Today begins a little space on my website where I attempt at making creative connections. Not where I meet other creative people, mind you, but rather make connections in observations in the world.

In a recent article titled Secrets of the Creative Brain by Nancy C Andreason in The Atlantic, it was stated that creativity and mental illness can go hand in hand. I, of course, am NOT focusing on that part, but rather on how the article said that “creative people are better at recognizing relationships, making associations and connections, and seeing things in an original way—seeing things that others cannot see.”

Unfortunately, these connections aren’t always real. The example used was John Nash, a Nobel Laureate in Economics (also covered in the 2001 film A Beautiful Mind staring Russell Crowe and Jennifer Connelly).

“How could you, a mathematician, a man devoted to reason and logical truth,” the colleague asked, “believe that extraterrestrials are sending you messages? How could you believe that you are being recruited by aliens from outer space to save the world?” To which Nash replied: “Because the ideas I had about supernatural beings came to me the same way that my mathematical ideas did. So I took them seriously.”

“Having too many ideas can be dangerous. Part of what comes with seeing connections no one else sees is that not all of these connections actually exist.” ~ Nancy C. Andreason

After reading this article, I realized that for my whole life I’ve seen connections that no one else sees…and dismissed them.

One such connection was in the summer of 2001. While eating pizza at a restaurant with a good friend and discussing the current state of affairs in the world, our country, our town, and our homes and lamenting the stagnation of the economy, I told him, “What we need is an enemy we can’t get to, but rally together against.” A few months later, I awoke to the tragedy unfolding in New York on September 11, 2001. You can ask him. I referenced a graphic novel called The Watchmen. SPOILER ALERT: In it, a genius ‘hero’ has taken it upon himself to unite the whole planet by creating an interdimensional enemy that doesn’t exist. The event is triggered when a genetically created creature kills millions by teleporting…wait for it…into the heart of New York City.

This will be a sporadic segment on my website. I have been noticing I’m doing it more often, but not jotting the idea down and want to start tracking more carefully. Also, I’ll start looking for others and see what creative connections they are able to come u pwith. Maybe even a Facebook page or something.

I’m starting this today, because a little earlier, I discovered a Kickstarter campaign failed to raise the money it needed. The campaign was for additional funding for Novel Writing Software called Novlr. I’m a beta tester and really have been enjoying writing on it compared to all the other software I’ve used over the past 20 years. It’s clean, simple, no distractions, automatically saves your work on the fly. “Oh, but Eric…Google Docs and Microsoft word do that too!” While that’s true…Google Docs ‘hangs’ constantly and I look up and discover the past few lines haven’t been recorded and both have TONS of menu items that tend to distract. “What font should I use? Should I have 1″ margins or more? How do I add page numbers?” No, this online program is simple. Write. Like a pen to paper.

Don’t get me wrong, they want some bells and whistles too, but their graphic designer has made it simple and elegant. I like it. Nuff said.

“When eureka moments occur, they tend to be precipitated by long periods of preparation and incubation, and to strike when the mind is relaxed.” ~ Nancy C. Andreason

The connection thought came from the thought that beginning writers may not have the funds to help ‘kickstart’ a project. I immediately flashed to a project my business partner in Blue Zoo Creative™ and I tried out a few years ago called “LiveMusicJungle.™” You could pull up the site (or app) and search for who was playing that night, where and what kind of genre. It grew out of my desire to see if any place had jazz playing and was unable to find any information anywhere online besides a local paper’s long list of events.

Our business model failed in that we planned on a simple subscription fee for bands and venues (they got a FREE listing, and for a little more, could add a considerable amount of content. A sort of mini-website). We also had advertising and a writer who interviewed bands, attended concerts and built up a good number of quality articles and videos. The problem was… band didn’t have money, and the venues were all so well known they didn’t need to advertise.

All of this just to say:

Creative Connection: 0001

Writers and Musicians (both creatives) have limited resources. Could a website/software be developed to help both (and other similar niche creatives that could benefit from a Novlr.org, LiveMusicJungle™ or other tool that helps them create. AND…how to help alleviate the costs while getting started?

DISCLAIMER: Creative Connections May or May Not Be Real.