Sunday, November 12, 2006
Creativity Service
The service tonight reflected on the creativity element of the moot rhythm of life: Looking firstly at the barriers we often limit ourselves with and moving on to explore and speculate on how we might live, learn and encounter God in the city. Researching the service unearthed lot of chewy quotes, some of which were used in the service:‘If you know exactly what you’re going to do, what’s the good of doing it? Since you already know, the exercise is pointless. It is better to do something else.’ Picasso
‘Starting a novel demands a conscious falling through the window; a journey through the looking glass, and a return to the imaginative courage of the child.’ Madeleine L’Engle
‘Art is the elimination of the unnecessary’ Picasso ‘Good taste is the enemy of creativity.’ Picasso
‘Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties.’ Erich Fromm
‘Conditions for creativity are to be puzzled; to concentrate; to accept conflict and tension; to be born everyday; to feel a sense of self.’ Erich Fromm
‘Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes, and having fun.’ Mary Lou Vook
‘The creative act, the defeat of habit by originality, overcomes everything.’ George Lois
'Every act of creation is first of all an act of destruction.' Picasso
'The human body has two ends on it: one to create with and one to sit on. Sometimes people get their ends reversed. When this happens they need a kick in the seat of the pants.' Roger von Oech
‘The "silly question" is the first intimation of some totally new development.’ Unknown
"It's the same each time with progress. First they ignore you, then they say you're mad, then dangerous, then there's a pause and then you can't find anyone who disagrees with you." Tony Benn
‘Creativity, it has been said, consists largely of re-arranging what we know in order to find out what we do not know.’
George Keller
'Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.' Scott Adams
‘God is really only another artist. He invented the giraffe, the elephant and the cat. He has no real style, He just goes on trying other things.’ Picasso
'Another word for creativity is courage' George Prince
The closing devotion was adapted from the lyrics to an Eden Burning song called Let me Lose. The Sony bouncy ball advert is available here and James Turrell images here.
