377 days, Blog #132 analysis vs. creativity
Yesterday I had to spend a number of hours plugging numbers
into a spreadsheet. It sometimes amazes
me how much of my life has come to involve data input. It sounds so unsexy… and menial… and to a lot
of people, I’m sure, pointless.
Sometimes it can be. I like to
think it’s necessary. But it is only as
necessary and good as the use of that data.
I think anyone who knows me will understand that I’m a
pretty creative person. Any conversation
with me would probably not lead you to think that I analyze things like numbers
for a lot of my working day. Or that I
would even like to. That comes, too,
from the fact I hang out with a lot of creative people… a lot of whom don’t
like to think about analyzing numbers and readily admit it is a foreign
language to them. So they brush it off
as unimportant. Or trivialize the
details with the exaggeration of something else.
But I do like it. I
like it in the way I enjoy putting together a puzzle – something I often do
while playing audio versions of Shakespeare in the background. I like to find pieces that match and patterns…
and figure out why some things don’t work well towards making a big picture.
It is important to look at things like this – especially when
so many facets of my life have to do with budgets and the responsible spending
of other people’s money (investments). It’s
important to think about it and look for the patterns and the way things don’t
fit together because it is a way – I believe – to find a solution for a
problem. A solution in which I can play
a role and not just throw up my hands in the air and blame the cost of oil.
Thing is, it is rather difficult to get more creative people
on board with a conversation about these things. No matter how many colors you put in a
spreadsheet, it is still a spreadsheet with numbers and characters that a lot
of people would rather not think about in the more artistic pursuits of their
time. I know quite a few people who
actually get defensive when you bring up the subject of numbers or money, as if
it is casting a judgment on their art by contemplating success through a
numerical value.
Sigh.
I guess we all close our ears to things we don’t care
about. Or things that make us feel
stupid. I am that way with sports. Or mechanics.
Or Republicans. And I don’t mean
that entirely in derogatory snark. I
mean that– as an example of something I don’t understand or have a huge desire
to understand. Because I just don’t get
it… and it would put me in an uncomfortable zone to try to wrap my head around
some of that logic.
But that’s the thing I’ve learned from art. You have to make yourself uncomfortable to
really learn. And to really succeed.
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