State Of Mind Guiding Creativity?

[tonylovell]

The remote viewing thread really made me think about my writing. When I write, trying to get to the heart of a story is so much like trying to tune into the 'subspace mind' (from what I can gather). It's like you can feel when you hit the truth, and know it will go wrong when you force it. It's so strange I got wondering if there's a place we go when we're creating, something akin to these strange places. Anyone else had similiar feelings about this?

Also, this year we watched a documentary on crane drivers. They said there's a phenomena called 'Crane happy' (I might have got that title wrong) where you can tell a crane driver has been doing it too long because they have strange looks in their eyes, like Moses coming down from the mountain with his look of God on his face. I wonder what happens to the mind at these times, but certainly feel there's something 'holy' connecting it all (not necessairly religious, but surely transcendental).

 

[tonylovell]

And michelangelo - didn't he say the staues he sculpted were wainting 'in' the mountains for him? He was onto it, wasn't he...

 

[TinFinger_]

dont know if its similar but i sometimes get an odd sensation (fnarfnar lol)
but its akin to time slowing down ,ish
it happens at work usually when its very very busy
i get so caught up in the jobs that need doing sometimes i feel like everything else has slowed down as it seems like i have to wait for stuff that before was ontop of me
its kinda hard to describe but its like im going faster than before,in my mind etc,but the world aint so all the varied tasks that were too much become slower and easier to do

suppose its akin to being "in the zone" and think it probably happens to most people in there chosen job

 

[tonylovell]

I think that's it. This 'zone' state. It's like our problems don't exist anymore. I remember hearing somewhere that happy people are more likely to see ghosts than scared ones, which often goes against the grain of accusations that people who are anxious tend to see them (to be honest, I think anxious people are more likey to 'create' them.).
Are we more connected when we are happy? I think so. Is it the 'subspace mind' we are connecting with?

 

[TinFinger_]

happy people have calmer minds maybe its this calmness which is the key
when your mind is in turmoil im sure you dont see the world the same as happy people lol
remmember reading that the actual things you see happened a fraction of a second ago as it take a little while for the signal from the eyes to be sorted by the brain,maybe ghosts are bourne out of this delay.

 

[sciotofloods]

Also, this year we watched a documentary on crane drivers. They said there's a phenomena called 'Crane happy' (I might have got that title wrong) where you can tell a crane driver has been doing it too long because they have strange looks in their eyes, like Moses coming down from the mountain with his look of God on his face. I wonder what happens to the mind at these times, but certainly feel there's something 'holy' connecting it all (not necessairly religious, but surely transcendental).

I think the explanation is intense concentration on repetitive procedures, coupled with the isolation of being up in the crane. These are both basic components of many religious practices that seek mystic or transcendental experiences. Think chanting, counting beads, pacing around a temple/church, playing repetitive patterns on a musical instrument, bowing, monastic or hermetic lifestyles. I think even some athletic practices can produce the same affects. The continual practice can sometimes lead to transcendent moments of physical and spiritual union.

 

[tonylovell]

And throw the God's eye view into it and presto. That was my 'creative' link; the isolation, going into states of mind. There is an element of watching things unfold in writing that has nothing to do with control. It's connected, I'm sure.

 

[oldrover]

And michelangelo - didn't he say the staues he sculpted were wainting 'in' the mountains for him? He was onto it, wasn't he...

Michelangelo said that he saw his work in the blocks of marble waiting to be freed, it is perhaps interesting to compare the tenderness and delicacy of some of his sculpture, his main medium, particularly the Pietas with his laboured painting style.

For examples of 'it', I'd suggest comparing Michelangelo with Bernini, at least as technically competent but totally, in my opinion, soulless, as is Ingre another master technician, against Degas, especially in 'Absinthe', whose effect transcends Ingres coldly polished technique.

It's like you can feel when you hit the truth, and know it will go wrong when you force it.

I think that comparison of Caravaggio and Rembrandt illustrate this, look at the bland faces of a Caravaggio portrait against the intense humanity of one of Rembrandt's, equally against Caravaggio's compositions, where along with the grand spectacle it's there in spades, Rembrandt's seem trite, contrived, poor and trivial.

From a much lesser personal experience, I've always thought that the creative process, if successful, is the result of a series of happy accidents and the art of it is to realise their value, before trying to correct them.

 

[tonylovell]

This sounds like me with Picasso; I never 'go' anywhere with his work, feel only a cerebral rush. A small, much lesser known artist like David Inshaw really transports me, or folk like Bonnard. Picasso 'paints' - these little guys do something else altogether.