The Beauty Of Creation

Right off the bat we should establish that this is in no way a religious thing so lets not let the title of this post mislead you. I just let my mind drift as it normally does and I got to thinking about the creation of art, entertainment, stories, basically anything that has a human at the helm. It’s incredible for me to think that something doesn’t exist and then a person brings it into existence, possibly altering the mind of someone observing whatever it is. The impact that creation can have on someone is hard to comprehend. Many times we see a work of art or a quote, and it alters our thinking - Literally changing our lives. It makes me wonder about creations that exists in the world that I’ve never seen, or creations that almost never were.

I’m not sure if creation is as appreciated as it should be, especially now. We live in a time where we’re spoiled with information and content. We’re in a microwave attention span time-period so I feel that much of the things we see we take for granted simply because we’re trained to look and move on.

Also, we have access to the greatest site in the world, YouTube, and it allows us to watch an auteur create a five minute story that took him three months along with blood, sweat, and tears, but on the flip side you can also watch a cat jump on a hamster but was filmed by a ten year old in sixty seconds.  Does watching cat on hamster pull us from appreciation of good calculated creation? Also, who's to say what is “good” and what isn’t? But really, that’s the beauty of creation! We don’t know what’s good or bad until we see it. You may be reading this post and thinking it’s the biggest piece of shit of all time, you may be right, but it wasn’t in your life five minutes ago… so wrap your mind around that.

Shall we dig a little deeper and talk about the creation of human life? I don’t think that’s the best idea at this current moment. My mind is overloaded right now just thinking about this subject, when I pull back and try to relax I’m left with one solid conclusion: Creation is amazing, and what you create says more about you than what you’ve probably ever intended, but that’s the beauty of it. As long as people create then people will keep thinking of newer things to create… It’s essentially evolving the world.

Inevitable Wisconsin Reflection.

As I sit in my bed at my mom’s house in Greendale, Wisconsin I realize that I haven’t lived in this state for nearly ten years. I almost can’t comprehend that. Wow, time flies, it really does. People always told me things would go fast, I sort of believed it, but “sort of” is now 100% gone, there is no doubt. The reflection of how fast time moves opens up a waterfall of thought about how I should utilize time, how I should be living life, treating others, treating myself, if I’m living the right way, if I’m happy, and what kind of strides I’m making in my life.

Uh oh, the obvious life-reflection-when-I-come-home moment is in full force. Well, it’s necessary. Sometimes you need to take stock of your life and how you’re growing as a person…or not growing. On the flip, maybe it isn’t normal to reflect as much as I am? Sometimes too much reflection can lead to doubt, for me at least.  The ideal case is that reflection leads to growth, but that isn’t always the case.

The beauty of having a small town like Greendale is that it’s always a reminder of where I’m from. It’s a simple reminder of who I was, and to an even larger extent, how I got to be who I am. I wonder if that’s the case for everyone when they return to their hometown?

The things written above is a stream of thought that I’ve had many times in past. My personal conclusion inevitable. However, now I tell myself to get there faster. I try to avoid the rabbit hole of emotion that comes with reflection. Also, time is flying, life is short, lets just conclude…

Live often, and live fast but do it slowly because life is short. And to echo a mantra that isn’t mine: “seek and find.” 

Ideas.

Here in Los Angeles there is an unspoken (and spoken) thought that you should never openly discuss ideas. The reasoning behind it is pretty simple… someone will steal it. Fortunately I’ve never blatantly had an idea stolen from me (that I knew of) and I secretly really hope it’s not because all of my ideas were terrible.

This thought process really says a lot about the type of people here in Los Angeles. When people typically steal things it means they’re desperate, right? I guess that can be debated. One argument could be made that everyone is stealing or “duplicating” a previous idea at some point. The bottom line is that when it comes 95 percent of films we’re all copying or stealing themes, stories, thoughts, and ideas. Seriously. But lets not walk down that road because it leaves too much to be debated, we need to back track a little and specify the ideas we’re dealing with.

I’m talking about me talking to John Doe and I tell him that I’m going to write a film and here’s the idea… And then John Doe turns it and uses it for himself – That’s the type of idea stealing I’m currently talking about. But I’ve been doing a lot of thinking on this subject and I’d like to take a moment and say fuck that train of thought.

The reality is, is that your idea is your idea and nobody can ever really duplicate your vision. Lets take Jurassic Park for a moment – Nobody could have done what Michael Crichton did and weave one of the top 10 coolest stories of all time, but people can try. The beauty of art is that nobody can ever put your stamp on it - that’s what makes something great.

When dealing with stories and the entertainment industry I think it’s a great idea to openly discuss your ideas. It allows you to fine tune your vision and get instant feedback on what you’re doing. Not to mention - if someone is desperate enough to turn and steal your idea then have pity (or just say fuck them), they’re desperate and they’re not going to sustain in whatever they’re doing.

This is all up for debate and maybe I’d feel a bit different if I was screwed over by some idea thief. I just think it’s great to talk out new ideas and challenge yourself, who knows maybe someone will challenge you.

****

Roughly 30 minutes later.

I just got a call from my friend and told him what I was writing and my thoughts on ideas. He told me I was crazy and wrong and proceeded to bring up some valid points and why it’s a stupid idea to talk ideas out with people. We then met at a middle ground and I agreed it should *maybe just be kept in a trusted circle.

Maybe… But F that, I just wrote all the above and feel good about it.

Thinking.

I just saw a movie – I wonder who’s in it? Checking the Internet movie database, oh yes of course, that one guy from that one thing. Well, since I’m on the computer I mine as well click a few more links and browse a little bit to check out Actors. Oh, this guy is in that one Oscar Wilde adaptation? Cool. Well, since I’m here I should click on Oscar Wilde, nice; a few quotes of his just came up, here’s one that sticks out –

“A man who does not think for himself does not think at all”

Yeah, no shit, Wilde. Wait, something just caught my attention, a link to t-shirts with quotes on them, and not just any quotes, I can look at all sorts of T-shirt quotes – funny, famous, characters etc… God, I love the Internet. Sure, I’ll take a look.

CLICK.

Oh no way, a link to more graphic T’s, here’s a funny one with a Velociraptor doing a rubix cube that says “Clever Girl”. Wow this is indeed very clever and also a pretty great quote from an even greater movie, you know I think I should send this link to my friend.

Open G-mail, pull up “compose” and then I see it – an advertisement discussing low euro rail passes. Well, this is great because I’ve been looking for cheap tickets for a trip I’m going to be taking.

CLICK.

Looking and browsing and checking all of the prices on various dates… What the hell, the euro rail has a Facebook page?

CLICK.

Oh I have a new message. Cool! My friend has a film in a festival and needs people to vote so it can get a high rating at the fest.

CLICK. (Voted).

Interesting, there’s a banner for another film with a familiar guy. Who is this guy? Internet movie database time, I’m back to the database and headline is talking about Zoolander 2.

CLICK.

Wait, I need to focus here for a second. And then it hit me, as a wise man that I once heard of named Oscar Wilde said: “A man who does not think for himself does not think at all.” Am, I thinking for myself right now? Or am I scattered from information overload that I can’t complete simple tasks? But here’s the catch – All of this information is my interests and essentially placed in their spots due to my search preferences. I need to read that quote again because I’m starting to fear my past thinking for myself doesn’t have me thinking in the present.

The quote seemed simple enough but I’m coming to realize that my thinking is becoming progressively scattered. I’m not sure if it’s my natural personality to lose focus so quickly or the fact that I have so much great information at my finger tips that I’m gluttonous with what I want to see and learn, maybe it’s both. But either way I’m reaffirmed on how important thinking is, and on the flip side thinking too much can be a hamper, which leads to over analyzing and lack of decision-making.

I’m trying to connect these dots here and I’m not to certain what I’m exactly getting at here but I can sense it’s something, and I just need to think about it a bit.