It’s a Wide Avenue of Wonderment
I recently unearthed some of my old writings – and I mean REALLY old, like, from the 1970s. (Seals & Crofts who?)
The boxes contained folder after folder of horribleishness, full of inexcusable habits – like MADE UP WORDS. This stuff, which I can only label “E for Effort,” is a reminder that I’ve apparently been putting pen to paper longer than I realized. I’m sure many of us have been toiling away at our creative passions since our earliest times, in school, at home, and hither and yon in coffee houses all over the world, providing glimpses of our future selves.
To launch a conversation about “paths,” I must consult … the Ginormous Webster’s Dictionary, which, shockingly, does not contain words like “horribleishness.” Go figure.
Path: “a course of action, conduct or procedure.” And: “a route, course or path along which something moves.”
With each passing decade, I can see that, at the core, I’ve been on the same creative path my whole life. While it has appeared in a myriad of forms of expression via the visual arts, design, art direction, and writing, my creative output has always centered on conveying concepts. Some have been more strategic, like corporate creative services, and client branding and identity work. Others more about editorial ideation based simply on my experiences as a member of society, with all its psychological and sociological meanderings.
I have ultimately come to realize that I have not strayed very far from the essence of my conceptual pathway. It’s the trail I am supposed to take, evidently, because it appears I am always moving along it, even when I do not actively notice.
How does one uncover their path type? Some suggestions:
1) Dig through The Shtuffs. I am lucky to still have old boxes to sift through. (Some would debate this. Strongly. But as a “self-historic-archivist” I am simply helping out my future biographers!) You can also interview family and friends to find out about your hazy, creative youth.
2) Assemble a chronological portfolio. Not only will you discover patterns, but you may also encounter the genesis of current topics that were buried within old processes. I have even found themes to revisit in new mediums this way.
3) Take an intensive creative workshop – in any medium or craft. You will observe thinking, working and creativity patterns that, especially when contrasted with a room full of others, reveal ways that you think, process and produce.
4) Meet with a peer group. Retreats, communication workshops, and meet-ups can provide some impartial, useful observances.
5) Engage in personal reflection. Meditation, journaling, sketching, and sharing with best friends can also allow insights to bubble-up to the surface.
I’m fond of an old quote from American Werewolf in London: “Stay off the moor!” You know, because otherwise you’ll get snarfed-up by a werewolf. Which ranks pretty high on the “this is not what I had planned for today” meter. The good news is any path can really be quite wide. I imagine walking down a very broad avenue, with lots of room for wonderment, yet safe from wolves. And Zombies. Because getting all Zombie-fied is also highly distracting!
Back to that old box of “bad” (if I were going to label it) writing… yet another definition of “path” is “a way beaten, formed or trodden by the feet of persons or animals.” In addition to our uncovering proof within our pasts of our own steadfast progression, there is also evidence of the many who have gone before us, carving-out the way. May we all continue to see our own efforts as valid, in combination with appreciating those who have hacked away a bit to the left and a bit to the right over time, giving us room to explore and grow.