This is a gorgeous reminder. Though I have to admit, my initial encounters with the unfamiliar usually just involve a lot of frustration and staring blankly at a ruined piece of paper before any "freshness" kicks in!
I’d never thought about this quite this way before. I’ve always thought of trying something new creatively as me going to the medium — I’m the beginner, I don’t know what I’m doing, and I have to learn how it works.
I really like your idea that the medium is also, in a sense, coming to meet us, and that neither of us quite knows what the encounter is going to produce yet. That puts being a beginner in a rather different light.
Obviously there’s the considerable disadvantage of having to learn as I go, often by making many mistakes along the way, but perhaps there’s an advantage hidden in there too. The experienced person has knowledge, skill and instinct, but some of that inevitably becomes habit and unconscious competence. The beginner has to notice everything.
I particularly liked your suggestion of treating the unfamiliarity as an encounter rather than a test. I think I’ll try to remember that the next time I attempt something I’ve never done before.
This is a gorgeous reminder. Though I have to admit, my initial encounters with the unfamiliar usually just involve a lot of frustration and staring blankly at a ruined piece of paper before any "freshness" kicks in!
I’d never thought about this quite this way before. I’ve always thought of trying something new creatively as me going to the medium — I’m the beginner, I don’t know what I’m doing, and I have to learn how it works.
I really like your idea that the medium is also, in a sense, coming to meet us, and that neither of us quite knows what the encounter is going to produce yet. That puts being a beginner in a rather different light.
Obviously there’s the considerable disadvantage of having to learn as I go, often by making many mistakes along the way, but perhaps there’s an advantage hidden in there too. The experienced person has knowledge, skill and instinct, but some of that inevitably becomes habit and unconscious competence. The beginner has to notice everything.
I particularly liked your suggestion of treating the unfamiliarity as an encounter rather than a test. I think I’ll try to remember that the next time I attempt something I’ve never done before.
How lovely,