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

It’s Week #8! Yay! Another week to be grateful for life and thankful for the chance to create. But you might feel like you’re missing something.

It could be an idea or an interesting piece of your project’s puzzle. There’s one thing that can help ya.

In this week’s issue, we’ll make a case for observation as a key ingredient in creativity and explore its use and importance in our creative process.

Without further ado…

Let’s start the ride!

Main Wheel

What do great old proverbs and great comedians have in common?

No, it's not the heavy use of similes and analogies. Nope, it's not their use of simple language. And it's obviously not the humor.

Yup, you (the comedy lovers among us) guessed it. It's observation.

Great old proverbs and great comedians are masters at observations. They see what is present in our real world. They spend long periods looking at a single thing. Moreover, they strive to understand and see the surface & depth of their subject of observation.

Great old proverbs and comedians figured out that there are gems hidden under everything. Observation is the simplest, best, and most underrated way to discover them.

We can't not mention the importance of skills, knowledge, and experience. They are the foundation to long-standing quality. You cannot compare a veteran in a field to an amateur. It's a waste of time.

However, observation can help both of them.

To a veteran, with their skills, knowledge, and experience, it can help them get the missing or interesting part to add for the improvement of a project. To an amateur, it can reveal a piece of insight that would teleport them to new levels in their craft.

The effects of observation vary but it's still beneficial to all.

In any field, it’s hard to explain complex things. It’s harder to express something that is known as true compellingly. And for comedians, it’s even harder to make others laugh by telling everyday life stories.

That’s where the use of observation is essential.

With observation, old proverbs and comedians, sharpen their communication to perfection. They use it to see the paths for good transmission of a certain message, lesson, or joke. And sometimes, they transmit all the three.

They see how their message aligns with what is familiar and is part of the mundane aspects of life. They connect dots in ways that can’t help but be creative.

That’s a superpower we can all access.

There is no need to become Socrates or Dave Chapelle. Even though it would be cool and nice, you don’t have to be super funny or wise. You just need to give a chance to patient but active observation of anything.

Whenever you desire to make unconventional connections, to bring something from this place to explain a thing from that place, you'll have to look at your context, ask related questions, and pick the patterns.

And you'll uncover things you could not realize before.

The great news is, there are no other criteria. There is no specific thing you must observe. There’s no required distance to do the observation. And there is no set time to spend.

The possibilities are limitless and available. It’s an abundant source where you can fetch creativity in a cup or bucket. It’s the secret sauce of creativity.

Yes, it’s not so spicy. A little voice in our heads might say, “Looking at stuff for hours? Are you serious?” Indeed, I’m serious.

Or at least, all the wise people who wrote old proverbs and great comedians who make us laugh to tears, are serious. They all observed how the world flows and how nature works.

Observation led them to realization which oriented them to discovery. Those findings helped them create things that stood and stand the test of time. Most importantly, they helped the wise men and comedians be creative where there was no way to be creative.

It's not always fun but that's how great creative work is born. It won't be one magical moment after the other. The time spent will seem pointless. It'll be boring. And from time to time, you'll lose focus.

But as you remain in the process, you'll cultivate the will to dig into the little details. The little details become seeds. And when you plant them, the birth of great creative work emerges.

You don't have to find the right thing at the right moment all the time. Sometimes you discover that a seed from a moment that happened 247 days ago can be the right thing for today's moment. Sometimes it’s instantaneous.

The important thing is you have to develop the habit of observation. The more you develop it, the more you’ll be growing a collection of ideas, thoughts, concepts, objects, and subjects you find interesting.

Fortunately for us, when healthy, our minds are wonderful at keeping that collection safe. You won't even feel the weight of the collection as it grows. One thing you'll sense is its impact.

In the future, you can have a moment like Jerry Seinfeld when he came up with his whispering joke. He explained his process of noticing a commonality between two or more things when one thing “reminds you” of another thing.

Jerry Seinfeld was thinking about how golf announcers whisper. He found something in his notebook about how people whisper when they talk about tipping. And then he made what is called “a charm bracelet.”

He said, “You take these things and you find a way to associate them.” “So that’s the whole process: I’m thinking about this thing and then remember this [other] thing, and then you go, ‘Oh there’s something there—let me connect those things.’”

That's how great, by using observation, growing a collection can be. And that is so valuable in times of creative need.

As George Carlin once said, "Writing is really wonderful art. A lot of this is discovery. A lot of things are lying around waiting to be discovered and that’s our job as writers is to just notice them and bring them to life."

Replace writing with your creative medium, and you’ll get the sauce you need for your next project.

So, go out there or stay inside. It all depends on your context and what feels right. Even when it does not feel right, observe.

Look intensely at one thing, setting, or situation. Try to understand and see it from all of its angles. Analyze, interpret, and apply those observations. You can’t help but discover the seeds you’ll bring to life.

Inspiring Wheels

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

• “When the directors actually care” - InCinematic | An amazing video about the benefits that come when creatives care about their craft and project. Many people, including myself, love “The Lego Movie.” It’s so well done and heartfelt. You can feel the passion when you watch. And after watching this video, it all makes sense.

• “Z-Sides” - Tom Rosenthal | A few years ago I was searching for the song “We Might Be Dead by Tomorrow” by Soko. I forgot the name of the artist but knew the song’s title, at least that’s what I thought. I typed “If we all die tomorrow” and the song of this title by Tom came up. I listened to it. Though it wasn’t what I was looking for, I was glad about this accident. The song sounded silly but was wholesome. Then I dived into Tom’s discography and never regretted it. This album “Z-Sides” is not only one of the reasons why Tom is such an amazing artist, but it’s one of the best albums I’ve ever listened to. Check it out. You won’t regret it. [Spotify Link]

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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.

Want to work with me? Contact me here