Friday, November 21, 2008

Exercises in Creativity

"List five people you wish you had met who are dead." The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron
Just FIVE??????? I have been working on some of the exercises in The Artist's Way in effort to jump start my flagging creativity. Life just gets in the way of creativity and the more practical aspects just seem to take over hours, days and weeks. So back to the task at hand...being an extremely inquisitive and/or nosy person there are so many people I would love to talk to about their lives and contributions to the world! Since I cheat I listed groups of people, in no particular order here goes!



"The universe rings true wherever you fairly trust it" C.S. Lewis - I would love to talk to C.S. Lewis about his conversion to Christianity. I adore "The Chronicles of Narnia" and would love to pick his brain about the characters. C.S. Lewis was quite prolific writing non-fiction, science fiction and fantasy! He hung out with J.R.R. Tolkien and some lessor known writers in a group called the Inklings at a pub. How cool would it be to sit and chat with the Oxford professors about writing!

Jesus Christ, Dr. Martin Luther King, Ghandi - I would love to talk with each of them and discuss how they kept such great faith in humankind despite the cruelty, evil and oppression each of them experienced. What do each one of them see happening in our World in the next decade or generation. I could ask each one a million questions yet would rather just listen as each expressed themselves.

Anne Morrow Lindberg, Eleanor Roosevelt, Alice Paul, Queen Elizabeth I - I would like to talk to these women about being catalysts for change, being powerful women and to thank each for what this means to women in this day. Each suffered tragedies but left amazing legacies for us.

"As for accomplishments, I just did what I had to do as things came along."

"Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people."
Eleanor Roosevelt



Paul Klee, Salvador Dali, Rene Magritte, Frida Kahlo - I love surrealism! Can you imagine sitting at a table with anyone of these artists and discussing their inspiration, their bad days, what stifles their creativity and what enhances it! I also wouldn't mind speaking with Gustav Klimt, Renoir or Jackson Pollock. I realize I am mixing periods and styles, however I just love art in all of its forms!!! I would ask Jackson Pollock what the heck was he thinking - what is going on with that and did he have a clue his paintings would be valued so highly?

And because I cheat...my last group is actually people I have met and know I will meet again in the eternities...

Dad, miss him and his calm, rational, loving manner in addition to his visions of the future that were frequently dead on correct!

James, "Jimmy" - my adventurous brother, I would love to talk to him and hike with him, he had a great sense of direction so I wouldn't get lost in the woods (see previous post on getting lost)

Dot, Dot, Dorothy - best friend ever! I miss her so much and am still mad that she is gone from my immediate presence. I still pick up the phone to call her about stuff.

Oma - my maternal grandmother, she taught me about unconditional love, I spent summers with her when living in Germany. I never got to see her again as an adult...with school, marriage etc...she passed before I had a chance to grow up and talk to her as an adult...to thank her for wonderful outings and the homemade noodles we made and ate and so many other things including the quick smack on the bottom if the occasion merited!


Who would you spend time with if you could spend time with ANYONE you desired? (not living here and now)

P.S. I would love to chat with Dorothy Parker - she was one sassy lady!

7 comments:

Rosezilla (Tracie Walker) said...

Ooh, what fun! Usually people say "living or dead" and I pick my hubby, but since you said just "dead" that broadens the field.

I too would love to talk to C.S. Lewis and many of the others, thank heavens they left their writing and their art for us. And as for Jesus Christ, we can talk to Him (prayer, you know!), so that's good. My mom's name is Dorothy - she hates it, thinks it's dorky, always went by "Dot" but I like the sound of Dorothy. Esp. if you say it properly in 3 syllables instead of "Dorthy."

I would like to spend time with some of my blog friends, like you. But oops, you're living (thankfully!) so I guess I can't pick you on this one. But my Dad - I wish I had been able to spend more time with him. He was awol most of my life, we only reconnected in the last few years, and there is so much I didn't get to ask him about. I'd like to talk to authors, too, like Louisa May Alcott and Jane Austin and Dickens. Ok, I think I've left a long enough comment, better leave room for other people!

Becky said...

What a fun idea! I second MLK. As to your question, I will officially graduate nursing school in about 20 days.....

Anonymous said...

Let's see.

1. My older brothers. I haven't seen them since I was 14 or so, and they hate my mom now. So I have no idea what is going on with them. I'm probably an aunt by now.

2. My foster sister. I lost track of her too, but she is one of the best people I have ever known.

3. Joss Whedon. He tells stories that touch me deeply. There is just something about him that inspires friendship in me. Plus, he is a total genius.

4. Me as a kid. I would tell myself NEVER to cosign on Sean's loan. Ugh.

5. My Beloved in his younger days. He was already 32 when I met him, but I see pictures of him in high school and his 20's and I fall in love all over again.

Anonymous said...

What a great post Connie. Too funny that you put CS Lewis first, he would be my first too. I would also love to talk with my grandparents, as well as my mother-in-law, who died when John was just 8. It is so strange never to have known her. The last person would be the most important though. My son. He would have been 6 this year.

campbell said...

There is so many people I would like to talk with. But the first would be my grandma who died the day I was blessed. I never knew her but I feel so close to her. Also Joseph and Emma Smith I have so many questions for them. We read and hear so many stories but I don't think we know it all.. just everything they went through.

Anonymous said...

My mother. Not a day goes by that I don't think of her and of something I'd like to ask or tell her. Plus, I wish I'd asked her more about family history and some of the fascinating people in her family and in my father's too. I miss my father too,but he was never much of a talker.

Anonymous said...

connie...you're so deep. i can't even begin to pare down the list of people i'd like to speak to. instead, i'll take the easy way out and say the S.L.O.B.s.