Chuushin exhibition July 29 - August 14, 2022

In my book, The Art of Creative Rebellion, I write about doing something beyond your day job – engaging with a pursuit that is strictly for yourself, not for monetary gain or fame. It’s an uncomfortable place for many of us to be as we feel that any time that is not spent “productively,” that is either in the pursuit of money or given to others (family or friends,) is somehow indulgent. Even selfish. But in reality, we can only experience who we are in these moments of play, when we dance, write, act, paint, draw or go for an aimless walk.

ArtJohn CouchJuly 10, 2022art, The Art of Creative Rebellion

Creative Rebellion Essays: Thinking by Doing

So here’s my advice: Whatever you choose to do, do it without concern for how it compares or will be received by the unseen masses. You know deep inside what is Quality for you. You know if something is any good or works. You have your own standards. And if the work isn’t up to your standards, don’t fret. Just keep going. Do another painting, another chapter, another song. No one has to read your first draft but you.

Think and plan. But then true learning comes from the doing. The messy process of lurching towards truth.

Creative Rebellion Essays: Actively. Doing. Nothing.

During these times, I often hear from friends and associates that they are either bored or feel like they have to write the great American novel or develop the next great startup idea given that Airbnb, Pinterest, Uber, Square, et al arose out of the ashes of the great recession of 2008. Oh, and Sir Isaac Newton spent his bubonic plague time working from home on things like inventing calculus, analyzing color, light and the spectrum as well as studying gravity which led to his creation of the laws of motion.

Creative Rebellion Essays: Sacred time. Sacred space.

So how do I make a personal creative practice while balancing the demands of reality? The answer is pretty simple. I make “sacred time and space” for my personal endeavors. You can choose any hour you like at any time of day (4 am, 3 pm, midnight, whatever floats your boat) but the rules are that you simply do that one thing that is only for you, whether it’s yoga, meditation, writing, playing guitar, making art or chopping wood. You can only do that one thing and nothing else. If you are composing music on a piano, you either play or you sit and do nothing. No social media, no TV. No nothing but simply the task at hand.

Creative Rebellion, Goals, CreativityJohn CouchMarch 29, 2020sacredness, time, writing, The Art of Creative Rebellion, art

Creative Rebellion Essays: Creativity = Freedom

I was interviewed over the weekend by Dov Baron for his video-podcast called Curiosity Bites (my episode comes out in a couple of months -- stay tuned). Dov is a charismatic man whose resume runs from being a leadership coach to author to speaker to podcaster just to name a few arenas. Our discussion was very far-reaching and varied to say the least, running the gamut from design to art to business to languages and culture to being a parent. Underlying the whole discussion was the theme of creativity.

At one point I blurted out that, to me, creativity equates to freedom.

Creative Rebellion Essays: Vision & Creative Confidence

I would posit that the common thread between so-called creative types (artists, designers, musicians, writers, et al) and entrepreneurs is that they both require two things: Vision and Creative confidence. Both the artist and the entrepreneur are making things that are, hopefully, unique, and in the latter case, useful. But either way, something is literally being pulled out of the aether.

Which is no easy feat.

Beyond the day job

I wrote about doing something beyond your day job in my book, The Art of Creative Rebellion, and how it is additive to your ability to bring value to your job. I caution my design team from associating too heavily with their title or company brand – yes, it’s important to have pride in your company and your role but it’s also important to be a fully realized human being, with friends, family and passionate interests that allow you to fill your creative battery.

Rebelling Creatively with John S. Couch, VP of Product Design at Hulu

Creative Rebellion, PressCarolyn McNeillieMarch 13, 2019Press Release, Books, The Art of Creative Rebellion

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