Cheryl Johnson-Managing Creativity

"Not all who wander are lost..." - Tolkien Allow yourself to fail, to screw up. When he was 74, Robert Rauschenberg said, “Screwing things up is a virtue. Being correct is never the point. Being right can stop all the momentum of a very interesting idea.” It is this attitude that will allow you to see beyond what others and even you yourself have decided should be the limits of art or other forms of creativity. It will help you see outside the box, beyond the possible. In 1965, Sol Lewitt wrote the following encouragement to a then young Eva Hesse, counseling her to stop over-thinking her art and to allow herself to fail, saying, “Learn to say ‘fuck you’ to the world once in a while. You have every right to. Just stop thinking, worrying, looking over your shoulder wondering, doubting, fearing, hurting, hoping for some easy way out, struggling, confusing, itching, scratching, mumbling, bumbling, grumbling, humbling, stumbling, numbling, rambling, gambling, tumbling, scumbling, scrambling, hitching, hatching, bitching, moaning, groaning, honing, boning, horse-shitting, hair-splitting, nit-picking, nose-sticking, ass- gouging, eyeball-poking, finger-pointing, alleyway-sneaking, long waiting, small stepping, evil eyeing, back-scratching, searching, perching, besmirching, grinding, grinding, grinding, grinding away at yourself. Stop it and just DO!”