Podcast

SPOS #221 – Unlocking Creativity And Your Accidental Genius With Mark Levy

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Welcome to episode #221 of Six Pixels Of Separation – The Twist Image Podcast. Who is Mark Levy? I had heard his name is some of my online social networking circles, and while reviewing his site I was amazed to see testimonials like: "Mark Levy is a positioning guru extraordinaire and is my guru in residence" from David Meerman Scott author of The New Rules Of Marketing And PR and Marketing Lessons From The Grateful Dead. Simon Sinek, the best-selling business book author of Start With Why claims that Levy helped him find his "why," and corporate Blogging expert, Debbie Weil, then said that Levy is a "horse whisperer for writers and business thinkers." Beyond that high praise, Levy is also the author of Accidental Genius – Using Writing to Generate Your Best Ideas, Insight and Content. As someone who writes a lot, I fell in love with this book. First, there were many things that I do (after years of practice) but was never able to express until I read this book. Secondly (and most important), the book provided tons of new ways to write, create and spark ideas that have kept me inspired with my writing and coming up with new ideas for our clients at Twist Image. You have to give this episode a listen. Enjoy the conversation…

Here it is: Six Pixels Of Separation – The Twist Image Podcast – Episode #221 – Host: Mitch Joel.

Download the Podcast here: Six Pixels Of Separation – The Twist Image Podcast – Episode #221 – Host: Mitch Joel.

3 comments

  1. I don’t know that I totally believe that creativity is an unreliable thing?
    I think it’s like.. well as if there’s something like God, or the muses, or whatever, lurking somewhere inside of us. I read this thing a while ago.. Carl Jung.. talking about Nietzsche.. that said something to the effect that the genus artist.. is a victim of those inward voices / forces.. they steal your life away..
    The thing is that there’s like.. all these kind of intermediary layers between our selves and those inward voices / forces.. which basically help us to feel safe.. have a bit of stability.. allow us to hold on to our lives…
    I think of that dionysian spirit.. like Jim Morrison singing “break on through to the other side,” like.. that what we might think of as dionysian self destruction.. is also a creative force.. or.. a process of a kind of psychological disintermediation..
    On a kind of collective level.. I think that’s whats going on.. going on in business and where ever.. disintermediation between our selves and those forces… I mean in our constant talks of digital disruption, power relationship shifts, and.. well.. disintermediation!
    If you look at it from this vantage point, I think… well we might say of creativity or genus “it’s not reliable” but.. I think the real truth of the statement is that it’s not reliable from the stand point of the conscious will… not that it’s not reliable from.. say, a psycho dynamics perspective.. or.. I think it’s totally not that difficult to go and hang out with the gods for as long as you like, and just have it all pouring through you…
    I think this is a kind of brilliant point.. the ego is the center of the conscious self not the whole self.. The conscious self is like a psychological oasis created by those very intermediary forces that are protecting us from the creative genus…
    I think it was a brilliant point of Nietzsche’s, about the will.. that we really have many wills.. all competing with one another.. and we then identify our will with the dominant will.. so.. there’s a relationship here.. between will, identity, and ego… but even will its self.. exists outside of the domain of ego and the conscious self!
    Err, sorry, that might have been a little hard to follow… I guess what it comes down to.. is that I feel sensitive about… that those glowing ideas are totally reliable.. and in the end what I think it comes down to is our own commitment to them..

  3. Hi, Mitch – Yes this comment comes over two years since the podcast, but that’s the whole reason you archive/reference these – It’s new to me! 😀
    Anyway, at roughly the 25:00 mark or so, I kept saying to myself “this is like brainstorming by yourself, without all the posturing and timid thoughts inherent in a collective brainstorm meeting”: perhaps that is why brainstorming sessions are rather impromptu and even viewed as reckless.
    Further to the overall topic of discussion, I have always hated structure. Not to say that I use my creativity well, but I am always thinking about stuff and I’m certain it’s due to my not subscribing to many rules whenever possible. However, when I write, it’s generally ruled by getting an idea across with clever words and concepts. One of my favorite all time quotes is “Brevity is the soul of wit.” And I think that’s because the concept of that wit is conditioned by lots of previous dialogue and understanding, internally or otherwise. I often struggle with writing because I am trying to be relevant, and partially due to my lack of vocabulary. And then the roadblocks come and ruin my train of thought, always interfering with my wish to have said it ‘better’ or tactfully or clever. I am not a student of philosophy or psychology whatsoever, but I do feel that people are guilty of internalizing far too often and not asking for help – there is no such thing as a stupid question, after all – so it’s important to ask yourself stupid questions all the time.
    The free writing is definitely something I need to do more of, as I don’t feel that I’ve explored my creativity in the least. It often seems locked inside by some form of mainstream or conventional thinking.
    Great podcast – thanks!

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