Communal gathering spots have never held much
interest for me. I don’t find inspiration in crowded coffee shops or large
arenas. Some would argue that these social gathering spots are the anchor of
community life and as such facilitate and foster interpersonal interaction and
group consensus. That may be true for the majority of folks but not all of us.
Aside from home (often referred to as one’s first
place and the workplace (often referred to as the second place), many folks
have a third place or third space for their social gatherings. It’s where they
go to socialize among like-minded souls of a similar bent. But my experience
has been that group mindset can be wrong as often as it is right. Like-minded
souls can still foster perpetuate group-think no matter the logic.
I’ve always been suspicious of going with the flow
if for no other reason than the fact that alternate views can often be so much
more stimulating. Or perhaps I just chose to make up my own mind.
My prejudice toward the ‘old men at the coffee shop’
is legendary. I’ve come to see those old codgers as relics well past their
prime who seem to be unhappy with anything and everything around them. They
talk ‘at’ one another but never ‘to’ one another. They listen only to the
extent that they are waiting for a chance to butt in. There are seldom any new
ideas exchanged. It’s just the same old same old rehashed and regurgitated back
out again. This may not be a fair criticism but I have yet to find any example
to prove me wrong.
Probably my greatest criticism against group-think
is the absence of fresh thoughts and ideas. I need a third place to find my
inspiration. What I keep looking for are those pockets of time and place that
lend themselves to creativity.
Many folks think that creativity comes from chaining
oneself to their desk and just focusing on the computer screen until inspiration
hits. Nothing could be further from the truth. It’s moments like that when you
need to escape your present reality and create a new one. You need to do
anything and everything to distract yourself from the task ahead. By unchaining
your mind from the restraint of forced thought, you unleash your subconscious
powers. Einstein is quoted as saying that “Creativity is the residue of time
wasted.”
Jonah Lehrer, who was recently fired from the New
Yorker for making up quotes from Bob Dylan, has nevertheless written an
interesting book entitled: “Imagine: How Creativity Works.”
In his book, Lehrer describes how Dylan, being burnt
out in his role as political folk music icon, put away his guitar and retreated
to upstate New York to paint and write. Yet within a short period of time, he
found that he couldn’t stop writing lyrics, churning out 25 pages of lyrics in
a short period of time.
Dylan’s moment of insight came out of the blue when
he least expected it. Yet I would argue that, in fact, he had set himself up for
something new to happen simply by stepping away from the old familiar and
exposing himself to something new.
For myself, it might be on a long distance run, a
multi-city bike tour, Hiking the canyons around Palm Springs, a quiet coffee
shop or my own morning coffee ritual on the patio. It might even be at the
library reading magazines or looking at a picture book.
My ‘third place’ is that neutral ground where I can
get away from my roles at home, with the kids, the grandkids, friends and
associates and just get to be myself. It is a state of mind located almost
anywhere but the old familiar. It can be the high desert, the ocean or the
mountains surrounding Palm Springs. Anyplace I can hunker down with my reading
or writing material.
It’s that cauldron of unexplainable unexpected
elements that come together and become a recipe for creative thought. More
often than not, it’s totally unplanned. It might be a song I’ve heard for umpteen
times but all of a sudden an image appears in my minds-eye and a story is
suddenly born.
Fortunately, inspiration can be found anywhere and
everywhere my mind finds it. It’s not the shell but the contents that
fascinates me the most. It’s anyplace I can explore, investigate, probe or
visit that becomes ripe for creative interpretation. It can often be in the
most vapid, esoteric works of art. The non-digital, unplugged works of art
fascinate me the most. Over time I’ve come to realize that my ‘third place’ can
be found in books and film and music. More often than not, literature of almost
any kind takes precedence of other forms of stimulation.
But the best place for my imagination to run wild
with my grandchildren. Unencumbered by monetary and social restraints, we’re
free to pretend to our hearts content. I’m perfectly adapted to such silliness
as I proudly attested to in RidingShotgun with Peter Pan. The old adage of ‘acting your age’ doesn’t apply
here.
I’ve engaged with my grandchildren here and in
Colorado in silly, nonsensical play of every kind. We’ve flown to the moon and
chased pirates across the living room floor. We’ve hidden under a blanket and
told scary stories. We’ve gone snipe-hunting on a golf course at night and
heard bears and lions and elephants all around us. We’ve chased sharks around
the pool and dove for treasure lying on the bottom there. We’ve engaged in a
hundred thousand silly unremarkable exercises of horse-play and pretend skits
that expanded and grew and nurtured and matured their imagination when they
weren’t looking.
Creativity came under a blanket of stars and on the
top of the San Jacinto’s. It came in a handful of squished play dough and
scratched across a piece of paper. It came anytime and every time silliness and
‘why not’ was left free to run with wild abandon.
We went day-dreaming in the middle of the day and
found inspiration there. Tall tales kept bursting forth from the little people
there. It set my mind to wondering…
And even an old codger can
learn from the most uninhibited of us all.
