Where Are My Eyes When I Need Them?

I have to be really honest. Since January, what I only have as the resource is Learning to See Creatively. I don't know.. am I the only one?? :P

I have scanned to book for start to finish (operative word being scanned), looking at and enjoying all the pictures, the depth and diversity of the content. Having read the elements of design and design principles, I have tried (maybe some in vain) to identify some of the elements and principles in a number of the photos I liked personally. It was.. is not an easy feat, having to break down each photo and see what is there.  This is not an exaggeration, this is really how I feel, and people who know me will likely agree: I have no creative side whatsoever. Don’t get me wrong – I appreciate art and beauty. I like going to museums, looking at painting, sculptures, and photos. I like captured memories and I like to think that there is a beautiful story behind it. I love colors, I love contrasts... but for me to be the one to produce such beauty? I have surrendered to the fact that I will always be just a spectator in the art world.

So the book title really intrigued me. Is it really possible that I will have the “eye” for it? I am sure that sculpting and drawing is something I may never learn, let alone master, but for photography, I may just have a chance? In Bryan Peterson’s introduction, his second photo was a rusty chain attached to some flat metal surface with the blue paint peeling off. Another picture was droplets of oil on the street. You can see things like that everywhere! And yet I and perhaps a lot of other people too, dismiss it since it is ordinary.

I am both worried and excited with this undertaking. I know that creativity is all about letting your juices flow, following how you feel, and trusting your instincts. I have always been the science girl in school. When it was about anatomy, astronomy, geography, chemistry, etc, I was the girl to ask.  If it was about art class, what colors to use, what the subject would be, I was the girl to stay away from. I must admit, I always overthink things, which is what might be preventing me to see creatively. Perhaps I have been fated to be here at this moment of time to learn, I don’t know. Perhaps it is just for me to have a basic overview and understanding of the creative process so I do not fear it much. Perhaps this is the perfect time for me to learn to open my eyes and stop thinking.  All of these things, I do not know. I am not a seer, I cannot see the future.

But, What I have seen so far is that there is beauty in everything. You just have to find it. And honestly, I am scared sometimes that I may not find it.