I have a topic of discussion that I wanted to spend some time, well, discussing. Not sure exactly if “discussing” makes the most sense word-choice-wise because that kind of sounds like I’m talking to a person or with a person, but in reality, at the moment, I’m talking to myself (which is a person I suppose). Anyway, I want to spend a bit of time highlighting a concept that has been running sort of as a background program in my mind for what feels like a few months now I don’t really think it came to a level of cognition that was identifiable to me until yesterday. At least, the value of it did not come to a level of cognition until yesterday.
Taking More Photos
Long story short, recently I’ve been doing this thing: specifically, I have been taking more photographs. Taking more pictures of beautiful or odd scenes. These unique images that have sprouted up before me in my life. If I’m on a bike ride or a walk/run (and I’ve decided to bring my phone along) when I see something that is compelling, I will stop and take a picture. Yesterday, I was driving and saw something compelling and turned around, parked, got out of my car, and then went and took a picture of it. I have pretty much never done that in my entire life. I just sort of would take an internal catalog of that thing, say to myself, “Oh, look at that pretty thing,” and keep going. I wouldn’t stop in my tracks and take a photo. In fact, for most of my life, I thought that was stupid. People who stopped to take a picture of something… I don’t know why, I just thought that was stupid. I was just kind of a hater. Perhaps I felt like taking that pause in the middle of life was a waste of time. It wasn’t until yesterday that I realized that I’ve changed my mind on that. Honestly, I was wrong for hating on that for so long.
Why I’ve Changed My Mind
Two reasons why I believe I’ve changed my mind on this: one is because I watched an interview with an artist that I greatly appreciate, and then the second is because I was having a conversation with a close friend about “abundance”, about the amount of life that one has to live. Let me break down each of those and we can kind of put two and two together to make four. Or I suppose you’d say, one and one together to make two. I don’t know, man, that’s basically the same thing, words. So, which to begin with? Let’s start with abundance.
Abundance
I’ve always felt that each and every moment was priceless. You really ought not to waste any moments because they’re worth something. Now I think a bit differently, while they are certainly not worth wasting, I’ve come to realize that “wasting” a moment is actually kind of hard to do. Throughout my younger years, I was under the impression that taking a picture of something was wasting time. I have since changed that opinion; I don’t believe that taking a picture is wasting time. Taking a photo is more along the lines of capturing an opportunity. Seizing a chance opportunity. Especially when whatever it is that you’re taking a picture of inspires you. If it’s a photo of something that is inspiring, then the positives of capturing that photo greatly outweigh the negatives of stopping in the middle of your life to capture it. Without a doubt, fundamentally, stopping in the middle of life to take a picture of something does come with a small penalty. For starters, it very well may distract from whatever is currently happening, which could be really important. For instance, I was right in the middle of a conversation with someone and saw something of inspiration. I blurted out “pause” and then took a picture of it and then, “play” to continue the conversation. That could be pretty distracting. I probably could have done a little bit better to facilitate that photo, the capturing of that moment, but I think the point still stands. There are some negatives to stopping/pausing life to capture a moment. However, in the instance of capturing a moment that provides great inspiration, that great inspiration is usually far more valuable than the pause. In like 99% of the cases, I would argue it’s worth it.
And the idea of there being an abundance of time in one’s life is, I think, the core fundamental of why I believe that now. That pause is a blip; the inspiration is eternal. It’s not bound by time, you could be inspired by that thing for days, weeks, even longer, forever maybe. That thing, whatever it is that you captured, could end up being something that you call back to time and time and time again in the future. The trade that you made to capture that moment, those few seconds to take a picture of something, could return years of inspiration. That’s just, worth it, right? It’s a good trade.
Capturing Inspiration
I’ve been doing this lately with more than just taking pictures of things. I’ve been taking moments aside to document whole concepts, pure ideas. I carry this book around with me that is primarily a self-accountability system, tracking to-dos and monitoring the progression of my life. That book has so many a time before saved me in those moments of inspiration where I had an idea I needed to document. It doesn’t always go into the book; sometimes it goes into my phone, or I take a voice message to myself. The voice message avenue has happened more and more lately, especially now that I have a watch that allows me to take a voice memo when I’m out riding my bike or running. Times when I don’t really want to get my phone out, or I don’t have the book with me. Or just don’t have the time to completely stop what I’m doing. Finding the least friction methodology to capture these moments of inspiration is key to consistently seizing upon them.
Those concepts that I document often turn into something great. A lot of times it’s a blog post or a record and review topic. Regardless of what it turns into, it’s an opportunity nonetheless. Usually a learning opportunity, a growth opportunity that I feel like I shouldn’t pass up. “Seize every opportunity to grow” is the thought here. It’s something I actually told myself that I should do in the beginning of this year when I was still very much working my way out of winter into the season of life that is spring. I said that each and every day the only person that you can change, the only person you can control, is yourself, and with that knowledge you have the power, you have the opportunity to grow. So take it. Take that opportunity, don’t let it pass you by. That’s what life is all about: seizing opportunities of growth. Carpe diem, seize the day. The day is not the sunrise to sunset; the day is the moments that make it. Seize every moment and make it valuable. A valuable life is full of seized moments. Captured opportunities. You grow with each moment that you take.
MF DOOM’s Thoughts on Writers’ Block
The other thing that helped me change my mind on this was an interview I just watched with MF Doom, who is potentially one of the greatest rappers of all time. Potentially one of the, if not the greatest lyricists of the past generation of rap. Someone who is often referred to as your favorite rapper’s rapper, which goes to say; he’s got a way of describing things that no other artist has been able to match. A question that came up during the interview (by an audience member no less) was, “Do you ever have writer’s block? Do you ever have a hard time putting the words together?” And I mean, of course he said yes. Every artist has times in which they are inspired and times in which they are not. The question from the audience member went on, and he asked, “What do you do in those times when you are not inspired, and what do you do in the times of which you are?” MF Doom, Daniel Dumile, responded by saying that whenever he’s having a hard time putting it together, he just leaves it alone. He mentioned that he’ll ride the waves, the waves of inspiration and the waves of the lack thereof. When not inspired, he’ll spend time with his children or go about his day, living life, doing normal shit. “I don’t force it”. He doesn’t force inspiration; he doesn’t sit there or stand there and force himself to write. He lets it go. But when he does come into inspiration, he stops what he’s doing and documents it. “I always keep a pen and paper near for when something comes to me”. He seizes the opportunity of inspiration because he knows the wave that’s coming, the wave that has picked him up, may be very temporary. It could be really powerful, and one that he would regret not capitalizing on.
Missing the Wave
There was a wave that came to me yesterday, an idea for a flash fiction story, an opportunity and inspiration that I felt compelled toward. It was awesome, but I didn’t take it. I didn’t stop; I just kind of let it bubble around my head, and then I moved on. I was so upset later because I had lost it. I didn’t seize on that inspiration. I mean, I knew what the idea was still, but I just couldn’t get it out. I could see the wave drifting away from me and that it was too late, too late to ride it.
Don’t Miss the Wave
So I think the moral of the story is: creativity comes in waves. As an artist, and as an individual that takes great pride in growth and documenting moments of creativity, I need more practice seizing those opportunities. Proudly, I can say that I have been practicing for months now with photographs. And it’s been evolving, I am evolving. Not only am I taking more pictures of different things, getting better at identifying different opportunities, but I am seizing those moments of inspiration. Sometimes I have to be quick, pull out my phone, open up the camera app and snap a photo. Due the simple fact that whatever it is that I am attempting to capture is a moment’s inspiration disappearing. I think there’s probably something to be said about dwelling too much on moments that are long, but I think that’s a far ways away from where I am. I still need to practice seizing those opportunities and capturing them in the moment. Seize the opportunity, because it’s worth it, it’s a worthwhile endeavor. There’s abundance in life that allows for the moment to be captured, and the waves of inspiration come and go without much control. So when you see the wave coming, don’t be afraid to capture it, you’ll thank yourself later.
