Session 1: Creativity, Practice, Flow
For each session, we’ll watch or listen to things that can frame our thinking, inspire us, give us language. Let’s get started….
A note about these readings and listenings on Practice
To kick off this season of “creativity practice,” let’s get some insight into what’s meant by “practice” and how that relates to developing our creativity.
Some of the segments in this mix were originally published writing. I’ve found through years of teaching grad students that when I give people something to read, usually only about half actually read it. But when I provide it as audio, way more people take time for it. So I’ve started reading things to people. I record myself reading PDFs to my students. And in case it works for you, here you go—I’m reading two of these pieces aloud to you. If you skip them, please do jump to the last seven minutes of this mix to hear from Slava Polunin. It’s the only place I know you can hear his comments in English.
Below you’ll find two ways to enjoy the same material:
– as a single audio file (sort of a podcast episode),
– or as a set of links to videos and PDFs.
Listen to the audio mixtape
Use the download button on the right side of the player to get the mp3 file,
for listening on your favorite device.
CONTENTS
00:00 Marc’s introduction
00:42 Ira Glass, The gap
02:50 Maina and Haines, The transformative power of practice
22:33 Paul Jun, To be creative, practice
33:59 Slava Polunin, Why is outward appearance important?
Same things, but watch the videos and read the PDFs
The only thing you’ll miss is Marc’s brief introductions (which you can find in the transcript).
Ira Glass, “The Gap”
Ng’ethe Maina and Staci k. Haines, The transformative power of practice
Paul Jun, To be creative, practice
Slava Polunin, “Why is outward appearance important?”
Supplemental
John Cleese, On creativity and management
(not included in the audio mixtape)