Picasso: “Le Journal” (1955)
One of the challenges I need to consider in developing my writing is how to reveal more about myself and tell more stories. The fact that I keep trying to do this, and keep referring to it, probably shows all too clearly how tricky I find it.
I have worked in Higher Education for many years, but I have also spent many years in art school and taught art and design for 20 years. I think I have brought that creativity into the way I run and organise the areas of my responsibility. Creating, yes, but also using my ideas, thoughts, passions and beliefs as drivers for the projects and opportunities I have sought to create.
The challenge is how to talk about ideas and thoughts, and how to draw them out and make clear how they connect to what I believe in. I have thought that by reading I might be able to consider how I might better approach writing. But having spent a couple of decades reading spreadsheets, papers and committee minutes, I now find that my attempts to read make me feel I am suffering from a total lack of attention and concentration. I am feeling institutionalised.
My plan is to write my way out of this, drawing out ideas, memories, thoughts and insights.
What should I think about? What should I draw on? What might be the key to unlocking a more spontaneous and creative quality?
Can I remember key moments, or am I always moving forward? Can I make connections in my thinking and create trains of thought across ideas? How can I be a better storyteller? What are the stories to tell?
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