Inventing
A creative mind ponders not only those things aesthetic, but also problems to solve and technology to know.
To invent is to solve a problem that has not been solved by that person before. Therefore, each and everyone of us could be considered to be inventors simply because we pretty much all have the ability to solve new problems..! Recognition as an inventor usually only comes to those who create "new things" and are fortunate enough to profit from their success. Never the less, the power of mind to solve a given circumstance is what is important to each of us in our daily lives..
There is a few fundamental steps that need to be followed, but they are not necessarily difficult or obscure. Inventing is really just another aspect of living, so a happy life includes the ability and freedom to solve your own problems along the way. Below is what I consider to be a workable set of steps that will help to guide you along the path of inventing / problem solving.
Define
To define is to make clear of "The What." This requires an understanding of the problem, a view from all sides and an empathy with every aspect of the object in question. Understanding the problem is the key, so I think it would be wise to know a workable definition for both these words.
Understand = affinity + reality + communication.
Affinity is the attracting force that brings one close to (or repels one from) an object. The interest factor, a curiosity to know.
Reality is that which is agreed upon.
The way any given thing appears to be through the eyes of the observer.
Communication is an exchange of ideas and considerations. The movement to and fro that causes change to occur.
Understanding rises as the combination of it's elements are added and blended together. By seeking a deep understanding, the problem is defined, clarity is achieved and movement in a positive direction can begin. Now you should feel a desire to move..
Problems are those things that face you with a counter intention, they appear as barriers to the place you wish to be. e.g. one is walking east and comes across a river. The river is seen as a problem because it can not be crossed by foot. Do not blame the river as it is not listening, it is after all you who can not walk on water. You can however walk bridges, so you problem is resolved by defining your limitations then exercising your ability to build a bridge.
Desire
To desire is to want. It is a willingness to reach, grasp and pull back.
Take a look at what you've defined in the first step and now see if you are willing to do something about it. Look at why it excites you, list the reasons and feel the wanting grow. This is the feeling of desire, of enthusiasm towards, and is the energy you need to have before you'll be and feel deserving.
Deserve
To deserve is to grant permission to reach, grasp and pull inwards. Permission will be found within ones soul and it is a favorable judgment about ones self.
If deserving is not clear, then it is because there is a consideration of shortcoming. Therefore, look at what appears to be lacking. Go back to step 1 and redefine your ideals. Deserving also has to consider what the end goal is in mind? Who does the project serve and does it have the greatest good for the largest number in mind? Maybe there are issues of self serving to work out and a lack of genuine commitment to the project.
Deserving implies that one is ready to take the lead, willing to say yes and a certainty of mind to believe it'll get done. Deserving empowers intent.
Intend
To intend is to believe that it will be so. You are about to assume a position of command, so be whoever it takes to get things done.
Apply your feeling of enthusiasm, desire and deservingness, then reach out with full intention towards your goal.
Action
Now is the time to do. Let your prior steps guide you towards your destination. Providing you have set yourself up with a clear vision ahead, the action you take and the persistence you have for your project will produce the deserved result.
Sometimes I arrive at the completion of the project and see that what has been done has gone beyond my initial expectations. I always take time to enjoy this abundance and acknowledge that the universe has seen my efforts and agreed to play along side my games..
I'd like to share an example of my inventive efforts and I hope that it gives you enecouagement to believe in your powers to solve your own inventive ideas. I have a curiousity for water, how to make art from it, how to purify it and how to give water the love that it deserves by building functional art it can flow in.
So what did I do about it?
Firstly I committed to a study of water and choose to read all I could from the "Water Wizard" himself Victor Schauberger. I also learnt about flowforms and began to play with cement as an artistic medium. I prectised the art of shaping the bowels until I got the wonderful to and fro effect that flowforms create with water. Then came my moment of origonal thought.... what if I could build a dish that spun continuious whirlpools and swayed just like flowforms do?
Sure enough I did it, and another water dish was added to my growing collection of items that cascaded down the bank beside our home.
The next obvious progression was how to double the effect by joining two pairs of whirlpools back to back.
The photo above is my very first Quad whirlpool dish. To say it was a success is an understatement of grand magnitude!! This puppy osilated to and fro, side to side, corner to corner, sometimes it would surge to the centre of the dish then outwards to all sides. On two occations I've seen the water in this dish do an excited quiver, it's standing waves held strangely still across the entire dish like it was shivering with a higher octive of motion. Something special happened during this time, I had goosebumps then kittens as I felt I had just witnessed a truely special dance of the water.. These moments are truely priceless.
Keeping in mind that this dish was my first Quad, and that I have made many many dishes since that time, I have only seen the water quiver as described above in that very first Quad dish! I've tried very deliberatly to recreate this effect but without success, it just goes to show that at times each of us is capable of manifesting beyond known logic and intent.
I believe that with this sculpture I touched a piont way beyond my comprehension. This is the power of art, a vibration of pure aesthetics, it is attained by a freedom to build without perconcieved limits.
