The pursuit of perfection (or, the death of productive creativity)

No fancy graphics this time. Just words.

I'm sure I've explained that I'm stopping the PC upgrades and constant reading about new gear and software so that I can focus on music. That is happening. But there's more to it than that. I've discovered that time previously spent doing something creatively productive (which includes more writing of posts like this one) is spent reading news about the economy or the game industry, or reading the fail blog for example.

This stuff, even more than kids, sucks your time away like nothing else before.

Before the internet there was email and BBS, and before that there were user groups. Personal interaction and even one on one time with yourself has been replaced with surfing the web and communicating with the outside world. Where before you read a single newsletter called "Nintendo Fun Club News" and your gameplay time was a single console, and discussing it was only done on the phone (which was limited) and at school, where you had no choice but to socialize personally (well, most had no choice), now you can explore the world from your toilet and gain a wealth of knowledge without actually experiencing anything firsthand.

In many ways this explosion of awareness has led to a more rapid acceleration of usability with all manner of devices. Case in point, I just got a Blackberry Storm. As I was looking for apps for it I stopped myself. What a waste of time. I could do this for the rest of my life and not accomplish squat. 

No more. I've got a backlog of DAT recordings. I've got an album to write. A guitar to practice. Game composers to interview. I've got about ten other projects that have been thrown by the wayside because of this new access to the world and its drive for bigger and better.

Enough. It is time to leave the rat race and not keep up with the Joneses. It is time to create a cocoon of creativity and limit communications to those my brain can process in a meaningful way. Those such as you, CS readers.

Comments

[trinsic]

Sometimes you have to stop and listen to your inner teacher. Creativity is the life blood of the soul, and when you spend too much time out of it, life can become jaded. Our mind likes to process things like gadgetry for its own ends, and then when we realize it is just a small part of the bigger picture we don't let it take to much control of our day to day stuff. Its all about achieving balance IMHO. :D

We all love your music Alex, when you put music into the world, you change the very nature of consciousness.

[Alex]

That, and I'm not kidding, brought a tear to my eye. Great words Trinsic. Thank you.

[Jayson]

Let's Blackberry Messenger! =D