When I was growing up, and you heard something that sounded strange our weird, you had to either blindly accept it, research it at the library or test it yourself. As those stories passed from person-to-person, we eventually learned that the urban legend was something that some of us just accepted and other would challenge. The urban legend has grown up and now become clickbait and fake news. And, by fake news, I mean information that has no backing, factuality or research behind it.

As I looked at how we respond and click on fake news and clickbait, it occurred to me that we could apply some of that process to our creative process. You have to look at the motivations of the news source and their end goal. Is the purpose financial, social or political? Those end goals are intimately the driver of the creation of the link.

In your creative process, you might create your click bait and fake news that prevents you from being creative. As we listen to our inner critic that spins its version of the fake news, how do we find a way to cut through all the fast, inaccurate stories we spin in our head that blocks our creative practice.  In my processing, building community, friendships, and language that supports my efforts is essential in bypassing all the links and sensationalized headlines in my head.

A few weeks ago, I had the please of being interviewed by Mike Pach on the Photo Show in Colorado Springs. You can get a copy of the interview from the link below. Mike and I had a really great time talking photography and creativity. Check it out!

Don’t forget to check out my 2017 Workshops including the Perceptive Photographer Workshop focused on the introspection side of photography.