"Adults" tell us that the object in this game of life is essentially to make money, but rarely are we told about the true purpose of creation. The satisfaction that we get from creating something from ourselves is beyond monetary measure. Those who tell us to grow up are the most boring, and most likely never have created anything of themselves.
The essence of the things we liked as a child can be used to fuel our creative works. For instance I liked Pokemon as a kid, looking back I ask myself what was it that was so inspiring about the series? It was the main character's drive and determination to be the very best that I enjoyed, and I use that same inspiration in my work to motivate myself.
Yes something you liked as a kid can seem silly to you now as an adult, but don't overlook the essence of what you liked about it. Always be true to yourself in what you create, no matter how silly you think your inspirations are, the love you have for them will show though and create something wonderful. Never compromise what you love, after all it is a part of you that's waiting to be expressed.
A personal experience: I group up watching and re-watching movies my parents and grandparents had that ultimately never left my brain when growing up. "The Mouse and his Child" was one of the greatest inspirations of my life. I did actually watch the original "My Little Pony" movie a lot. "The Secret of NIMH" was another. There was also "Peter No-Tail" which cannot even be found anymore other than on You Tube.
ReplyDeleteIt was not always cartoons I would dig into. "The Black Hole" is the movie I have seem more than any time in my life. There was also "Tron" which sparked my interest in science fiction.
I did have one of those families that plied their children with video tapes to keep them busy, but see, I wasn't watching Barney that moron Dinosaur. I was sent into adulthood with some very interesting story lines that I may not have entirely understood at the time, but ultimately, they became vivid as I grew up.
Recently, I have been trying to collect these movies on DVD to rediscover them. I have had a fairly good success rate, but some have gone missing. The ones that have disappeared leave me struggling to remember what I enjoyed about it. Something is still there, and I can still use it for inspiration. There have even been times, the inspiration was based on false memories--or rather my preferred memory--of the movie.
You mentioned a video game as inspiration. The only classic game that inspired me was "Earthbound" for SNES. As you know, I am writing a crazy book inspired by it right now. But clearly, I was a child of the movies. I had this nice, big stack of BetaMax tapes that I could go through over and over again, and I did too! It is all still with me and probably the core of all of my work--which I can tell you now is better than the original inspiration.
Excellent! This is a prime example of exactly what this blog post is all about. You kept your inspirations as you grew up and used them in your work to make something better, instead of discarding them.
DeleteA child's enthusiasm energizes an adult to do great things. When we are young, our imaginations run wild. The future is made from the dreams of youth.
ReplyDeleteExactly, and to discard those dreams is to lose a piece of yourself.
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