midnightinchicagoElyse’s house is like “Creativity Central”. She has a studio for recording music and podcasts here. Her sound engineer who is also her friend has sound equipment for editing the recordings here. There are computers for researching and writing the podcasts and writing these blog entries here.
She’s also got plenty of art materials around for painting and sketching here.
When I am visiting with Elyse in Canada, one can find Elyse and me, her son Lewis, and her sound engineer, Doug, who is also her friend, involved in creative activities – I am researching a podcast or writing white papers, Elyse’s sound engineer Doug is de-essing and compressing a podcast, Elyse is composing music or writing newsletters or lining up artists for exhibits, Lewis is creating 3-D animations on his computer and Lola is very busy acting very Lola-like.
Since we are all creative people, it really is enjoyable for us to settle into our various Narnias and disappear within those Narnias for some length of time.
Once in a while, a person can find at least two of us doing the exact same thing at the exact same moment, which is equally pleasurable. Elyse and I have been painting quite a bit lately, for example. She recently completed a painting she entitled “Normal : New Normal” and has moved on to another and I am working on a more surreal venture. My painting appears to be a mural. There is a window on the wall and a bucket full of paint has fallen out of the window and splashed the mural. But the question is, is the window and bucket real or is it part of the mural?
But to home in closer on where I am going with this: What I like best of all is when the four of us are working on a project together. It was like that when we recorded the podcast with all four of us in it: Doug and Lewis and Elyse and I. Doug, Elyse and I had to be in the studio together with Lewis monitoring Doug’s sound equipment while we recorded, and then when it was Lewis’s turn to record, Doug and Lewis switched roles. We all wanted to get it right and that is why I think the podcast worked out so well.
My point: I think two things work very well as far as building friendships and building families go. The first is doing things together and the second is making sure that what you are doing together is creative.
If you are sitting in front of the computer reading this right now (and I know you are, gentle reader) you might want to take some time to shut the computer off for a while and spend some time doing something fun and inventive with those you like and with those you love.
Just remember to come back and visit the MIC website and blog, y’hear!
Thomas D. Taylor
Co-Creator
MIDNIGHT IN CHICAGO
