Creative Rituals

There has long been the association with creativity and the self-destructive 'demon' forces that plague the most ferocious of artists. But what exactly is the nature of these forces, and can they be managed?

In this episode we have a look at a little figurine that sits on my desk each day, that of Colonel Vasquez, the wise cracking heavy gunner from the 1986 sci-fi thriller 'Aliens'. Vasquez has on her chest plate the phrase ' El Riesgo Siempre Vive', meaning 'The Risk Always Lives'. When we are jumping into anything, we are taking risks. Hell, even being alive is risky, and none of us makes it out alive. So while we are around, what are we doing with ourselves? Why do we allow ourselves to be paralised by fear into inaction? I break all this shit down, hope you get something from it.

In this episode I discuss 'The Radiant Mind' and draw parallels from one of the shortest - and most powerful - teachings in the Buddha's reportaire, and its relationship to our creative practice. But what is 'the radiant mind?' tune in and find out! We also cover 'The Sun' in the Tarot

In today's episode of the podcast I talk about the concept of 'ardency' and its relation to creative pursuits and principles. If you aren't across this terminology (and it can have a wide range of translations), it means 'enthusiasm', 'willingness' and also speaks to a sort of mental fortitude or adoptive quality determined by one's attitude or entry into a discipline. It can be cultivated, but in many senses, it comes simply down to your own grit and determination.

In today's episode of the Creative Podcast (23/04/2024) I talk about the importance of the process of repetition when it comes to developing your creative discipline. And how self knowledge can lead to self mastery. We also look at the Eight Of Pentacles as today's tarot as archetype study.

Do you struggle with overcommitment when you are making creative choices and dealing with creative endeavours? It's something that a lot of neurospicy people can struggle with - and while we might be well meaning, our initial enthusiasm, which means well, can actually lead to the suffering of others when we let them down.

The development of creative protocols in our everyday processes leads to less 'Creative Friction' points - and actually helps you suffer less!

Creative Rituals Founder and host Jesse Chard will be doing a daily podcast dropping at 9am each day Australian Eastern Time! From the neuroscience of creativity, through to ancient techniques and practices and elements that Jesse has learned over his 25 year creative career, tune in for daily insights!

Today’s guest is Alex Wain, a creative digital, publishing and communications wunkderkind with a runsheet a mile long. He founded the tastemaking platform So Bad So Good, taking it to a million followers on his own grit and determination. He’s been the digital marketing manager for Sydney Festival, same for the Ethics Centre, has worked with Universal Music, Rolling Stone, and was even a key part in the absolue epoch of the myspace era. And thats just scratching the surface!Alex has a very clear vision around what digital presence needs to be to be effective, and he’s really refined his takeaways into a beautiful science. I know that creatives often struggle with the prospect of communicating who they are to the wider world, especially if we have hangups, neurosis or even straight up fear about presenting ourselves on wider platforms. This episode is called ‘overcoming the neurosis of self promotion’ and contains a wide range of handy takeaway you can implement as you navigate across the vast sea of white noise that is the digital landscape, and how you can make a lasting impression.  

In today’s episode we speak to Peter Teys, a master of many, many creative disciplines - he’s media he is cinematographer, director, editor, producer, and highly accomplished stills photographer, and in the music world he has spent 3 decades as a drummer and percussionist, performing with scores of artists and performer, and he’s also studying the intricacies of percussion and complex polyrythms in west africa.   Peter is also one of my best friends - we have known each other since 1992 and have done a whole range of creative things together over the years, we have played in multiple bands across thrash metal and electronic music, as well as worked on a wide range of travel documentaries for World Nomads - so we have both been in the trenches together in terms of our relative creative development and evolution. Peter is now moving much deeper into observational and factual documentary, coupling his love for rich imagery with the potency of capturing the essence of the human condition. He is working on a feature doc about the challenges and intricicaies of complex post traumatic stress disorder, interviewing a wide range of subjects about their experience with this terrible affliction. A documentary like this requires emotional sensibility out the wazoo, and in our discussion, we find that to show up to be able to capture the meat and potatoes of a heavy topic, we need to be not only at a relatively optimal point of our own personal physical and mental wellbeing, we also need to know who we are as creatives.   This episode is called ‘the psychology of the interview’ and is for anyone who is taken with the task of pointing cameras at people, and asking themselves questions of any capacity. It seems easy until you start to do it, and you realise - quite quickly - that theres so much more going on in the interview than meets the eye. Enjoy!

What happens to the mind when we edit? What kind of processes do we go through when trying to assemble fragments of information into a cohesive whole?For those who have lent their hand to editing knows that there are so many elements at play to making a good cut - and in many respects, it's all about building up those intuitive processes and instinctual readings of tempo, pacing, shot choice and meaning. But is there something much, much deeper going on when we are building out a piece?---Maia Dal Berger is an Australian filmmaker, producer, editor and creative powerhouse with years and years of experience across a range of disciplines - and now she's the founder of Video Cowgirls, a production house developed to champion and platform women creators.https://www.instagram.com/video_cowgirls/She also is the founder of Honeytrap Soundsystem - an audio entity developed, designed and driven by women.https://www.instagram.com/honeytrapsoundsystem/Follow Maia's main insta here toohttps://www.instagram.com/mayagold_maija/And her main page to see all of her work combinedhttps://www.maiadalberger.com/

Referenced in episode:The AI Art Apocalypse - By 'Hello Future Me'https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xJCzKdPyCoAndrew Stephen's instagram 'No Voices In The Sky'https://www.instagram.com/novoicesinthesky/Jesse Chard's art project 'The Vidiot'https://www.instagram.com/thevidiot.tv