Hi! Welcome to the 4 CreativeWheels newsletter — your weekly dose of insights on creativity and fuel for your creative journey.

This week has been interesting & challenging. One of the interesting parts I’ve had is a question. The question is, “What are the things that make a creative work stick?” In this issue, we’ll see one of them, what it is, and why it matters.

(This is part 1 of a 2-part series. Part 2 will be sent in next week’s issue. Stay Tuned!)

Without further ado…

Let’s start the ride!

Main Wheel

Human connection is simple yet complex. We know when it happens, we can tell it, but it’s hard to explain. Its simple aspect is in why it happens.

As cliché as it might sound, it happens because we are social creatures who desire to connect with our peers. It’s a truth that can’t change. Besides conversations, meetings, and gatherings, art and creativity have been facilitating the process. They made it possible despite proximity, space, and time.

One of the ways they achieved that is by creating a portal. Through creative work, a creative(s) can bring the audience to a place where they can experience something differently but still relate it to their respective lives.

We've all had this moment — the moment when we're teleported from one place to another when interacting with a creative piece. It feels like we are no longer in our reality but are in the world the creation desires us to be.

Most of the time, it occurs when interacting with a work of art. At least, that’s when it is most noticeable and familiar to all. It also happens with other creative work, outside of the art realm. Sometimes we notice when it happens and sometimes it happens without our attention. And it occurs on varied levels.

The certain thing is it makes us feel more connected. Whether it was a song or an ad, the result remains the same. We feel the joy, pain, need, desire, or other sensations the piece expresses and relate it to our own experiences. The creation acts like an invitation. And an invitation to a creative’s world is one of the things that make creative works stick.

They work just like space travel but are less expensive. Great creative works transport us from our world to a new world, for us to see, our reality from a different spaceship window. They shift the frames we are in to lead us to explore life events in a fresh but familiar way.

We gain more perspective from the occurrence. It makes a big impression on us. And that makes the catalyst of the experience, the creative work, hard to forget. Whenever we remember this notion, we tap into what connects us all despite our differences.

The foundation is understanding what you want to transmit and how it invites others to experience it. It must come from someone’s reality, your world preferably. So that when others receive the message and interact with the piece, that space between your reality and theirs, will create room for connection.

It will immerse people into your creation and get your audience’s full attention. Moreover, they will feel understood. It will elevate your craft, receive more touching feedback from the audience, and create a bond between the work and them.

Though it works best when it is your world and is based on your own real experience, it doesn’t have to. You just need to create a frame in which your audience can lean into and connect the dots with their own worlds.

This determines whether your piece will have a short-term or a long-term impact. The creative work that does it effectively is more memorable.

So, the question to ask is, what can you include in your piece that makes it feel like you're introducing others into your world?

Here ya go, here is Part 2!

Inspiring Wheels

Here are two (or more) creative works that you’ll not regret checking out:

• “Your elusive creative genius” - Elizabeth Gilbert | The way she tied the notion of the tortured artist, to rational humanism, to the struggle that comes with being a creative striving for greatness, and then to “the relationship between humans and the creative mystery” is sublime. This is a wonderful TED talk, one of my favorites. [Link to video]

• “What is good taste, good design and how to be creative” - Kathleen Fasanella | The site’s layout might not be modern, but this article is still worth reading and revisiting. It’s an amazing take on how taste influences our work, whether good art is subjective or objective, and where developed creativity comes from. [Link to article]

• “Normal behavior is forgotten. Only weird behavior survives.“ - George Mack | A great post on why the best way to stand out is to not be normal. [Link to post]

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Thank you so much for reading! 

As always, feel free to reply to this email & share your thoughts, stories, and any experience related to this topic. I’d love to hear them!  

C ya next Week! 

Embracing Creativity™,

Richard M.

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