The Multidisciplinary Creative: Creativity's Inherent Intersectionality and Integration

I’ve spoken before, or rather written, about the idea that creativity begets creativity. Typically this has been within the context of a creative practice; the more you make, the better we are at protecting our time, and devoting ourselves to our practice the more creativity we will engage with, the more creative output we will have, the easier it will become to come back to our creativity consistently, and the better we will become at it. However, I want a fresh perspective, a new look at the idea that creativity begets creativity, this time from the angle that one creative practice can spark ingenuity and inspiration in another discipline altogether. 

There is a school of thought long adopted in creative circles that to be successful in a business sense means to niche down, to find a specific place and stay there. Whether in business or in hobbies, I believe a stronger creative practice, and indeed a mark of a creative led life is to broaden one’s practice into many disciplines. To explore and dabble and be as prolific in disciplines as we can be in output. This multidisciplinary view is not only for what we create ourselves, but also an encouragement to consume a variety of creativity as well, which we do rather naturally, but also to expand our inclusion of genres outside our natural inclination within these disciplines that we consume as well. 

There is so much overlap to be had and reveled in. What we read may inform a painting, a drawing we see might be inspiration for a song, or a solution to a perplexing puzzle might shake loose a plot thread for a novel. Observing the world around us, engaging with it, making things out of those byproducts fuels and informs other forms of creation in our lives and in the lives of others. To be a multidisciplinary creative is to dabble, indulge, and enjoy creativity in whatever form feels right. We are not one trick ponies, we are ever evolving and hungry for exploration and challenge. Some of us may chase mastery, but we may also chase diversification as well. 

Sight, sound, movement, memory, all may be taken away from us, all may be lost. If we only ever engage in one activity, in one creative outlet, in one single minded view of what we are as a creative, we may find ourselves forlorn and in despair if the unthinkable should come to pass. Diversification is an anti fragility measure of our creative conditioning. This may feel a touch morose, but when I danced I always heard stories of people who lost their ability to walk let alone dance due to illness, accident, injury. It was devastating to hear their stories. It is my firm belief that diversification of our creative expression is a necessity for our own resiliency and healing. If we diversify before we must, if we ever must, there may be more solace to be had, a clearer way forward, to process, to heal, to transform.

The following examples are to analyze the different ways in which creativity intersects and becomes integrated in the multidisciplinary sphere. Please meet my micro obsessions:        

Inspiration 

Current creativity inspires future creative endeavours. Inspiration, whether it be a whisper or a lightning struck moment of awe is the spark that starts every creative project. The beauty of inspiration is it can come from anywhere. I find that often inspiration strikes from either creating or consuming creativity. 

I had the phenomenal pleasure of seeing in concert and meeting Austin Giorgio in Toronto on his Chronicles of the Darkest Hour tour in April. He really captured the attention and loyalty of the Booktok/Bookstagramm/Romance reading ladies across generations with this most recent album. A crooner with an edge, Auston Giorgio takes cues from American songwriting classics and infuses them with inspiration from new age romance novels, namely romantasy and dark romance. Infusing his most recent album with the essence of these stories that we love to devour, Giorgio has derived inspiration from one gorgeous creative collective and distilled that feeling in song. When art moves you so profoundly, or causes such a phenomenon within a population it becomes a source of inspiration that drives other creative endeavours. Whether the motivation is to become part of that phenomenon, or recapture that feeling, creativity inspires creativity. So create! Your outpouring of generosity could kick start someone else’s creative journey; the world needs more creativity, let’s inspire one another and build a more generous creative community. 

Integration

Creatives are multi-faceted humans who encompass diverse interests, perspectives, and practices. When a creative aligns those interests we see a beautiful level of integration of creative disciplines that enhance one another. There is a myth that suggests the mash up of creative disciplines muddies the waters and reduces impact, but this is simply untrue, a myth that I believe keeps us small. Instead integrate who you are and bring different pieces of yourself and your expression together to breathe freshness into your creativity and amp up the impact. 

Performing with Austin Giorgio was the beautiful human Little Luna. Her music is gently empowering and encourages personal growth and self love which have been really healing for me recently. In addition to her incredible abilities as a singer/songwriter, Little Luna practices and instructs yoga, pairing her lyrics and music with specific yoga flows. Marrying these disciplines integrates the physical wellbeing of our bodies with the healing power music can have on our souls and hearts. It’s a dynamic pairing that perfectly integrates the open generosity of her music and philosophy. These two disciplines do not need to be separate, and in fact enhance their impact by being brought together to boost our energy, and center ourselves with love, grace, and inner strength. Moral of the story: even if what you do and what you love seem to be on opposite ends of the spectrum, bring them together and witness the new magic you can create by embracing more than one facet of who you are at a time!  

Proliferation 

Creativity is not finite! We not only have infinite capacity for consuming creativity, but infinite capacity to actually create. In the capacity of creativity proliferation can be slower, more gentle, but it is an expansion of generosity in creating and sharing your creations with a world that is ravenous to consume them. The more you create, the more you create, the more you create. 

Amie McNee is a prolific author in the creative space. Author of fiction, non-fiction, and a creative coach, she has created a plethora of master classes, course content, and books centered around creativity and why art is a powerful revolutionary act in today’s modern capitalistic society, not to mention her prolific fiction works. Both self published and traditionally published she has created a life where creating art is her delight and mission. It is work and it is magic. Make shitty art is one of her more powerful ideologies and she promotes this idea of creating consistently in small amounts to complete your creations and continuously breathe creativity into the world without burning yourself out. Prolific creativity does not require you to burn the candle at both ends, but it does require you to show up for yourself and your art consistently, and she is living proof that her method works. Whether you share it or not, create! Then stand back and watch how prolific you can be when consistency is your cornerstone. 

Exploration 

Being curious is a central aspect to creativity. It’s what pushes a creative to create, to learn, to challenge themselves. It’s all about exploring our environments, our emotions, our perspectives, and learning how to express them. Multidisciplinary creatives are explorers, learners, searchers. Often they want to branch out, gather information, and learn new skills. Creative exploration is not only about exploring new creative outlets, but encompasses a way of looking at life, of always seeing a new adventure and wanting to share those experiences.

From fusing dance requirements in workout routines, writing exercise libraries, and creating playlists for my WIPs I am on a war path to mix and match mediums, creative practices and mindsets and learn about new disciplines. Exploration for me is what this blog is all about; interrogating, investigating, and teasing out nuances of the creative life, mindset, and practice.  Embracing all of who we are as humans is the most inter disciplinary approach to life we can take, and it is one I have struggled with for years. It’s easy to separate yourself out into labels, roles, and interests, but bringing them all together is an adventure in authenticity. 

Creativity is not a finite resource. Our capacity to create is not limited. Creative disciplines do not have boarders that separate them, they inherently feed each other, through inspiration, adaptability, curiosity, and integration. Creativity grows and gives. Being multidisciplinary as a creative is not a weakness. Diversification is strength. Broadening our understanding, skill set, and approach makes us adaptable, it makes us stronger as creatives, yes, but also as humans.