Zencherry: A Colorful Life (Creativity Series: Guest Post)

It was a cold day in hell September where I had the misfortune  fortune to come across a very interesting blog called Zencherry.

As I was reading along I just was struck by how funny this woman could be: this woman whose name shall not be named, unless she so wishes. Funny, poignant, witty, thought provoking… All this and more. She was the first to come to my aid when I called out for guest posts for this new creativity series.

It is my pleasure to welcome you to the mind of Zencherry.

#1 in The Creativity Series:

Zencherry: A Colorful Life

 

Stuart was foolish kind enough to allow me to guest host on his blog today so a big tip of the ultra cool hat I picked up for this special occasion.

Acck! (Spits feathers out) Maybe not, my freakish hair just can’t compete with that. Ooo I know!

 

 

 

 

That’s better. (Looks around at Casablanca ambiance going on) Now this is my kind of hat! And blog for that matter.

 

 

Stuart is always asking real stumpers on his site. Things like: What Constitutes Education  and in Re-imagining and Reboots in Life where he asks “What are you doing with your life?”

Today he’s asked me to broach the subject of (dah, dah, daaaah) CREATIVITY

(Pats sound man on the back and gives them a drink) Hey, you’ve got to keep your sound people happy even if they are just figments of your imagination.

Oooo and there it is. The touchstone of life. Yep, no need to go looking into thick, sneezy-dust-inducing textbooks or consort with demons to bargain your soul away, a person has everything they need to succeed in life within them. Just grab your equivalent of black quartz and rub the content of your day up against it like they did to test gold and silver.

Are you having a drab day? Well, that would be your fault. Sorry. It’s true. I don’t care if your boss is chewing you out, your belly is empty, your shoe has a hole in it, and you just put your foot in your mouth. A bad day is one to be laughed at. Look at your boss. Isn’t that expression priceless? Do they even realize that their eyebrow twitches like a caterpillar on acid? Your belly is grumbling? Well hey…welcome to the stomach orchestra, just watch out for that tuba. And doesn’t your toe just look like a little pig down there? Wonder if it can wiggle while it’s turning blue. Foot in mouth? Oh but that’s the best. It’s the lifeblood of comedy.

Perspective baby. Perspective.

Stuart asked specifically that I speak on the W’s of creativity: Who, what, where, and why.

What do I consider creative? Blowing spit bubbles. I’ve had hours a little bit of fun with this.

Where do I use creativity? When I rationalize that a cupcake will not blossom into a muffin top over my skinny jeans. Well that and my use of hair gel.

Who has inspired me? Everyone that I observe or come in contact with. Perspectives are so much fun to look at. I like to pick up the spectacles of others to see how they’re looking at things. Makes all these sort of disagreements that the world tends to have a little more funny and comprehensible. Well, truth be told, Bugs Bunny was a driving force there for a while. Sarcasm with a carrot? Classic.

Why is creativity important to me? Ever watch Pleasantville with William H. Macy? Look beyond the dialogue if it annoys you. Look at the imagery. Everything is black and white…everything looks idyllic and yet so much is missing: The truth of the struggle going on around them like the segregation, censorship…you get the picture. Leading a creative, (read colorful), life brings with it a heavy toll of understanding the spectrum of the human experience.

I guess that’s why so many creative people suffer from depression and why so many people avoid creativity, (whether subliminally or not). It’s easy to feel other’s experiences like a heavy blow and to keep everything black and white. It’s easy to try to avoid it altogether or to hold onto to it too heavily. Where’s the middle? Humor. But that’s just my opinion.

Creativity helps us enjoy life. And that is something that when I’m sitting there drawing my last breath is the wallpaper observation that Oscar Wilde left us with that I’ll be hanging onto:

“My wallpaper and I are fighting a duel to the death. One or the other of us has to go.”

Meanwhile, you can find me hanging out on Twitter under the tag @zencherry or at my blog: http://www.zencherry.wordpress.com . If you’re a NaNoWriMo participant, come on over and buddy up. I’m zencherry on there and we’ll paint that site red together. Okay, purple polka dots, your choice. J

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