When it comes to thinking about ways to improve our lives, businesses or other personal goals, there’s a tendency to consider addition as an option. I need to add services ‘X’, ‘Y’, and ‘Z’ to be more competitive in my market. I have to acquire this device to be more creative. I will buy all these products to be healthier.
I recently came across the concept of subtractive knowledge: “the idea that the most robust knowledge consists of understanding what is incorrect and what to avoid.” (Joseph Markel).
So, instead of adding, how about subtracting? Here’s a few more thoughts on this approach.
The first time I discovered this song, I thought it was a spoof. The original song is called Garota de Ipanema (“The Girl from Ipanema“), which was written in Portuguese in 1962 by Vinícius de Moraes and composed by Antonio Carlos Jobim. And, as pointed in the title, it talks about a girl that swings so cool and sways so gentle.
I found funny that someone would replace the word “girl” with “boy” and change a few more words here and there to match the “boy” theme. Now that I think about it, this is actually an interesting approach for a cover song. There has been 100 versions of it, and each is so unique in its own way; however, rewording it and turning into a different version refreshes the cover.
This is a great example that shows that, in the creative process, everything is a remix.
Everything we create is copied, transformed, and combined from our culture.
Kirby ferguson
Or from Ben Murray’s perspective, as written in Remixing Culture and Why the Art of the Mash-Up Matters, “all cultural artifacts are open to re-appropriation.” The results can be truly fruitful. As I did a bit more research on this song, I found that Diana Krall isn’t the only singer that has interpreted The Boy from Ipanema. Shirley Bassey, Petula Clark, Rosemary Clooney, Ella Fitzgerald, Eartha Kitt, Peggy Lee, The Supremes, Crystal Waters, and Sarah Vaughan also did it. Even if it’s the same song, each performance provides a different vibe to it.
How about Nancy Wilson’s version? It’s completely different than Diana’s.
We all need to be on learning mode at any stage of our lives.
It doesn’t matter how experienced we are in our professions. It doesn’t matter if we aren’t going to school anymore.
As snow falls outside and confinement remains the same, I’ve been thinking about my days as a university student. I look back and see myself sitting near the lecturer’s desk to avoid any distractions. I see my notebook ready for notes along with a black pen and a red pen to scribble as much as possible.
I was receptive to learning.
For the real world, I believe that same formula is worth implementing. Our lives and professions nowadays are demanding us to adapt to new forms of operating. The transition turns difficult when there’s resistance; however, in learning mode, it is possible to approach challenges with new eyes.
At the same time, learning means being willing to accept that there’s a whole world inside of ourselves that we know little about. We need to stay curious to unblock our own minds.
Learning is discovery, the discovery of the cause of our ignorance. However, the best way of learning is not the computation of information. Learning is discovering, uncovering what is there in us. When we discover, we are uncovering our own ability, our own eyes, in order to find our potential, to see what is going on, to discover how we can enlarge our lives, to find means at our disposal that will let us cope with a difficult situation.
(…)
Learning is definitely not mere imitation or the ability to accumulate and conform to fixed knowledge. Learning is a constant process of discovery and never a concluding one.
I recently wrote about the editing process when you are a new author. This time, I want to talk about an author’s mindset when working with an editor. Interactions will vary from person to person, but I think it’s worth noting a few aspects before the work starts.
What do you need to know about this professional relationship you’re in the process of developing? I attempt to answer with a few thoughts and my own experiences for you to have an idea.
Lately, I’ve come across so many quotes and ideas expressed by Marcus Aurelius, Roman emperor and Stoic philosopher. This one has been resonating a lot lately:
I do what is mine to do. The rest does not disturb me. (Marcus Aurelius)
Some time ago, I read somewhere that blogs were dead. Online communication has mutated in such way that this kind of platform is no longer relevant. At least not as relevant as it “used to be.”
I disagree with that idea. Blogs are still very much alive. They’re the window to a person’s mind and creative crafts. It’s a platform where someone can introduce themselves to the online world without any editorial guidelines.
The past few months have been really challenging for the world. At a personal level, the shock of living in times of a pandemic has impacted me in ways I never imagined.
As confinement began, it became clear to me that it’d be important to take breaks from information to protect my mental health. It was overwhelming to read so many articles related to economies collapsing, layoffs and increasing number of of COVID cases.
I remember reading a headline that suggested that the world would never be the same again. It was scary to think about that possibility. Nowadays, the term “new normal” starts to be more common. It’s difficult to imagine how the aftermath is going to look like for each one of us. Even when COVID goes away, the collateral damage will still be around in our personal lives.
This is the first time that I think of patience as a form of action. To me, it has always meant sitting still while waiting for life to happen. When I read that quote, my perception suddenly changed. It didn’t take long to convince myself that patience is motion.
In my student years in journalism school, I remember interviewing a young lady about entrepreneurship and making a living out of art. One idea that stood out for me in that conversation was taking “baby steps” when working on any creative craft. Great accomplishments are the sum of all efforts made one day at a time. It’s the repetition of small actions on a daily basis.
I also thought of the time I took swimming lessons. The instructor quickly sensed how frustrated I got when I tried different strokes and my body didn’t respond the way I wanted it to. His words still resonate even today: “you have to be patient with yourself.” It’s a matter of changing a mindset or breaking a habit, and these actions need constant repetition; one day at a time.
So when someone says “be patient”, that actually means “work on something and go step by step. You’ll get there.”
The other day I saw someone on Twitter asking about the rules to write poetry. While there must be great pointers to get started, I think it’s valid to go with your own instinct. Being unaware of any ‘rules’ allows you to figure out your own techniques.
If you did learn how to do something, unlearning is a good idea to fuel your creativity. I’m thinking of Austin Kleon and his blind contour drawings, where he’s drawing a self portrait without looking at the page. He’s drawn his own cartoons for years, but this time, he’s trying something completely different. To me, he’s unlearning to rediscover his craft.
I remember my days on the basketball team when I was in high school. Sometimes, our coach changed our routine to learn new moves. That’s when we played volleyball or soccer to gain other physical or mental abilities to apply on the basketball court. It was also refreshing to switch to a different sport from time to time.
Sometimes, it’s healthy to forget about ‘the way things should be’ to leave room for exploration and playfulness.
If you had to unlearn your craft again, how would you do it?
Sometimes, your thoughts can’t stay in your mind all the time.
Sometimes, it’s a good idea to talk to someone you trust. We all need to rant from time to time to get rid of all the things we’ve kept to ourselves.
Other times, thoughts are so private that it’s hard to share them with someone or in a blog. That’s when journals come to the rescue. I’ve been journaling for 23 years, and even when it seems that I’ve lost the habit of composing my private notes, I retake it, and my mind finds peace again.
There’s a place where the world can’t reach you and judge you: the pages of a journal. I find that introspection is therapy for the soul. When you write down your emotions and thoughts as you feel them or as you mean them, you create a new self. You get rid of all mental blocks and think clearly.
You’ll be surprised of all the answers you can find in your own words. You can be as bold as you like, and no one will be offended.
If you manage to maintain this habit for years, it’s useful to read past entries from time to time to remind yourself how you overcame tough situations. You can also remind yourself what things made you happy at a certain point and retake them.
