“Make Good Art.” Lessons on Business and Living an Artistic Life
Takeaways from writer Neil Gaiman’s 2012 commencement speech.
Air Jordans, Tinker Hatfield, and Creativity
Lessons and Inspiration from the Legendary Nike Designer
We’re Not Nouns, We’re Verbs
Every once in a while I’ll stumble across an idea (in this case a quote) and just think, “bingo.”
Oscar Wilde said that if you know what you want to be, then you inevitably become it. That is your punishment. But if you never know, then you can be anything. There is a truth to that. We are not nouns, we are verbs. I am not a thing — an actor, a writer — I am a person who does things — I write, I act — and I never know what I am going to do next. I think you can be imprisoned if you think of yourself as a noun.
— Stephen Fry
“Creative” Is A Noun
In an old bio of mine you’ll find the following few lines:
I just like creating things… The result has been about 10 years of learning by doing, and developing a career that isn’t easy to summarize except to use the word “creative.” (At some point “creative” became a noun, which is good for me I guess.)
I was inspired to explore that last idea after I realized I had taken a point of view on this noun, and found myself trying to cleverly expand upon it. After all, this website is called Matt Williams Creative. While, in that context it’s used pretty ambiguously, what does it mean to be “a creative?”
“Big Magic” by Elizabeth Gilbert
Elizabeth Gilbert (Eat, Pray, Love) shares her unique insight into creativity and inspiration in her book Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear. Rich with personal stories and anecdotes, Gilbert encourages readers to live creatively, let go of fear, and respect the mystery of inspiration. The book is wonderfully geared towards those of us who live (or wish to live) creative lives, but is perfectly suited for anyone with any kind of creative passion.