A guestie

Today my dear friend and colleague Emma Townshend, animal advocate and artist based in Melbourne, has written today's post.  Emma and I met way back in 2000 when we were both part of a production for the Melbourne Fringe Festival. While the show was utterly forgettable our connection as friends is always most memorable.  Thank you Emma for your stimulating conversation, encouraging support and wild laughter.  

Well – my creative process......

I think it is telling that I have known about this guest blog for weeks and it is due today so here I am sitting in front of the screen writing this morning!

I had this grand plan this would be the first thing I would write on my first (but very second hand!) typewriter. It works - I just haven’t gotten around to buying the needed ribbon....

For years I had been frustrated and angry about my ‘procrastination’ in focus here – like procrastination had a bad odour or something and I added it to my rising pile in my personal box of shame to further act as a doorstop to my dreams – leaving the door open for others screaming for the results, the end piece. 

"Be successful. Tout suite. Now.... and why aren’t you??? Are you published? Look at him. Look at her. That’s the trick. That’s how you do it. That’s what people want."

My vulnerability took this on as negative feedback and diminished my confidence. 

Until I let go.

And defined my own creativity (and my own punctuation and grammar rules!!). I celebrate and enjoy my procrastination now. There are such gems in it. It is essential.

For me, once I have set my subject of interest I just go about my life and let curiosity take me on detours where I stumble across inspired relevance to my idea. 

Okay – an example I feel is needed. At the moment one of my mediums is radio. I help produce an animal advocacy show for 3CR Community independent radio in Melbourne called, “Freedom of Species”, covering all issues from rewilding, rights to basic appreciation of our fellow species we share the planet with. 

A while back, I decided to work on a show about the Emu.  For some reason I started to become distracted by these beautiful photographs of the cosmos that had been published and low and behold I was taken on a journey that led me to the fact that there is a star constellation called the Emu in theSky. The show then gained so much more colour and texture in narrative and also acknowledged  the importance of the constellations in Australian Aboriginal culture. I guess I followed my heart and the stars.

My creative process is occasionally riddled with potholes of self doubt and the F-word. Fear. I slip in and drown in anxiety for a little while but I always get spat out realising the floatiesto survive this is to trust my own decisions.

The last time I fell through one of those ‘cracks’ I was promptly saved. I popped into a cafe called “Las Vegan” in Smith St Collingwood, Melbourne to cheer myself up with a muffin and there on reception they had organised to collect letters from anyone who could spare the time and postage stamp to write letters of support old style to refugees in these prisonlike detainee camps. How powerful. How simple. How creative. How simple it can be to create the ripples of hope and change.

That is inspiring.

copyright Emma Townshend