The Influence of Proximity (For the Benefit or Detriment of Your Creative Soul)
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
When I first moved to Boston in July of 2007, I had a 25-30 minute commute by foot from my apartment door to the office I was working at every weekday. Twice a day I passed 68 & 70 Gordon Street — two stately, Victorian homes with tiny “yards” that were no more than 15′ square.
70 Gordon Street’s yard was full of well-kept tall flowers, blooming plants, & climbing vines. It was the beauty high-point of my morning commute. The wildflowers on the sidewalk side of the yard grew so tall & lush that the gardener kept them from sprawling out onto the concrete with thick twine lassos. I imagine it was difficult for her to even walk in her own yard with ease.
68 Gordon Street’s yard was full of weeds and bare patches of New England dirt.
Left to its own devices & the whims of its owner, 68 Gordon Street would remain a neglected, overgrown, ugly excuse for a yard. But a completely natural, oddly unexpected thing started to happen each week. Tiny spots of color started showing up in the 68 Gordon Street yard. A wildflower here & there, obviously smaller than its neighborly counterparts, but there nonetheless, growing between the weeds. Splashes of beauty, brought about by a little wind & long periods of proximity.
I don’t know that there’s a specific timeline at work here, but sooner or later, things start wearing off on you if you’re in proximity to them for long enough. If you want to grow & learn in any field, the quickest way to some form of success in that regard is to learn from others. Put yourself around what you want to be. Be near. Be in it. Behold what you want to become. I don’t say this with a goal of emulating. I think the greater goal has to be to contextualize it all. Make it your own. But if you want to make beautiful art, put yourself in the company of people making beautiful art. If you want to be an Olympic short track speed skater, don’t waste your time at the local rink thinking about it, go find world class skaters. Get to learning. Simply being around people who are trying new things & creatively learning will rub off on you. It’s inevitable.
If you don’t know anyone doing what you want to do, go get a library card. Start checking out the mass of wisdom & knowledge that’s available to you every day, free of charge.
This principle doesn’t always play out in the beauty-from-ashes manner; the opposite can be true as well. If you’re an optimistic, good-natured kind of person & you exist everyday in a work environment or social circle full of cynical complainers, they will eventually wear you down to a sliver of your former (or future) self. If you’re deeply motivated & full of ambition, sit in the company of the wrong personalities for too long & you’ll find yourself thinking the status quo looks appealing. And then you’ll die. It just might take another 40 years.
Both sides of the proximity equation have the potential to embolden you to greatness (or at least to next-ness, which is highly underrated.) Being in proximity of charisma, skill, beauty, & wisdom will craft you into something to be reckoned with. Conversely, being in proximately of lackadaisical, cynical, wet blanket types can push you forward in a search for more fulfilling work & life.
Or it can break you.
When it comes to what you keep close, & what keeps you close, choose carefully. Choose wisely. Choose for the long term while living in the short term. You’re losing or gaining your creative soul with every step you take towards or away from the people & attitudes in your periphery.
There are 14 Serious Comments
reminds me of a common thing i hear in business, that great CEOs are constantly surrounding themselves with people smarter than themselves, rather than trying to insist that they are the smartest person in the room.
the question is, in light of your Daniel Pink quote, how does this apply to freelancers? its a little more dog eat dog, and while i understand learning from your competition and admiring work better than yours, how does it factor in a community sense? have you seen any good working examples of this?
I think it’s so awesome that you notice things so subtle as a yard and apply it to the rest of your life. I get caught up so much in everyday life, I find it difficult to take notice of such things.
[The] question is, in light of your Daniel Pink quote, how does this apply to freelancers?
— Jeff
First off, the quote in question:
[In the long term] any job that’s knowledge-based and routine—that can be reduced to a set of rules—is gone…the jobs that remain are those that depend on forging relationships rather than executing transactions, tapping emotions instead of manipulating logic, handling novel challenges instead of processing routine problems, synthesizing the big picture instead of calculating the details.
— Daniel Pink
Now then, I’m not sure I completely follow what you’re asking. Could you rephrase?
I suppose I was referring more to Daniel Pink himself rather than the exact quote you had referenced. I have read Free Agent Nation and was wondering how you think he might apply the idea of “creative osmosis(?)” to the freelance world?
Iron sharpens iron, but in the context that you and I work in, how?
Iron sharpens iron, but in the context that you and I work in, how?
In a word: intentionality.
I think that it has to take on different forms (based on the individuals involved, their respective industry, seasons of life, etc.) but if your general state of working is solo, it’s even more necessary to intentionally put yourself in the path of others. Freelance and independent design professionals don’t get many chances for that sort of passive absorption of knowledge/talent/attitude an office culture provides. You have it seek it out.
I know for me, that involves a lot of IM conversations. There are a handful of designers, writers, and generally creative people that I talk to on IM almost daily. It’s like a virtual office. 37signal’s Campfire provides a similar framework for connecting people in different locations around central projects and companies. It might not be the most ideal situation, but it’s better than staying shut-off completely from human interaction (and thus from the potential of being influenced by anyone outside of yourself.)
Also, more smart people are realizing the new jobscape we’re in these days, and starting things like Jelly, a sort of a semi-weekly work-together in larger cities. They provide chairs and sofas, wireless internet, and interesting people to talk to, collaborate with, and bounce ideas off of. It’s like the freedom of working from home and being independent without giving up the collaboration and sounding-board (and proximity) of an office culture.
Options abound, but the benefits of proximity don’t typically just happen. You’ve got to be intentional about it.
Good for you, Joshua! Great insight. I’m looking forward to reading more.
Thia is so true, thank you for the insight. A creative community, a creative collective is so beneficial to being stretched into new realms of personal creativity.
so is integrity the difference between being reduced to an anti-creative, lazy cynic or leaving?
so is integrity the difference between being reduced to an anti-creative, lazy cynic or leaving?
I’d say more instinct and trajectory. Sometimes you need to stick it out, for a variety of reasons. And sometimes you need to go before it drains you.
No roadmap. That would be too easy.
Well written - and a great reminder to me. I’m so grateful for the friends and community I have that encourages me toward where I want to go with my career.
I love this mindset. It’s one that I hold firm in my heart – who I am at my core. I love to be in the company of greatness: brilliant minds, passionate lovers, creative souls. I work with some of the most brilliant minds I’ve ever met. They inspire me to be the best at what I do. But what I do is creative and less logical – some would argue that it is both, and I’m often inclined to agree … but for argument’s sake …
I’ve run into one wall every time I attempt to surround myself with Creatives though. They always seem to be a little too arrogant for my taste. This usually leads to them looking down on those who seek their wisdom. It’s frustrating to say the least. This isn’t to say that the creatively endowed are arrogant. Most of them are genuinely kind people. The problem is that they do not want someone hanging around asking questions and trying to learn from them.
Do you know of any ways to do such a thing?
Books can only do so much. A mentor is worth more than any book can every be.
some people who are “independant artist” are afraid to foster knowledge in others for fear of producing a superior artist…insecurity i guess
im curious on your opinions of deadlines. deadlines in relation to time.
does having a time constraint, constrict your creativity?
or does the time limit put you into an extra-creative mindset?
im sure this is different for every person. but often i find time limits to hinder my creativity if creativity is not the answer or desired product/outcome..
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On Tuesday, November 6, 2007 at 9:04pm Daniel said —
Reading this reminds me to be grateful for the friends I have - I believe quite seriously that I’m the guy I am because of how amazing some of my best comrades continue to be.
I also feel the flip side in a big way when it comes to work and career goals. I work with great people, but it’s not my long-term goal at all, and many of my co-workers are a decade-and-a-half older then I, the product of having settled for a well-paying, dull IT job.
I sometimes fear that I’ve mortgaged myself into a corner, though. I’m paid well enough now to comfortably handle the cost of a house and an otherwise modest life-style (in my humble opinion), but I’m so paranoid that I won’t be able to keep up with financial obligations should I decide to take a change of course.
I guess it all comes back to the eminence of money in our culture. I get so focused on that one aspect of the pursuit (which is ironic, because lots of dollars are not what I’m pursuing) that I get in my own way.
Thankfully that’s usually in the back of my mind, and I spend far more of my day reading up on design, technology, and far more enjoyable things. The good stuff will break the surface soon enough.