Patrick Frank's Open Salon Blog

A new book on creativity?

Thu, 31 May 2012 09:05:31 -0400

When I woke up this morning I felt like I had been run over by a truck. Who knows why these ups and downs in energy level. Could be a bipolar thing, but I doubt it. I'm better now.

I am thinking of starting fresh with a book of essays on creativity. The problem is that there are a slew of books out there on the subject. What do I have to offer that would be unique? Still, I have been writing on this subject for years and have done extensive reading. But what I would write would not be academic in the slightest. It would be insights gleaned through my own creative work and my perception of others' creative process, including those who write on OS.

It's not worth doing if you don't write creatively on the subject of creativity. A boring book on creativity. I've seen some and they hold my interest for maybe a chapter.

I would love to get input from others on their creative process and would include it in the book, with attribution.

Here are some of the initial subjects I have in mine for the new effort:

*Why we experience a burst of creativity.

*Dream work and creativity

*Change of scenery facilitating creativity

*Crisis and creativity

*The importance of sharing creative work

*The value of mixing up genres

*Creativity and mental health

*The journaling/blogging process and creativity

*Exposure to books, movies and music and creativity

*Creativity as a tool to better society

*Recreation and creativity

*The importance of pursuing your unique path

*Others I have not thought of

Now, how to integrate my prior work? There is a lot of unsight in those essays but they are written in an uneven fashion. This new work would be written with greater structural consistency; the chapters would be short. I prefer concise essays, anyway.

How to get it out there? The usual way, by pitching individual essays, blogging and pitching the entire project to publishers.

We'll see if I actually pursue this. I'm just brainstorming.

On the personal level again, things seem to falling into place as far as life pursuits and practical matters, and Linda and I had a much better day interpersonally. In an intimate relationship, conflict is inevitable. Serious conflict. The question is how you deal with it, how determined you are to reach resolution, where you end up when the dust has settled, and what you have learned through the mini-crisis. (It can feel like a full-blown crisis at the time.)

Another day, and a tough night (prose-poetry)

Wed, 30 May 2012 08:05:18 -0400

another day, and a tough night,

and the traffic has picked up on Route 25, and I'm sorry for yesterday, angry words, and all I want is for us to healand I need to dig deep into my soul

how to deal with hurt without inflicting hurt? that is the question and if I had the answer, I would not be writing this today is it okay to say I don't know, in this world that demands certainty?

I am not a paragon, I am not a guru, I am not a king I am struggling to live out my values, day by day sometimes I fail sometimes I succeed when I fail I catch myself saying "I hate myself" and that's the truth

lately the creative ideas have been pouring out of me, I think because my dreams have risen to consciousness they are like a key that unlocks a door in a way I don't really understand but it happens

I'm not going to tell you how to live because sometimes I don't know how to live and that's the truth, too my dream was about a boarding school where I should not be working because it depresses me

how many jobs have I taken over the years that were just not right for me? just pushing on ahead, without forethought, traveling from state to state seeking a paycheck, but not staying true to me

so many failures I don't even want to think about but maybe I have learned maybe I finally understand the dream and maybe I will exercise forethought next time maybe I have changed

"The moments of impact end up defining who we are"

Tue, 29 May 2012 18:05:18 -0400

Just saw "The Vow." Really liked this film but it brought back painful memories from my past that I can't blog except maybe in poetry. "The moments of impact end up defining who we are." (from the film) A great insight.

Reminding me of Howie Day's great song, "Collide."

Linda and I decided to watch movies at home through our cable. Cheaper, more relaxed.

Just heard that one of my political columns will be published the 2nd, on marriage equality and Obama's statement on it. Makes me feel good. I admired him saying what he said, regardless of the timing.

I have some good books to read now.

Going through my poetry manuscript. Heavy editing the next step.

***

Lily the cat hangs out with me

she stares into my face she knows I am hurting because of the memories how can a cat know that? when we are sick she always comes around and rubs up against us things I can't change from the past a time I let go for someone else's sake never mind how it would impact me

The real start of another phase: between poetry and prose

Tue, 29 May 2012 07:05:29 -0400

You let someone into your heart before you know it, without planning, after they have made themselves vulnerable to you. A recognition.

Listening to what remains a great, great song: Philedelphia, Springsteen.

I will resume phone banking for Obama today. Less than an hour, Tuesday and Thursday, but it's something. For my country.

Axel Pell's great song, Silent Angel. It's the music. It's the wordless feel of it, combined with some great lyrics...

"Whisper in the garden of Eden, like the sound of love and peace on earth"

Bought a fascinating science book, "Science without the Boring Bits." Some of the chapter titles:

How to start a plague

How to live forever

How to build a brain

How to live forever

How to become invisible

How to join up the universe

How to find ET

How to know the mind of God

Believe it or not, from a science perspective...

Science is about letting the imagination run wild but in the end sticking to the facts, then letting the imagination run wild again.

I dreamed that all my teeth were pulled. And that may happen. Rather than let an infection fester. I dreamed that I was supposed to stay in a motel room overnight but did not, though I paid for it. I dreamed that i was supposed to teach at a boarding school but could not make it, and I thought about telling the headmaster that doing this job is just unrealistic for me.

How many jobs did I take on in the past that were just right for me? Many, too many. The next one, if there is a next one, I will consider carefully before jumping in.

My mind is on the borderline between poetry and prose.

My Florida State University license plate staring me in the face with the Seminole symbol. I wish universities were what they used to be. They have become over-commercialized.

The birds are crying outside at dawn, and a squirrel was scolding my cat. There is a bird nest on the wall outside our condo unit. The intricacy is amazing.

Now stillness has seeped down into my soul and I hear the sound of the cicada again.

Now the sound of a siren splits the air. There are potential dangers to consider. Good to be prepared, mentally and physically.

I will read more of Coach K's book today...

A number of reflections on personal growth

Mon, 28 May 2012 11:05:43 -0400

For someone who talks as much about courage as I do, I certainly have a problem dealing with fears. I know that exercise would help and plan to do so today. I gain distance and detach this way.

Speaking as a Conscientious Objector/pacifist and loyal American, I hope and pray that our military who are in harm's way in foreign lands will be home as soon as possible.

I want to get on that poetry manuscript sometime today. I said want to, rather than must do. As you know, I don't like to succumb to a "should" mentality, though sometimes it is necessary to undertake a should.

I also want to go to the open mic again; well, honestly, I have mixed feelings. I will need to sort them out. It's okay and normal to have mixed feelings. How often are we totally certain.

In the last chapter I read from Coach K's book, he talked about the importance how each person, uniquely, expresses their insecurity and, alternately, their confidence. He reads their nonverbal cues.

Just listened to Howie Day's "Collide" again. I am very impressed, with the lyrics and with his controlled passion. You can tell that he really "feels" that song and pours his soul into it. I have learned a lot from his performance.

An OS friend mentioned that she perceived that I was in a certain mood. I appreciated that. While steadiness is a virtue, the fact is that it is normal to pass in and out of certain moods. It is not pathological.

I am much better at assertiveness and unequivocal honesty lately.