How to be a Creator #3: Recognize the intersections

Active Recall

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2y ago 8:56

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Shout out ChatGPT for this summary:

In this recording, I share my thoughts on the importance of intersections and imitation in creativity. Drawing from David Chang's "Eat a Peach" and Jerry Saltz's "How to Be an Artist", I argue that aspiring creators should cast their nets wide and cultivate a broad set of skills. How, you ask? Well, it involves stepping out of your comfort zone and exploring different fields. Imagine chefs experimenting with recipes from a cookbook - we can all apply the same approach. Now, let's add an interesting twist. Think of combining different interests, much like Steve Jobs blending calligraphy and technology, or MKBHD melding tech with ultimate Frisbee. Intriguing, isn't it? So here's my tip: Find your intersection and dive into it. It's a unique blend that could lead to your breakthrough in the creative world.

That sounds probably better than what I would’ve come up with.

Here’s the David Chang quote

Study Shakespeare instead. Even if you're 100% sure that you want to be a chef, I would still urge you to go to college over culinary school. Culinary technique makes cooks. If you want to be a chef, you need a far broader set of skills.

[…]

I was a religion major and studying the Bhagavad Gita changed my life. So did studying logic and Godel's incompleteness theorems. Joining the debate club, practice, piano, write for the college newspaper.

[…]

Pick a state school with a low tuition in a vibrant food city. Like Austin, Houston, Los Angeles. Chicago San Francisco or New York and get a job in a restaurant or a bar.

And then Jerry Saltz’s quote

Feel free to imitate. We all start as copycats. People who make pastiches of other people's work. Fine. Do that. However, when you do this, focus, start to feel the sense of possibility and making all these things your own. Even when the ideas, tools and moves come from other artists.

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