The latest Creativity & Storytelling 'Zine! https://t.co/JgzzncNfbU Thanks to @Scherazad100 @WardenDean @sl0bbering #creativity #ripmamba
— Valerie Mich'El (@ahealingartist) January 29, 2020
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Conflict Has Creative Value. Learn How To Use It.
Valerie Michele Oliver (The Healing Artist Studio Project) explores the art and architecture of creativity and storytelling in imaginative, innovative, playful and award-winning ways. Tisch School of the Arts (New York University) and The Mystery School (Sacred Center for the Healing Arts) graduate. | Imagine, innovate, create and love this life.
Somewhere along my life’s journey, I received a strong message that stuck in my gut for a very long time: “Do not discuss religion or politics in mixed company (or in any social or business settings) because you are asking for trouble.” I was taught that discussing these topics will create great conflict that will destroy friendships and potentially make me a persona non grata in professional circles that can lead to isolation, and perhaps even dismissal (though that reason would never be cited as the true reason).
Yes, I have seen the damage in other people’s lives; but not in my own. Sure,
conversations have become heated, but I always took the approach that we can agree to disagree because–well, there are so many other things that I often like about people with whom I have a difference of belief or opinion. I learned to value the whole person, and not divorce myself from relationships because of a strong contrast. My oldest friend is a Republican (and always has been). Another dear friend is an atheist.
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| Image: Bernie Sanders, Credit: Reuters
Column Inspiration: Americans Skeptical Of God But Believe Heaven Is Real, Somehow (vocativ.com) |
Perhaps, our relationships would be rather dull and bland without the challenges.
Conflict and Contrast Are Creative Goldmines
As a creative professional and healing artist, I was taught to value conflict and contrast as vital creative tools: contrast in colors, contrast in textures, contrast in lighting, contrast in perspective, contrast in camera angles, contrast in point-of-view, and contrast in characters to create the conflicts necessary for telling an engaging story. Conflict and contrast are CREATIVE tools and principles.
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| Rebellion Meets Divinity (Andrew Saunders)
Column Inspiration: Top Designers On The Next Decade’s Visual Trends (marketingmagazine.co.uk) |
Actually, spirituality and mindfulness is trending (and spiritual practices include religions), and it’s viewed as a creative trend in this and the next decade (see Creator’s Corner on Sacred Geometry); yet, the content in the articles cited that inspired this Creator’s Corner are examples of even more contrast and contradiction. One includes research citing that Millennials are disengaging from religion and spirituality. Another cites that Americans do not believe in God, but somehow believe that Heaven is real. The third article might seem like an oxymoron: it explores the concept and practice of Imaginative Conservatism.
The story of good and evil, of strength and weakness, of love and hate, of beauty and ugliness . . . neither can exist without the other . . .
out of their groupings creativeness is born.
~John Steinbeck
Creative breakthroughs often occur as the result of conflict in many aspects of the human experience. I feel like screaming again because conflict and contrast commands attention. They SHOUT and we all pay attention. The content then engages us for short or long periods of time depending on our interests, desires, emotions, and needs.
Creative Strategy
1) Become students of conflict and contrast from a creative arts perspective (Although this article is geared toward children becoming arts students, we adults can become students again for our own growth and sustainability now and in the future). Learn as much as we can about the use and value of conflict and contrast. Watching films and television with an eye for identifying their use in these mediums (and their success or failure from which we can learn lessons) can only help to shake off our antiquated negative attachments to them. Immersing ourselves in them helps to shape-shift our relationship from enemies to allies.
2) Share what we discover as part of our content offerings, or use these new allies in content strategy, content marketing, marketing strategy, songwriting, storytelling, or even to become more comfortable in our own psyches and skins with their value to attract, reach, impact and inspire others as creative professionals, entrepreneurs, solopreneurs, content curators, coaches, mentors, etc. through the variety of communications and media we use as calling cards and other enduring connection platforms in our careers or missions.
3) Read content sources in the April 20, 2016 edition of the Creativity & Spirituality Magazine that include elements of conflict and contrast through color, dance, innovation, and challenging preconceived or learned concepts that inhibit our creativity. Plus read the Creator’s Corner column: How to Work Well and Play with “The Others” To Succeed.
MAY YOU DISCOVER MORE CREATIVE ideas and storytelling support now (and in the future) by exploring the Creativity & Storytelling ‘Zine, and previous Creator’s Corner columns: How To Work (And Play) Well With “The Others” To Succeed; Best Visual Content = Storytelling Solutions via A&E Professionals, Lies & Storytelling: Strange Bedfellows in Shades of Gray; Best Storytelling Has Sensory Empathy (or It’s Important to Engage the Senses), Get Up To Speed On Quality Do-It-Yourself Storytelling: On a Low Budget, Best Storytelling is Copied, Stolen Content? (or The Lighter Shade of Led Zeppellin), The Joy is in the Story Journey (or Mission Impossible), Best Story Content Grounded In Our Past & Current Life; Conflict Has Creative Value, Learn How To Use It; Card Decks & the Mystic or Visionary Persona, Here Comes Play-Doh, and Sacred Geometry–Visual Storytelling Content: One Of Top Four Creative Trends 2016.
Dare to shine, be generous, and love this life.
Valerie
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Creator’s Corner is dedicated to sharing ideas that come to mind after reading and selecting articles for The Creativity & Storytelling ‘Zine (as the editor) that may be useful in a professional or personal capacity. Interest in creativity and spirituality as content, for usage in arts & entertainment, and as lifestyle choices for businesses, projects and services (groups that have a way of life that may or may not be included
in their brand identity), can be relevant to anyone anywhere in the world covering a variety of professions.
Valerie Michele Oliver (The Healing Artist Studio Project) explores the art and architecture of creativity and storytelling in imaginative, innovative, playful and award-winning ways. Tisch School of the Arts (New York University) and The Mystery School (Sacred Center for the Healing Arts) graduate. | Imagine, innovate, create and love this life.
“Creativity & Storytelling ‘Zine” Featured Articles (January 8, 2020)
Creativity & Storytelling ‘Zine is a Creator’s Corner publication by The Pursuit Studio available weekly featuring creativity, storytelling, innovation, ideas, leadership and influencer content for artists, writers, screenwriters, authors, entrepreneurs, producers, directors, marketers, publicists, coaches, and other professionals in pursuit of creative and storytelling excellence in our fields. Check it out!
Creative Director For “Gloria’s Healthy Home & Body” New TV Show Launch on Rude Rangers TV on Roku in 2020
NEWS UPDATE: Expect the Unexpected! Heard from Gloria Washington-Mines that she’s launching a show (“Gloria’s Healthy Home & Body”) on the Rude Rangers TV and Ambizion TV available on the Roku TV platform that serves over 30 million subscribers. Congratulations Gloria! I’ll be acting as a consulting producer for the program. Began meetings to help #brand and format the show! Also had great conversation with Rudy Breedy, Vice President of Programming for the network about The Pursuit Studio’s episodic and film projects. Discover more!
“Creativity & Storytelling ‘Zine” Featured Article (December 18, 2019)
Creativity & Storytelling ‘Zine is a Creator’s Corner publication by The Pursuit Studio available weekly featuring creativity, storytelling, innovation, ideas, leadership and influencer content for artists, writers, filmmakers, authors, entrepreneurs, and other professionals in pursuit of creative excellence in our fields. Check it out!
“The Most Damaging Creativity Lie” Featured Article in “Creativity & Storytelling ‘Zine” (December 4, 2019)
Creativity & Storytelling ‘Zine is a Creator’s Corner publication by The Pursuit Studio available weekly featuring creativity, storytelling, innovation, ideas, leadership and influencer content for artists, writers, filmmakers, authors, entrepreneurs, and other professionals in pursuit of creative excellence in our fields. Check it out!
Focused On Writing, Producing, Developing and Directing Stories (Film, TV/Streaming Content).
HEADS UP! Although there is, currently, very little writing for the blog content of this website due to Film/TV/Streaming projects having so much of my focus, I expect to get back to it at some point. I’ll post project updates here when I can for you to discover more, or better yet, you can track my profile project slate at: Slated.com or Val’s Film & TV Projects Supporters Group (on Facebook). Here’s an image to give you a taste of one of them.
IN THE MEANTIME…I hope you find value in the Creativity & Storytelling content in the posts on the right to get you up to speed in these vital areas. Thanks for visiting!
FEATURED PROJECT: SHORT FILM (in “Between Us” Trilogy)
GIFTS (Based on true story adapted from short story)
Logline: During her dinner date with a 20-something, alluring new female neighbor, a romance-starved, impetuous 50-something woman speaks some unfortunate words that could ruin a promising relationship. | Potential crew & cast access: https://www.slated.com/people/10143/
Valerie
“Things are only impossible until they’re not.”
“Make it so.”
~ Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation
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Valerie Mich’El Oliver explores the art and architecture of creativity and storytelling in imaginative, innovative, playful and award-winning ways. Tisch School of the Arts (New York University) and The Mystery School (Sacred Center for the Healing Arts) graduate. | Imagine, innovate, create, be generous, love this life, and dare to shine.
Tom Comerford: Best Content Uses Current & Past Life Stories
TOM COMERFORD. I was in shock, depressed, and lost after the death of my mother. Tom was a District Manager for the State of New Jersey’s Division of Youth & Family Services. He hired me to provide payments to all the foster care parents in the huge district. He helped me get back on my feet mentally, emotionally, and financially; and that job led to meeting my best friend who has been in my life for 37 years.
Years later, I learned that he fell in love with my mother and asked her to marry him when he was a Catholic priest working beside her on an innovative community project. They were pioneers in race relations through Operation Understanding: a program that worked with churches to place inner city kids in suburban family homes and vice versa. It fostered some really amazing life-long friendships, and more!
Rachel Ward and Richard Chamberlain in “The Thorn Birds” (Credit: ABC)
Her answer was “No”, and eventually, he left the priesthood, married a former nun, and had his own family. Tom passed away a number of years ago. Funny thing is, he was always my favorite priest, and if things had gone his way, he would have been my stepfather. As it turned out, mom married an Episcopal minister.
This is a short story that could lead to multiple stories from different perspectives about these relationships. And so it goes. Cheers!
Read more about this best practice of using past and current life experiences as storytelling content to attract and engage your audience, readers, clients, and customers.
Valerie
“Things are only impossible until they’re not.”
“Make it so.”
~ Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation
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Valerie Mich’El Oliver explores the art and architecture of creativity and storytelling in imaginative, innovative, playful and award-winning ways. Tisch School of the Arts (New York University) and The Mystery School (Sacred Center for the Healing Arts) graduate. | Imagine, innovate, create, be generous, love this life, and dare to shine.
How to Work (and Play) Well With “The Others” to Succeed
I ATTENDED A GRADUATE SCHOOL WHERE ARTS & BUSINESS STUDENTS WERE BROUGHT TOGETHER–on purpose–to propose, create and apply communications technology solutions as a team to problems. As graduate students of the Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP), we were encouraged to face our distrust of “the others'” approaches to problem-solving (creative arts vs. business) and collaborate in playful and experimental ways to meet the needs of individuals, groups; local, national, and global communities–artistic, nonprofit and commercial–who we were learning to serve as a workforce. Otherwise, we could not succeed in our studies, projects, or current and future employment.
How Can I Trust You?
WE HAD TO FIND WAYS TO KEEP AN OPEN MIND, TRUST, AND SUPPORT ONE ANOTHER (even if one’s primary incentive might only be to get a good grade). Sometimes trusting simply meant investing in the belief that we would do whatever we could to help each other succeed for the sake of that project. Those who couldn’t or wouldn’t commit, who gave up, failed: they either left the program or flunked out. For those of us who did commit, paths always eventually opened, and some of those solutions we accomplished together were simply astounding. Those collaborations and solutions led to our Information Age and what’s coming beyond it.
NOTE: The Interactive Telecommunications Masters Program in Tisch School of the Arts at New York University is going strong. Check out some of the pioneering and innovative courses.
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| Artwork © Gavin Aung Than 2017 |
Column Inspiration:
Akira Jurosawa: The Note Taker
How Not To Give Up Before The Miracle Happens
I READ SOME LITERATURE TODAY TO HELP INSPIRE AND MOTIVATE ME NOT TO GIVE UP in areas that I want and need to change in my life (personal and professional). I get tired and discouraged at times. I can’t afford “keeping up appearances” (like Hyacinth, the character in the British BBC program) because I’ve learned the hard way that doing so is incredibly stressful and hurts my health. One quote I read is from an article (AKIRA KUROSAWA: The Note Taker) included in the Creativity & Storytelling ‘Zine, Sunday, February 12, 2017 edition is just the right medicine:
“Kurosawa was determined to become a better screenwriter and set about writing one page a day, despite how busy he was as an AD, ‘There was nothing I could do about the nights I had to work till dawn, but when I had time to sleep, even after crawling into bed I would turn out two or three pages.’ Writing didn’t come easy, but over time the daily struggle became a habit and Kurosawa found that like most creative endeavors, just showing up was the key. ‘At some point in the writing of every script I feel like giving the whole thing up. From my many experiences of writing screenplays however, I have learned something: If I hold fast in the face of this blankness and despair, adopting the tactic of Bodhidharma, the founder of the Zen sect, who glared at the wall that stood in his way until his legs became useless, a path will open up.'”
Column Inspiration:
“Keeping Up Appearances”
SOMETIMES I THINK THAT WE HUMANS SUFFER FROM CHRONIC FORGETFULNESS: we work hard on something, complete it, and then lose our confidence in what we’ve learned and know: we start from the beginning again–over and over–in uncertainty (a creative-specific conflict forgetting like in the film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind–though they choose to forget!). We stick to our endeavors, come through again, and hope we will remember in the future.
THE HEALING ARTIST STUDIO PROJECT BLOG, THE CREATIVITY & STORYTELLING ‘ZINE, and all the writing, content curating, posting and tweeting I do is my way of remembering, of continuing the open-mindedness, trust, and collaboration I learned as a high school student at The Team School, and as a graduate student at ITP.
WE ARE NOT IN A PHYSICAL CLASS TOGETHER, AND MAY NEVER MEET, but I choose to believe that I am investing in our creative and business problem-solving success to benefit our world through the practical and miraculous solution we are every day.
MAY YOU DISCOVER MORE CREATIVE ideas and storytelling support now (and in the future).
Valerie
“Things are only impossible until they’re not.”
“Make it so.”
~ Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation
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Valerie Mich’El Oliver explores the art and architecture of creativity and storytelling in imaginative, innovative, playful and award-winning ways. Tisch School of the Arts (New York University) and The Mystery School (Sacred Center for the Healing Arts) graduate. | Imagine, innovate, create, be generous, love this life, and dare to shine.
Best Visual Content = Storytelling Solutions via A&E Professionals
STAGE 32 (ONE OF MY FAVORITE WEBSITES) INVITES IT’S MEMBERS TO SELECT 10 FILMS THAT WE WOULD TAKE WITH US IF WE KNEW WE WERE GOING TO BE STRANDED ON A DESERT ISLAND. I don’t know what criteria you would use to select the stories to watch over and over and over again, but the ones I chose impacted me on an emotional, mental or spiritual basis; introduced me to a new world or perspective; or simply fueled my imagination into high gear.
THE DESERT ISLAND MOVIES. The movies I picked are: The Red Balloon (My Top Pick is the original 1956 version), and the rest in no particular order: Harvey, Being There, Jesus Christ Superstar, Ingmar Bergman’s Trilogy (Through A Glass Darkly, Winter Light & The Silence), Topper, Life is Beautiful, West Side Story, Chocolat & A Christmas Carol.
A red balloon with a life of it’s own follows a little boy
around the streets of Paris.
around the streets of Paris.
WHO HASN’T BEEN SEDUCED BY A FILM OR TV PROGRAM? Consider one that completely engaged you–and with binge watching original programming content today, how can anyone one of us deny the fact that arts and entertainment professionals (screenwriters, directors, actors, cinematographers, producers, showrunners, etc.) are often masters of storytelling. Therefore, it makes perfect, logical sense for us to listen to what they have to say to help us become much better at it.
Column Inspiration:
THE BUSINESS OF STORYTELLING. Now that those of us who provide strategy for and produce content are being challenged to inform, educate, persuade, inspire and entertain our audience (potential clients/customers and current ones) through storytelling, there is pressure to get up to speed FAST!
Storytelling must be respected and evaluated as a valued component of growth hacking and ROI.
STORYTELLING MUST BE RESPECTED AND EVALUATED AS A VALUED COMPONENT OF GROWTH HACKING AND ROI. This is similar to filmmakers and original programming writers, studios, and streaming services who carefully craft what they create to recompense their investors and producers (they are first to get paid from the revenues).
Column Inspiration:
THE AUDIENCE OR USER AS THE STORYTELLER. What if you’re just not feeling secure as a storyteller, or simply don’t have the time, budget or interest to do-it-yourself? If you’ve been paying close attention, you know that practically every person on this planet is telling stories in a variety of formats and sharing them on the Internet via social media, or there are professional membership online groups like Stage32.
Column Inspiration:
ARE YOU A CURATOR OR DEVELOPMENT EXECUTIVE? People are often extremely eager to share their existing content (in which case you act as a curator of nonprofessional content from the general public), or you can collaborate with professionals who will want to contribute original content (for which you act more as a development executive) to expand their industry resume and portfolio. Either way, the storytelling solutions are available–and some of the best resources come from those in the storytelling industry itself.
MAY YOU DISCOVER MORE CREATIVE ideas and storytelling support now (and in the future) by exploring the Creativity & Storytelling ‘Zine.
Valerie
“Things are only impossible until they’re not.”
“Make it so.”
~ Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation
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Valerie Mich’El Oliver explores the art and architecture of creativity and storytelling in imaginative, innovative, playful and award-winning ways. Tisch School of the Arts (New York University) and The Mystery School (Sacred Center for the Healing Arts) graduate. | Imagine, innovate, create, be generous, love this life, and dare to shine.
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