MY DEFENSE: For the Love of Creative Work

"For the Love of Creative Work"

I had recently graduated from the Inchbald School of Design and was on a design research trip in St. Germain, Paris for Mason & Objet architecture & design show when I came upon the meaning of my given name in a French Vogue article. Alessandra is the Italian version of Alexandra and it means, "Defender of mankind." When I first read that, something happened. It was like the heat came on in a cold house. I remember thinking to myself, "you mighty right, I am!"

My armory consists of truth-finding, experimentation, and rebellion. It includes resilience-training, fear-facing, and being both seen and heard. But I'm not an extrovert, a diva, or pain-in-the-ass (mostly).

But with healing and grace, I've learned to say outloud, I'm kind (but I don't take shit), I'm light (but dark days happen), and I'm breezy (I do my best to model ease).

I overeducated because I was insecure about whether or not what I knew had value. I switched jobs a lot because I was in search of my calling. But now, more and more, I'm coming out as a teacher, a leader, and from the most core level, a reliever of suffering.

I know I won't cure cancer or see the world from the perspective of NASA Astronaut Anne McClain, but I know I can help lift creative suffering. I do it 365 days a year. I guess you could say I've been in that orbit for more than 1,000 days, what with directing Creative Work Hour. What I have discovered in my life's work is that if creative suffering is real, then so is creative health.

Enter @shadowspub and @dreemsteem. Literally, a fortnight ago the three of us got into a zoom meeting with @bobbyb58 and @gretchenshepherd and sketched out a three-week community collaboration between #CreativeWorkHr and @dreemport. We've been talking about doing something together since last year.For this project we are fishing, going deep into what Design Thinking can offer creatives. So, we designed a three-week creative work challenge, to post something unlike anything we've ever posted before: a polished, well-appointed Sunday-afternoon-tea-sippin' feature post.

In two weeks time, I'm posting an article busting up the old-boys network of beliefs about creativity. I'm pushing aside all those creepy things our "betters" told as kids about whether we could draw or paint well, sing or play well, and perform well in academics, sports or what have you.

To this end I'm teaching and using Design Thinking during the challenge.
I'll show you how I plan to build it and what you can expect to see.
Every little feature needs to be first treated as a group or category of elements before any one at a time treatment to support the architecture of the post.

Part of what makes it special is the formatting, sometimes including little tricks that your average bear wouldn’t now. There is something magical about be able to demo something you've learned that not everyone does. Your feature post deserves this care, not because you are a demanding recording artist. Gawd, no! It is because you are courting your muse. As she grants you a creative gem, respond to it's value. Give it a precise cut, a polish, use a proper instrument to manipulate it into place, set into a golden crown, the CWH + Dreemport Challenge.

I'll share the work in stages just as I would a graphic design project. What that means is I’ll use placeholders, elements that include headers and heroes, text bodies, blocks with Lorem Ipsum place holding the text with design annotations. I will hold place for illustrations with shapes with an x holding the space. I’ll note the Hero. I’ll embed the relevant links smoothly within the text.

What I will not show:
No color (b & w only), no real text (graphic designers use //lorem ipsum// for this purpose so the the written word does not influence the post's design) leave your drafts notes out of it at this stage (except to inform word count so you know generally what amount of space to allocate, including negative space), no photos nor illustrations (use shapes to hold place for these) , no live links (just indicate where they will be, subject to change).

What will be special about this post?

This is my favorite way to explain what I mean by *interfacing creativity. *

A while back, there was a catchy scenario in a television advertisement that revolved around the accidental mixing of chocolate and peanut butter. One iconic version of the commercial features two people, one eating chocolate and the other eating peanut butter, accidentally bumping into each other. This leads to the chocolate getting into the peanut butter and vice versa. Their discovering the delicious combination of chocolate and peanut butter leads to the tagline, "You got your chocolate in my peanut butter!" and "You got your peanut butter on my chocolate!"

This is a perfect metaphor for how i feel about the interfaces that are driving forces behind what I call, creative health, which consists of mindful awareness, design thinking, and creative work.

Why does it mean so much to you?

I have an odd assortment of work experience and education.

I’ve worked as a

• housekeeper (sacked)
• waitress (sacked)
• music teacher
• secretary (sacked)
• cosmetic salesperson
• cosmetic mid-level director
• mental patient (where I excelled!)
• secretary (sacked again)
• real estate agent
• interior designer
• lead of home furnishings & design

I've been educated in schools of

• visual & performing arts
• arts & sciences
• psychology
• architectural design
• education design
• graphic design, and,
• good old-fashioned hard knocks (with honors!)

One day, I asked myself the most sincere question in an effort to make sense of it all, “Like, what are am I missing? I have had enough varied jobs and education to supply a chamber orchestra!” That day, my perspective radically changed. The craziest idea occurred to me, as from Bob Dylan wrote for his 2020 studio album, Rough and Rowdy Ways, "I Contain Multitudes."

What I've gathered through it all is that I will forever love learning, but that I don't belong in any one of those jobs or schools. Notwithstanding the sackings, I belong to all of them. I am a creative. A philomath. The round peg in the square hole. “A fly in the oinment, Hans,” as Officer John McClain says to exceptional thief, Hans Grüber in the film, “Die Hard.”

Sometimes the creative process is messy, hot, and bothersome, but together with this group of friends challenging on, it's easy to admire the show of work on Hive and the joy it brings.

Much love!! 🥰

Image credits:
"For the Love of Creative Work," "Typographic Design Thinking," DALL•E as prompted by @alessandrawhite by license for commercial use.
"CWH + DreemPortfolio Banner in Grayscale" designed by @alessandrawhite using Figma