The funny thing is that I always see tons of films, especially around this time of year because these are usually the best films of the year and the ones that will be nominated for many awards. But since I started doing my Artist Dates I have not seen one film, other than going to the Scottsdale International Film Festival.
So today I went to see all by myself ironically, The Social Network. Now I go to movies by myself all the time. I have my husband, mother-in-law, friends and neighbors who will accompany me to the theater, but since I like to see a lot of films, especially independent art-house films that some people don't want to see, I am quite use to going to the theater alone. Which suits me just fine. Nobody I know had any interest in seeing The Social Network. Honestly, I really did not have any great interest in seeing this film either, but since it is getting so much Oscar buzz, and I love to discuss online all things OSCAR!...I just had to go see it for myself.
I thought the film was very good...excellently written, acted and directed. Going in I knew nothing about the story of the Facebook founder and very little about Facebook for that matter. I don't have a Facebook account, nor will I ever get one. I agree with Betty White when she said in her Saturday Night Live monologue, "I didn’t know what Facebook was, and now that I do know what it is, I have to say, it sounds like a huge waste of time. I would never say the people on it are losers, but that’s only because I’m polite."
I don't feel the need to have a Facebook account because the most important people in my life have my phone number and I am very happy to discuss with them their life and or my life. I have told family members and friends about The Artist Way course I am doing, and said I was blogging about it, just like anyone would journal about an experience, for my own creative expression. But never did I give them a link to my blog and say read it because my life is so interesting. Nor did any of them ask me for the link. Why? Because they have their own interesting lives to live.
Last Sunday I sat next to a man in his 60's during the concert at the el Pedregal, and for about an hour during the concert he sat there and read stuff on his BlackBerry. I was thinking to myself... here you are at this lovely concert and are not fully enjoying it, but reading shit on your BlackBerry.
When Julia Cameron wrote The Artist Way back in 1992 we didn't have access like we do now to the internet and all this social networking. I wonder what she thinks now?...is this adding to or comprising our creativity. I would guess comprising. In one of her earlier chapters she asks you to take a week off from reading. But in 1992 she was referring to magazines, books and newspapers. Julia says, "If you are stuck in your life or in your art, few jump starts are more effective than a week of reading deprivation. It is a paradox that by emptying our lives of distractions we are actually filling the well."
Most people today would find it hard to take even a day off from the internet, emails, and all their social networking sites. Personally for me, the internet has definitely helped inspire my creativity, but I'm also not obsessed with it where I need to be connected 24/7, and especially during a concert. Also, I think if you spend more than ten minutes a day reading about someone else's life on either Facebook or Twitter, than you really need to GET A LIFE!
So if you are reading this blog, please just click off it, and go do something to nurture your own creativity. :-)
As an artist, it is central to be unsatisfied!
This isn't greed, though it might be appetite.
LAWRENCE CALCAGNO
