Category: Art

Immortality = Creativity

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If we desire to leave a legacy in the world that will long outlive the few years we spend on Earth, our creative output is sure to remind the future that we once thrived. The worth of our lives to those who follow will be measured by creations which survive.

No matter the medium in which we create much of what we leave will be preserved if we practice our talents and become exceedingly proficient in our creative fields.

If we examine history, it is less often the titans of industry who are remembered than those who were bold enough to create. The maker’s work passes from generation to generation, inspiring people long after the creative soul’s bones have become dust.

We stand in awe of drawings on the walls of caves. New recordings of century’s old music thrill us. The words of times long past, left by those who sought to bring clarity to living still inspire us. Paintings and sculptures of bygone eras hold pride of place in our public spaces and museums.

Our creations will mark our moments and tell the world our time, our lives were precious. We are leaving a legacy that will shape the world of tomorrow in what we do today.

I encourage you to study your tools, perfect your skills, practice as if life depends on it, because in reality it just may. You have something to birth into the world of space and time that no other human can ever produce. Be encouraged that you are able to make a difference, not just now, but in the deep future.

As a prompt draw up a rough plan of what you want to accomplish creatively by the end of 2017. It can be as simple or complex as you wish. Then set about making the goal you have real.

Gratitude is a virtue that makes way for more abundance in our lives. Today, I am grateful for the beautiful snow that has fallen. I am also thankful that the electricity is still powering my home. You may find it beneficial to take stock of your blessings each day. It tends to lend more satisfaction to living.

Thank you so much for visiting Haphazard Creative. I hope you have gained something in your visit. Please click the follow button, or if you prefer, come back soon.

Enjoy life, create beauty, be well, and bless you.

© Jo Ann J. A. Jordan

 

Thoughts with photographs

I will fly into the storm, pelleted by the driving rain, buffeted by the raging wind, but I will conquer, I will fly out victorious in the end.

1 The Winding Road

I have only this;
I am willing to love each
One, with my whole heart.

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Sometimes we avoid what we should be doing. We say we are too busy or we do not have the time. We can always find an excuse to avoid creative work. The investment of ourselves it requires is tremendous, and it is almost all-consuming. If we wish to grow our talents, abilities, and gifts, we must dedicate ourselves to expending what we now possess in the hope of becoming more competent and skilled.

What we love, what compels us, will draw us even when we are excusing ourselves away from our real purpose. Creativity is not a sometime occupation, it is the drive that makes us alive. Love and creation are inexorably entwined, we send goodness into the world through our endeavors.

I have been away from Haphazard Creative because working here requires an intensity of me that I do not always feel I can create. I fiddle-faddle on Facebook and avoid dedicating the time I need to put in to make a post worthy of this space. Maybe I will come here more often, I shall hope so.

If you wish a prompt, explore what keeps you from the creative work you desire to do. See if you can devise a plan that will convince you to put in the effort. We cannot accomplish great things without we decide they are more critical than our leisure.

Thank you so much for visiting Haphazard Creative. I hope you enjoyed your time here and that you will click the follow button, or come again as you are able.

Be blessed, and share your love with the world. Many need your light in times of darkness.

© Jo Ann J. A. Jordan

Broken pieces, Facebook statuses

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The before, the after, the chapters of life. So many times we don’t realize how wonderfully we are blessed in the before until we are living in the after. This is a reason to hope, pray, and be thankful always. The after has a way of ambushing us from out of nowhere, and we cannot know the what or the how it is hiding.

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I often fiddle around on Facebook, writing things, hoping to touch, inspire, encourage my friends. There is little to no reaction on these musings, but for some reason, I persist in making them. They are not really long enough to enshrine here, but somehow I feel them essential in a way. The work shows how my mind rambles and cavorts about.

As a prompt, think of how you spend your pearls and how you could better use them to further your body of work. Always know anything you create is worthy of treasure, no matter how large or small your audience may seem or be.

Creatives create, and haphazardly so, sometimes their influence, little they know.

Thank you for spending time in my corner, please come again. By all means and always be careful out there. The world is a complicated place, though we most wish to live pure lives full of love.

© Jo Ann J. A. Jordan

Memory and creativity

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Here is a memory, exemplary of how the mind turns things over the years.

It is summer because Six Flags Over Georgia is a summer place when you are young. The great rides of later years are not in evidence, but the Great American Scream Machine is there and gives a startled thrill as it descends on what even now seems a rickety track. I have come here every year since the park’s opening, usually with parents, but now am old enough to have a Season Pass and come alone.

The draw today is not the rides, it is a concert, in the evening, one I have been anticipating for weeks. I wear a short nylon set of pale sky blue I put together from different stores, or maybe the same store at different times. I have a tank top with a circular collar and shorts that border on too short with a vinyl and material belt that came together. Mom lets me out of the house, so I must be decent. My hair is still blonde, but I could have already begun coloring it.

I get to the pavilion early, while the show is being set up, I want to be in a place where I can see. The star is a teenager like me, I follow him in Tiger Beat, with its bright arresting covers that I cannot pass up in the grocery store check out line. He comes out on stage to do a sound check, and I am enthralled seeing him alive. Our eyes meet across the distance, which is not far.

Somehow I move away from the stage, and then I feel a tap on my shoulder. He followed me, and I turn to face him. He asks if I would like to go for an ice cream after the show, and oh yes, I would. My father would be furious though because he says all rock stars are ruffians. He does not look bad, he seems like someone who could be my friend. My heart breaks a little, and I tell him no, my parents would not allow me to stay late.

Years pass that short set stays in a drawer long after I have outgrown that slim frame. I always wonder what might have been had I stepped out of my fear, my inhibition, that evening. If I had gone with that gorgeous blonde boy, who wanted to spend time with me. Maybe somehow, somewhere it happened, and both our paths were changed for the better. Could be.

 

When working with memories creatively, all the pieces do not have to be there. A little space where the color fades, fog descends, leaves room for imagination to fill in the spaces and make what is vague, transcend and come into focus with a clarity that to a reader, viewer, listener, seems more than real, even magic. Always play the magic, because that is where the story happens and the story is everything.

As a prompt, use a memory creatively to tell a story in whatever way you like. If it leads you off somewhere, chase it. Chasing the tale is magic.

Thank you for visiting, please come again and be safe out there.

© Jo Ann J. A. Jordan