Live to Create is the brainchild of Royal Academy fellow, Lucy Wills. I was invited down to the latest workshop held at the retro ‘Time for Tea’ in London’s Shoreditch.
I wasn’t sure to expect to be honest, the venue whilst quaint was pretty dark and the buzz of Shoreditch didn’t quite match the stillness inside. It was the hottest day of the year, and as a sunshine junkie, I was wishing, to start off, that I was lolling in the park licking an icecream. Fortunately for the second half of the workshop, we de-camped to the grounds of the nearby Shoreditch church where we found a nice patch of grass to allow our creativity to connect with nature.
The format of the workshop was more of a discussion interspersed with anecdotal thoughts. We did a couple of interactive and thought provoking exercises; a life analysis exercise to make you think about your consumerist activity through the week and a creative exercise where we made fridge magnets. (See below).
It felt quite seamless as the format ran quite fluidly however, as I’m used to workshops having a more defined structure it was an interesting experience. I am a naturally inquisitive person so learning about the history of changing gender roles and values in respects to work piqued my interest, there is no doubt that within the group there was a treasure trove of knowledge and awareness.
One big theme that I’m exploring currently is collaboration. There is no more an important time than now for it. The explosion of entrepreneurship, the global economy, technological advances – we can not be perfect at everything and with the collapse of the immediate community which used to be your family, your street and the local shops; after a couple of decades of shutting ourselves off and becoming more individualistic, we are now reaching out to a global community through social media, connecting with like-minded people worldwide who even two years ago we would never have come across.
Creativity is about collaboration, it is giving yourself the space to be yourself, to be inspired through the creativity of others, to be supported by a network of like-minded souls, buyers, or mentors. I don’t believe that creative genius’ are born, they may have a talent, but they are nurtured and honed by various people and events – and it is all about perception.
I’ve always linked creativity with making things and creating art – neither of which I’ve focussed on in my life thinking that I’m a non-creative. However, the workshop allowed me to rethink these boundaries that I’ve set up for myself. Much of what Lucy was talking about resonated on a business level for me. I realised that there is creativity in everything we do – it is how we define it that matters. I am always coming up with new business ideas and creative solutions to issues and challenges; I am musical, danced from a young age and enjoy cooking. Who says you only have to be an artist to be creative? – me. And only me.
Live to Create run workshops on London. See the website for upcoming dates, or join their group on Meetup.com.