If you’re going to be anywhere near
Slidell, Louisiana this Saturday, I’m going to be giving a presentation on creativity
that is free and open to the public. The topic is “Dreams and Creativity: How to Enhance Your Art through Dreaming.” The
presentation will be hosted by the Artists Galleries de Juneau, located at 2143
First St. in Slidell. That’s Saturday, July 11th from 1:00 to 3:00 pm.
The talk will cover the physical characteristics
of dreaming, ways to improve dream recall, and how to harness your dreams to
create art. There will be a question and answer period after, and I’ll have
copies of my book, Write With Fire:Thoughts on the Craft of Writing, available for sale. Below is one little
piece of the talk, about the care and feeding of dreams.
If you spend
most of your time dealing with the reality of jobs, family, politics, and
paying the bills, then that’s where your dream content comes from. And such
mundane dreams, which make up most of what any person dreams about, are not
well remembered. It’s the weird and the strange that we remember.
A lot of art is
about seeing the world in some new way, some unusual way. If you want your
dreams to help you with your art, start feeding it some unusual things. Watch
TV shows and movies that you don’t usually watch. Read books you don’t usually
read. Take some risks.
Dreams also come
from things you are emotionally invested in. Read and watch stuff that makes
you uncomfortable. Push your own envelope. If all you experience are those
things that make you feel safe and protected, then how can you expect your
dreams to help you create. Feed your head some weird stuff. That will feed your
dreams, and, just maybe, your art.
9 comments:
Wish I was there, a most interesting topic! To me creativity is grounded in Inter Est or a very focused passion. But, I'm not either a writer nor English speaking lol
Hugs,
Anna-Lys
Right on, man ~ very nicely put, indeed.
Recent travels triggered a whole series of wild and weird dreams -- different sleeping places, types of travel, multiple languages -- a lot to process in dream spaces and otherwise. Cool stuff. This is yet another great topic.
Few too many states away! I know you will do awesome.
Anny-lys, there's a name I haven't seen in a while. Hope you have been well. thanks for visiting.
Erik, absolutely, change is good for dreams!
Alex, yeah, I know most folks who read my blog won't be able to make it but oh well.
I hope you will have a great talk today. Creative dreaming is still as mystifying and exciting as back in the day when I was devouring Carlos Castaneda novels.
I really wish I could be there as I have recorded hundreds of dreams in journals over the past thirty or so years.
Interesting essay on dream creativity, Charles. I usually get mundane dreams and if I got any weird and strange ones, I don't remember them next morning.
Bernard, it's fun stuff to talk about.
Sage, then you've got a head start on most folks.
Prashant, talked quite a bit about ways to improve dream recall. Eventually I'm going to do an essay on the topic.
I have the most vivid dreams. I thought everyone did, until I started sharing them with friends.
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