When you don’t follow your nature there is a hole in the universe where you were supposed to be.” ~
The greatest fear should not be failure… but succeeding in things that don’t really matter. ~ Francis Chan
Good poets borrow, Great poets steal. ~ T.S. Eliot. Meaning, be influenced, though make it your own.
My BITCh Method for Creativity
Yup, want a runner’s high? Well, no free runner’s high on the couch, unless you’re working there. No runner’s high until mile 22 or so. The couch doesn’t have miles, only time. I find quote-unquote inspiration comes from the energy of working, focusing, unfocusing, simply comeS from the process, from continually shifting focus and redirecting scale across the whole scope of spectrums and dimensions of what you are creating, towards the making.
From my perspective inspiration lives in the interstices, the psychic synapses, the sacred and infinite inner spaces between. Interstices are like invisible or negative space stairs. They take you places, from one, to the other. They are always intensely Beyond in their Void quality, though at the same time intensely invisible Janus To:From::From:To, the caryatid columns being the space on either side of the synapse. The one side from where you Fool Stepped launched — May the ground rise up to support your every step ~ Irish Proverb. — especially resonant when there was no ground there when you began to step. And, the other side where you land your creation, made, having given form to the formless, a very High Priestess thing to do.
It’s like, Hey, when in Rome, and all roads lead there in the imagination, The Place of Creation. I don’t see much of anyone having inspiration from doing nothing about it. Hey, inspiration Comes when you’re in process, not typically before you start the process. It can, though I don’t recommend to sit around and smoke the hope narcotic of that happening. If that’s the case might as well choose the odds of the lottery or the lightning strike instead.
Inspiration’s also a bit-over-rated to me, as is intention. Both important, don’t get me wrong, though both simply exquisite parts of the process when they occur. I find inspiration more so to be microscopic stardust inherent and naturally present in ideas, flecks of gold you pan out.
Intention is over-rated. It is simply far more important the way something comes across. ~ Jordan Hoggard, (c) 1992
Inspiration of course MAY arrive in in-between times as well as the aHA you amplify with as you plug back into the work. Though, I find that spontaneity to arise FROM the momentum of the movement of the work in progress, from the process itself, rather than occurring spontaneously from sitting around smoking hope so to speak, lazy-ing in wait for it. Then again, maybe I’m just allergic to boredom, and you may be tons more patient than me.
Simple simple of it? It’s not, get off your butt. It’s, put your Butt In The Chair. BITCh. Butt In The Chair. Put your Butt In The Chair, and create.
I don’t find it be an addiction or some kind of OCD gig. It does, though, stem from discipline, a practiced discipline of the habitual ritual over time. Maybe OCR instead of OCD? Not Optical Character Recognotion. Obsessive Compulsive Resonance. I have a process. It’s taken my whole life up to now to develop, has been this way for coming on 30 years, though ask me again tomorrow as well. I keep it fresh. Sometimes, I take sharp turns, or sidestep the clutch at 4,500 rpm, or make shit up like this painting. It’s not a real Asian calligraphy character. I made it up with a hand-dance after a series in oils called Notes From A Illiterate Thief, where I hand-danced whole scrolls, all made up. Could be gibberish. Could be evocative..
For me, allergic to boredom, I set limits so I am OFF from my work so I don’t have to experience depletion from the misspent efforts of working too long, from pushing past expanding myself into the realm of the points of diminishing returns. I’ve trained myself to notice when that occurs. And, stop. Switch gears. Take a walk, or do something else. Same bat time, same bat channel, 5 days a week. Sometimes 4. Sometimes 6 days. Though, NEVER 7.
Depletion doesn’t play nice in the sandbox, just keeps you underpressurized like a low tire. Keeps too much resistance in the system requiring more effort than necessary.
For your most complex problems, assemble a team of your laziest people. They’ll solve it in the simplest way. ~ Bill Gates
And, I find that depletion comes from mis-spent efforts. I make no nod there that anyone should chastise themself for going down dead end paths. It’s about experience. And heck, there are no mistakes, only OFLs. Opportunities For Learning. Sometimes those so-called dead end paths gave you a healthy rest from your primary one(s).
Ever notice when something tends to move too easily? Not like it is in fluid fluency Kind of easy. Like, it’s light, like a snake skin shedded, chaff? Ever notice when something moves with no resistance, and it’s just giggin’ in the fluid fluency of being in balance and harmony with the process? Ever noticed yourself feel the same in your process? And, of course everything in moderation, including moderation. Sometimes going for long long periods immersed in the work is that path to the mile 22 runner’s high of creative process in action. Sometimes, taking radio silence time is just as important.
(c) 2010 Jordan Hoggard
To prepare to create Tarot in the Land of Mystereum, I took 3 whole years off from anything Tarot. Not a word. Not a card. By 18 months, not even a thought. It was a time of brain washing, and gardening. Lots of gardening. So, when I popped back up, I intensely created and made Tarot from MY perspective, for 2+ MORE years, completing the Mystereum Tarot from Spring of 2006 to the Solstice in 2008. Tarot in the Land of Mystereum middle of 2009-2010. Time doesn’t really matter in creativity, though. They each took my whole lifetime up to that point.
I call my process the BITCh Method. Butt In The Chair. Same bat time, same bat channel. And, you train yourself. You train yourself to firm up your creativity and imagination to not always be that messy vagueness of epiphany and waiting for inspiration. And, don’t get me wrong. I LOVE epiphanies, and the oftentimes consequent mess they inject into the process that bleeds in new ground and exploration and discovery. Those are good problems to have. Though, you train yourself to basically have an on/off switch, so you can also have a work-life balance. Everything is experience, though everything needn’t be creative work. THere’s value in surrender as well.
The (Stolen) BITCh Method of Creating
Butt. In. The. Chair. Same bat time, same bat channel, and 2 days off of your choosing so you slide your weekend into your Outlook or calendar wherever it works best for you and your process.
That’s It. Butt. In. The. Chair. Same bat time, same bat channel 4 or 5 days a week, and don’t forget the 2 days off. Rest and refresh doing other things. Even walking down a French street, the wide open plaza provides rest and relief from the tight and windy cobbled streets, the tight and windy cobbled streets provide rest and relief from the vast urban plaza. I feel the same bindu breath master violin stroke applies to creativity as well.
Is your work process more like the tight and windy cobbled street, the urban plaza, a field of Calla Lilies or lavender, a cabin in the woods, a racetrack with warmed up tires sidestepping the clutch to shift and corner?
You can see the work of the amazing painter I stole the BITCh method from here on Bonnie Hubly’s Pinterest site. She knows I did. Thanks Mom!!
What method do you utilize
to reverently respect the value of your work
in how you make it?
What cornerstone do you have in your life that you brace against to enhance, reinforce, and strengthen your creativity and imagination?
Click the title to download ImaginAction at no charge
The pdf is 18MB. Depending on your connection, it may take a bit. Again, no charge. My intent is not that it’s free. No charge, and you determine the value.
Download for nada. Please tip at BuyMeACoffee and/or comment and/or Like the post AFTER you’ve had an opportunity to work with it. And, on your own time. No fuss, no rush.
You decide its value to you in your own good time, in your way. Money currency, the currency of liking, commenting, sharing, re-blogging. I simply ask tht you value ImaginAction in your own way, even if that’s simply looking out the window and smiling from it if you do. That kind of thing, that kind of energy put out there makes to world a better place to be.
Downloading? No charge. Your tip/comment/like? Priceless.
I look forward to what ImaginAction feels like from YOUR perspective.
(c) 2020 Jordan Hoggard
Jordan Hoggard
One response to “My (Stolen) BITCh Method for Creativity”