Day 85 - Chapter 5 - Keep Going

The author titled this chapter, the Ordinary + the extra attention = extraordinary.  He shares a story about Sister Mary Corita Kent taking the ordinary and making it extraordinary.  For example, the G from the General Mills logo, became the G for Goodness, or God. She would take ordinary logos and transform them into religious memes as great artist are able to find the “magic in the mundane.” For some artists, they believe they need to find the extraordinary.  Kleon suggests taking the ordinary adding more attention to find the extraordinary much in the same way Kent did with her artwork.  Slowing down one’s life to pay attention to the ordinary, would be one way to make these creative discoveries.  Drawing everything one sees, paying attention to the details, connects one with the moment. Taking the time, daily, to be creative, whether it is drawing or other forms of creative work, helps reduce stress in one’s life.  He offers the reader to “pay attention to what you pay attention to,” to widen one’s perspective to those things they find valuable.   Setting up designated times to do reflective work, reviewing what you’ve paid attention to, gives insight to one’s life.  He states we have everything we need…we need to pay attention to what we do have.  


I encourage you to buy a copy of Keep Going for a better understanding of your own creative process.  Whether you're a master artist or beginning artist, this is an excellent book.

---