April 6, 2007

Thinking about thinking . . . and playing

ME Liz Strauss wrote this at 10:20 am

I've been thinking . . .

about this quote

Too often, young artists paint before they think. Over the years, I have disciplined myself to think before I pain. When I see a paintable subject or interesting situation, I paint more than I see. I paint what is to be seen. I paint what is inside me. I personalize the scene, make it my own so that through my painting you and I, viewer and artist, can communicate. My goal is to create paintings that are a voice, not an echo — Charles Wysocki, Heartland from The 9 Rights of Every Writer

wispy dandelion

I’ve learned to think about what I write before I write. I know that when I do it’s so much more valuable. The words, the words I choose are chosen so much more carefully when I finally get around to deciding to choose them.

Thinking, trying on a thought, I let it live in me. Giving a thought time to breathe like a fine red wine sets the nuances out where I can see them. They’re like the wisps of a fall dandelion in the breeze floating against a blue sky background.

While I while away time letting thoughts go where they will go, my body takes a posture of relaxation. I breathe in ideas about whatever I’m letting myself think upon. So when I start to write I have a peaceful, deep understanding. I type slowly what I know intuitively about my ideas.

Today I was thinking about thinking about how a life might be wonder-filled if I were to take time to think before every important thing I ever do, especially playing.

Liz's Signature

_________

Share This


Filed under Motivation/Inspiration, Successful Blog |



C'mon. Let's talk!

15 Comments to “Thinking about thinking . . . and playing”

  1. April 6th, 2007 at 10:43 am
    Robert Bruce said

    Uh-huh.

    A slower pace is something difficult to nurture in this web madness… the tortoise and the hare maybe?

    We’re enamored by the quick rise, fast fame, etc., but I think you’re calling for a pace that could allow someone to still be working in 20 years. The long haul… no?

  2. April 6th, 2007 at 10:45 am
    Robert Bruce said

    ….a pace that could allow it AND a depth of thought?

    (As he hits “submit” before finishing his thought)

  3. April 6th, 2007 at 10:49 am
    GP said

    how fortuitous.. I’m getting ready after the morning “rush” to go out and ride the range with Patrick, Picken on a new bridle/halter combo . We’re going natch where she loves to run the most… So i’m thinking… and relaxing… I have tools.. :) Think and play

    I’ll check in later
    GP in Montana

  4. April 6th, 2007 at 10:50 am
    ME Strauss said

    Hi Robert,
    I’m only thinking of being able to reflect before I start writing down what I have to say about someething. It’s so nice when I take the time to do that. I long to do that more often in my life. :)

  5. April 6th, 2007 at 10:51 am
    ME Strauss said

    Hi GP!
    What a great day that sounds like, if only I didn’t feel the view from atop a horse was a little too high up for me. :)

  6. April 6th, 2007 at 10:58 am
    GP said

    guess that means you’ve never been skydiving … but that’s another story :)

    Off to ride the range here pretty quick (butterflies moving into formation)

    GP in Montana

  7. April 6th, 2007 at 11:00 am
    Ms. Q said

    There’s a flip side to this - over-thinking!

    I have maybe 20 posts ideas waiting to be born. They are text files containing little more than a title, maybe a phrase or just some main points. Those are my “gotta think about this some more” posts.

    I tend to spend a lot of time writing even my shortest posts. What has been interesting is that my dashed off posts (an hour or less) seem to generate more comments. Maybe they are more lively, have more personality or people like seeing a bit of spontaneity.

    So far I have only written for my blog which has a very different audience than other print media.

  8. April 6th, 2007 at 12:42 pm
    John said

    Totally tracking with you on the writing aspect, Liz. Is the pre-thinking part counter-intuitive for you, too? At any rate, the end-result is so much better.

    Thinking before painting or writing a song is completely different, though. I’m not tracking with that part of the quote. >:)
    -j

  9. April 6th, 2007 at 12:46 pm
    ME Strauss said

    Hey GP,
    You’ve got me pegged. I greww about as far from the ground as I wanted to get. :)

  10. April 6th, 2007 at 12:53 pm
    ME Strauss said

    Hi Mrs. Q,
    Overthinking is a problem. You betcha. I like a chance to still myself and center on my internal take on the real thought from the inside out. Great reflection actually should make the thought simpler and more elegant not more complicated.

    At least, my experience is that with reflection i get simpler and without it I get more anxious and more complicated.

  11. April 6th, 2007 at 2:09 pm
    Andrew Rickmann said

    I try and liken everything I do (although I often fail) to photography. When I started taking photographs I shot what I saw. It didn’t take long to realise that what I saw, and what the camera saw were two different things.

    Even after some thought it is hard to guess where the right composition will be after it comes out the camera, rule of thirds , things coming out of peoples heads, etc.

    It took me months to stop and think and look at different angles but I am a far better photographer for it.

  12. April 6th, 2007 at 2:14 pm
    ME Strauss said

    Hi Andrew,
    Maybe th word we really mean is something like “consider.” I know when I stop and stare using my “mind’s eye. I think more deeply on a subject than when I rush in with words I’ve not considered first. :)

  13. April 6th, 2007 at 3:39 pm
    Shane said

    When I’m in the zone, I don’t think, I just jump in.

    But if I can’t find the zone. If I’m not sure. If I just don’t know … I like to let things roll around in my head for a while.

    Sooner or later they roll into other ideas and the next thing you know … Hey! I’m back in the zone.

  14. April 6th, 2007 at 5:11 pm
    ME Strauss said

    Hi Shane!
    In the zone . . . finding flow . . . it means the challenge is perfectly attuned to our skill set. All of our thought and our focus is already on what we’re doing. Can’t miss that because we’ve lost all sense of time and all sense of our selves so where else could our thoughts be? :)

  15. April 8th, 2007 at 12:24 am
    daveolson.ca - the developing blog! » Saturday’s eclectic mix (April 7) said

    [...] What is your creative process? Give this a go. [...]

Name (required)

Email (required)

Website

C'mon Let's Talk!