me 'un-stuck'. Being ‘stuck’ seems to be the source of much unhappiness. Obviously, we humans have a biological imperative to grow physically and mentally. What I mean by a mental growth is this imperative extends to the need to learn and create. I suggest that central to social emotional growth; are acts of creativity, be they the creation of objects or not.
I can’t help but think that a reason ‘The mass of men (people) lead lives of quiet desperation’ (Thoreau, Walden, 1854). is because we get ‘stuck’. I find many ways not to see my own growth and creativity; likely because, I tend to confuse growth with accomplishment and creativity with the objects of my creation. I lose my internal ‘grammar’… growth and creativity both derive from their verbs, to grown and to create. Without their element of action neither exists. As a result, I find that occasionally I need a little outside nudge (getting me off my less than self satisfied duff) to get myself growing, learning and creating again. How any of us recognize these nudges of inspiration is a bit of a mystery to me. Inspiration seems to be like a photon; you can either stop it and examine it or observe its motion and effects. Given this I thought I would share short list a few things that inspired me today and perhaps are enough of a nudge me.
- Carrie Lexington’s 365 project – she has challenged herself to creatively process pictures from second life. Many beautifully rendered pictures have resulted and I appreciate her persistence. She is posting and blogging about this picture a day project here.
- Yesterday while entering SL for the first time in a week, I was going thru my capped IMs and noticed that Oberon Onmura , Maya Paris and Misprint Thursday had installations up at Split Screen (you can find them mentioned in Dividni’s blog with slurl here). Soon I was lost in his minimalist world under the sea chasing down weird little bug swimmers… hard little buggers to catch. But catch them if you can… if you bump one you will bounce gently into the air. Upon further exploring Maya’s compelling Mind Gap and after peddling Misprint’s otherworldly faux rotoscope, soon I was smiling and feeling the need to share a cool SL build again.
- Other random sources of inspiration yesterday were found both at New Scientist and a blog post mentioning a Vimeo movie. Checking both these finds out sparked both admiration and inspiration in this interesting project and this amazing if frightening video at Vimeo.
- Here are a few pictures from Split Screen.
Oberon's - Second pool.
Maya's - Mind Gap
Misprint's - Digital Glove
Thanks all... off I go into my own creative blue yonder.
