Getting Out Of Our Head

A portrait of Anthony Hopkins. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A friend posted this quote on Facebook last week:

There was nothing in his construction, in his architecture that would permit him to, but Peter did venture out on the water. It was audacity; it was temerity; it was inconceivable; it was madness; insanity of the first order. But he stepped out and the water held him; he took the second leg and the water held him – and he began to walk to Jesus! After some time he stood and his history began to challenge him... The key to audacity is to kill the intellectual!

– C.D. Gwamna

I did not think much of it, but I ran into another quote while surfing the web this week:

We are dying from overthinking. We are slowly killing ourselves by thinking about everything. Think. Think. Think. You can never trust the human mind anyway. It's a death trap.

- Anthony Hopkins

I have no special liking for quotable quotes. I believe it does sometimes breeds the tendency for taking words out of context to justify our erroneous thinking, like we Christians sometimes do with few sections of the bible. However, I do realise the main points of the two above quotes – the trap of overthinking issues and the pitfalls of relying on our minds.

Now it takes a certain kind of man to get addicted to the intellectual side of things. The guise of deep-thought can make us feel sage-like, give an air of superiority, and an aura of awesomeness some people strive to attain. But there is a trap in overemphasising thinking so much that it hampers us taking action on anything. It also encourages lazy thinking and focuses on the process of the thinking itself and not the results it is suppose to bring.

Obsessing on thinking does not bring in good ideas. It hampers us from following God’s words for our lives. It also kills our faith in God and fosters worrying, creating an idol in the shape of our intellect.

Getting out of our head makes us take ourselves less seriously so we can take in joy of living, of family, and of friends. It also has the potential to open us to childlike faith in what God can do.

Jesus said it all by saying:

Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself.
- (Matthew 6:26-34 KJV)

Keeping Your Eyes On The Ball - The Pitfall of Chasing Creative Ideas

Greek philosopher Archimedes having his famous bath (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Picture a naked man running in the streets, shouting “Yes! Yes! I found it. I understand it now.”

Yeah. That should be Archimedes after a crucial mental breakthrough on his problem regarding the king’s crown.

After a long period of intense concentration on determining whether the king’s crown was 100% gold without harming the item and coming no closer to an answer, Archimedes decided to take a break at the local bath. That break proved more valuable than all the hours he had spent at work.

A lot of creative people do say most of their ideas come out of the blue...when away from real work. An article in by Melanie Pinola on Lifehacker illustrates this well. You can also check designer Erik Spiekermann’s interview with Design Matters.

One of the most cited book regarding thought processes and creativity is the Art of Thought by Graham Wallas (1926).  Wallas broke down the creative process into five parts: preparation, incubation, intimation, illumination, and verification.

The incubation section is one of the most underrated part of this process as it involves internalising a problem into our subconscious while taking no action outwardly. This mean allowing our minds to mull on the problem while we engage in a lighter activity of a different goal.

The truth is, when it comes to creative work, it does no good keeping your eyes on the ball 24/7. If you do, you are likely to come up with nothing. You must relax, take a bath, go for a walk, go dance, do something else and free your God-given mind to do its work independent of your interruptions. You may be surprised at the results.

 

 

How To Be The Best - Daniel Day-Lewis’ Way

 

Academy Winner: Best Actor. Three times. That is a feat that no one has achieved, except for Daniel Day-Lewis. The moody-looking, son of Poet Laureate, Cecil Day-Lewis, took his first Oscar gong for Best Actor in My Left Foot (1990), his second in 2008 for There Will Be Blood, and just this week took the third  for his role in Spielberg's Lincoln.

So what makes Daniel Day-Lewis special? Is he just lucky? Or was any of the three awards a mistake, you know, may be someone else deserved it more?

In any case, whatever you think of him, many people who have worked with him says he takes his art seriously and has a unique way to work.

As a writer, I am curious to learn Daniel Day-Lewis' approach to work. I want to know how he became one of the best around. As I read more about him, I discovered three things that makes him unique.

1. Fussy Bunny

Day-Lewis is reported to be very choosy of the roles he takes in the movie business. He is said to always agonised over the roles to accept and which ones to drop. Take this – he has starred in just six films over the past fifteen years.

2. Long Preparation Ritual

This point is an explanation of the above point. I learnt that the reason Day-Lewis is fussy about taking roles is because of the huge amount of preparation he puts into his characters. He was reported to have prepared for a year for his role in Lincoln. When he emerged from his preparation to the set, it was said that his voice had become quite close to Abe Lincoln’s actual tenor-ish, reedy voice.

3. Immersion

I am not talking about water baptism. Actually, this is name of the style Day-Lewis is reported to use to get to know his characters. Basically, he studies everything he needs to know about them and try and stay in the character almost every time and everywhere he is. Even when off the set, it is known that Day-Lewis still sometimes stay in character. He once said, "What would drain me much more, in my case, is jumping in and out of that world that we've gone to such an inordinate length to create for ourselves."In January, 2013, he told the BBC that his acting method made "complete sense" to him. "All you're trying to do is lay the groundwork, which might allow the imagination to free itself," he said.

Having gone through the above points, it is clear to see some of the price Daniel Day-Lewis pays to be what he is today.

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My Left Foot [DVD]: Film & TV ASIN: B00153NOVI