I once saw a meme that said, “Once you’re thirty, you can no longer blame your background because you are now ‘the background.’” 🥲
Funny as it was, I couldn’t laugh. Why? This “joke” was a vivid reminder of adulting, and adulting hasn’t been funny! 😩
While reading Steal Like An Artist, I came across what I’m considering a hack for managing the weight of building a background—which, honestly, is what adulting is all about.
Here’s the “hack" :
Adulting becomes easier when you steal from many backgrounds to build your own.
If I can be a good "thief," this can level up my creative power, making adulting (creating my genealogy of ideas) more fun!
How does this work?
First we’ll define what a Creative Lineage is.
It’s like a “family tree” of ideas created based on the influences.
As Austin Kleon puts it:
Just as you have a familial genealogy, you also have a genealogy of ideas. You don’t get to pick your family, but you can pick your teachers, your friends, the music you listen to, the books you read, and the movies you see. You are, in fact, a mashup of what you choose to let into your life. You are the sum of your influences.
A wise philosopher once said, "Ideas are like cold". You’ll always catch them once they’re around you. And hey, they’re always around! Influences are constantly surrounding us, so whether we choose it or not, we’re embracing some influence. The best way forward is to be intentional!
We can apply this to the pursuit of creativity in our careers, passions, and life.
How to Build a Creative Genealogy.
- Pick someone accomplished in the area of life you want to infuse creativity into, and who you deeply admire.
- Collect as much of their work as possible and study it deeply.
- Identify three people who influenced their ideas, and study them as well.
Repeat this process as many times as you can.
Building a creative genealogy this way does two things. First, by starting with someone you love, you’re streamlining your efforts, which can help you feel less overwhelmed. Second, by building a “tree” of influences, you feel less alone when you start creating your own work because you see yourself as part of a creative lineage. It thrives o self education.
Kleon tells us how:
The more good ideas you collect, the more you can choose from to be influenced by…it’s always your job to get yourself an education. You have to be curious about the world in which you live. Look things up. Chase down every reference. Go deeper than anybody else — that’s how you’ll get ahead.
I look forward to sharing more of my reflections from Austin Kleon’s Steal Like An Artist. In the meantime remember that to love, to laugh and to build is to live. ❤️
