It's in the Making

For some, imagination remains a mental exercise. Our minds are capable of conjuring vivid sights and sounds that can activate a range of emotions, including excitement and yearning. Remember a moment when you were engrossed in something you imagined? Perhaps you got so carried away in a daydream that only a rude interruption could bring you back to your everyday. That’s the power of imagination.

But as long as what we imagine remains a thought or an idea, it doesn’t really come to life. Creators give form to thoughts and ideas in order to make them real. That takes doing. And the doing usually involves making. That’s where we’re faced with the challenges of form and material. That’s where our commitment to our vision is tested. And that’s where most of the learning happens: finding out what we do and don’t know; the false starts and failures; the new tools, materials, and methods.

Everything comes together in the doing, in taking action.

So if you’re one of those creative types who can’t seem to get things out of your head and into the world, try this:  make something.

Give those ideas form. Make them concrete: write them, list them, doodle them, dance them, model them, sing them. Make them real. Brush up against your limitations and surmount them. Go back to the drawing board. Learn how to use a new tool or material. Play with stuff. Make a mess. Get engaged with the forming and you’ll be engaged in the making.

Before you know it, you’ll be facing something new, something you did. Something that changed you in the making.