I consider myself to be expressive.
And I imagine that many people would consider me to be expressive too.
But I am not unflinchingly so.
I have dials and filters because, I suppose, I still worry about what people think sometimes.
Notwithstanding politeness and thinking about people’s feeling – I think I’d benefit from being more expressive.
Many interesting, impressive and creative things happen when we just ‘let it flow’.
Pete.
My friend Pete is very often unflinchingly expressive.
Probably not all the time.
But most of the time – he is.
He just can’t help himself.
His expressiveness is balanced with him being caring and kind and thoughtful… so it is a very attractive thing.
Here’s an example.
When Pete’s young son went abroad for an extended period, tens of years ago, Pete continued to paint.
Pete is a chef/musician/artist/photographer so clearly he is very creative.
But in the immediate aftermath of his son going abroad for quite some time – years in fact – Pete could only paint one thing.
Sad boys.
It’s what came naturally.
The paintings were expressing… something.
Grief?
All Pete could paint was the same thing over and over and over.
This new invention coming from somewhere inside.
Sad boys.
Three of the images are pictured here.
In my house.
Pete gave them to me for Christmas in 2018.
Authenticity.
As I experience more of life, I value authenticity, spontaneity and raw expression much more than even the most beautifully constructed and planned artistic statement.
Something from the heart, I find much more interesting that something engineered.
And in an increasingly 3-D printed, AI, AR and algorithm world – I’d predict that unfiltered, spontaneous creativity and ideas will become increasingly valued.
Because they’re much more interesting.
Instead of working out how something was created, I’d much rather just look at something for the purity of what it is.
