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Creativity is not a gift for a select few, but an ongoing process of growth and self-realization available to anyone who puts in the effort to pursue the spark. In this book, Chris Orwig offers a unique perspective on the creative process, showing you how to find meaning in your work, be inspired, and discover the life for which you were designed.
With thoughtful and engaging chapters such as “Keep the Edges Wild,” “Einstein’s Game of Connect the Dots,” and “Grit and Glory,” Chris presents each concept through personal examples—his own and others’—showing how to live a more creative and meaningful life.
Drawn from his 12 years as a faculty member at the prestigious Brooks Institute as well as his experience leading creative inspiration and photography workshops and speaking on global stages, Chris’s stories are designed to teach you how to discover your own creative voice. Each chapter includes exercises to help you incorporate what you’ve learned and connect the topics directly to your own experience.
For resources and inspiration, check out the book's companion site, thecreativefight.com.
The Creative Fight: Beautiful Mistakes
The Creative Fight: Grit and Glory
The Creative Fight: Nothing to Lose
Audio: Introduction to The Creative Fight: Create Your Best Work and Live the Life You Imagine
Download Chapter 12: Beautiful Mistakes and Chapter 21: Grit and Glory.
Introduction: We’re born creative. What went wrong?
1. THE FIGHT IS UNDEFINED
Lost goals and vision blurred
The ladder that leans against wrong tree
Steel and flint
John Muir or Atila the Hun
Debunking the right/left brain myth
Designed for more
Chlorophyll in your veins
The story of the gutter palm
2. YOU’RE USING THE WRONG MAP
Four corners of the same piece of bread
The winepress that changed the world
Creativity isn’t weird
This is more ordinary than you think
The art of riding waves
My dog ate my manuscript
3. THE CAMERA IS A LIFE SAVING DEVICE
Focus and blur
Passport
Savor and deepen
The flaw makes the frame
Grit, guts, and resolve
Magnificent in mundane
Uninteresting point of view
Photography is dead
Shutter blink
More beautiful with age
4. IDENTITY
Dr. Seuss was afraid of kids
The day my ego died
Humility and low self-esteem
Public persona without an internal frame
Bright red ink
Comparison is a thief
Vulnerable veneer
5. NATURAL HABITAT VS. THE ZOO
Heat rocks and tall trees
3 desks and 2 hats
My weakness is books
You can never have too many tools
Surround sound
Basecamp
Mutinous revolt
6. SHARPEN THE TOOL
Prime lens
Dull axe is a dangerous thing
Too many nails
Talent versus skill
Gratitude steers the ship
10,000 hours is a lie
Lost at sea
7. QUIET
The larger the crowd the smaller our lives
Double doors
Whispers of the divine
Listen before you speak
Mute for a day
8. VITAMIN C
Beauty as well as bread
The practice of art is sustenance for the soul
Switch tasking is a disease
Killing birds is unkind
90 to 50 percent
Pursue the light
Worst version of yourself
9. BOOMERANG
Broken window
Trash can friends
Heart rate
Your pictures fall short
Tune the guitar before you play
Footage from the front lines
10. ITERATE
Inspiration is unpredictable or the fickle muse
The pencil is mightier than the pen
Cultivate curiosity
Make a mess
Discontent isn’t enough
Buy another lens
Those who quiver are the best prepared
11. WHAT MAKES YOU TICK
The stringless guitar
Honest and close
Iambic pentameter
Window to the soul
Your heart is a wood burning stove
Small threads connect us all
Your creative license can be revoked
12. IMPOSTERS UNITE
Born of risk, refined by fire
Fish that swallowed the key
Harvard of the high seas
Most famous cover band in the world
Uprising tide
Ashes or dust
13. SHAME AND REGRET
The unwanted gift
Yo-Yo Ma’s mistake
Too cool for school
Common sense is a con artist
Boredom is blasphemy
Forward lean
14. GOING ROGUE
You can’t steer a parked car
Paint your greenhouse blue
Shoot the first frame
Ignite the armchair
Really bad art
Hipsters and pioneers
Two different shoes
Creativity begets more