Cultural Creatives on Creativity

Hi Bret. Please tell us a bit about yourself, your business, and/or your passions.

I am an island. Was a shy, intelligent, athletic kid. When I was in grade school, I read a book about treasure hunters (adventurous nomads) and decided that’s what I wanted to be some day. I later had a friend whose father was an architect (combination of creativity and mathematical precision) and decided that’s what I wanted to be some day. When I was a freshman and sophomore in college, I learned that architects were required to take freestyle art type courses, so I decided to switch to mining engineering (adventurous, creative and engineering precision). When I took some geology courses, I realized it wasn’t for me. I read an article about computer programming (analytical precision and creativity), a new field of endeavor in the mid 1960s, and decided that’s what I wanted to be some day.

After BS (Business) and MS (Management Information Systems) degrees, I became a computer programmer, project leader, senior system analyst, general manager (computer software company) and independent contractor (hot-shot computer programmer for hire). I was very good at programming and climbing the managerial ladder.

In my late 30s, I had a series of life-changing events of a metaphysical nature. I became more introspective, quit the rat race, sold my possessions, and at age 42 drove away from the Big City to become a gold prospector (probably fulfilling my childhood dream of being a treasure hunter). Spent six years in the remote Arizona desert.

Due to some unforeseen circumstances (destiny?), I moved on to the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas where I rented a small modern cabin on 400 acres and wrote four novels. A couple years later, I found a publisher for all four novels. When I ran low on funds, I moved to Memphis and did a Y2K computer contract for 10 months. With the funds from that contract, I moved back to the Ozarks and paid cash for a house on 8 secluded acres. To make ends meet, I became a teacher (computer courses) at a local college and wrote a weekly column in a regional newspaper.

And that’s the short version.

Share three interesting/crazy things about yourself

1) I once owned a 42-foot yacht. Lived on it for about a year. It wasn’t one of my wisest decisions – a yacht is a hole in the ocean that sucks money.

2) I once hitchhiked from Minneapolis to Miami on a $20 bet with a friend that I could do it in less than 48 hours, from my front door to his front door. It took 48 hours and 45 minutes.

3) When I was in my teens and twenties, I practically lived in pool halls. By age 20, I was a world class player. Won the University of Minnesota billiard championship. When I was in the U.S. Army as a Vietnam Era draftee, I was the Third Army pocket billiard champion both years I served.

What is the most courageous thing you’ve ever done?

Probably my first date. I was in junior high school and someone set me up on a blind date with a girl from another school. I was terribly shy and had no clue what to do. It didn’t go well.

Name your top five books, movies, songs, musical groups, and/or websites. Are there any books or movies (genres) that you avoid?

I read mostly non-fiction – metaphysical phenomena, spirituality, ancient history, conspiracy theories, unusual facts, etc.

I like certain movies – adventure, drama, suspense, documentaries. Don’t care for horror or idiotic comedy.

I like lots of music, various genres. Don’t care for hip-hop, rap or polka.

Based upon the description of a cultural creative, do you feel you are one? If so, why?

Most definitely. It starts with imagination and observation and a spiritual view of a grain of sand and the vastness of the universe. Then there is the urge to express your joy and sorrow. If I had a gift for it, I would paint and sculpt. Instead, I’ve found writing. On rare occasions, I will compose a perfect sentence or paragraph and the joy is overwhelming. Naturally, I love to share it with others but it almost doesn’t matter if others don’t see the beauty in it too.

Does spirituality play an important role in the creative process for you? If so, how?

For me it does. As a writer, I realize once I have written it and send it off to the world to find its destiny, it’s out of my hands. That’s a huge responsibility, even with a small audience. My soul is exposed every time I write something, including humor (which is basically disguised truth). If my words touch just one person in a positive way, I have made a difference in this existence. That’s my reward.

What is your first memory of creating something you were proud of?

Early grade school. I remember making a color drawing of a tree (ground & sky). It was not Smithsonian worthy but I was proud of it.

What three words best describe the feeling you get when your creativity is flowing?

Fluid, natural, effortless

What sparks your creativity?

When I wrote screenplays and novels, it was to tell a story that had never been told before. In writing classes back then, I was shocked at how many writers were writing things that have been written a thousand times before.

When I write newspaper columns or blogs, multiple topics per week, it is often everyday events that create a spark. Unusual items, historical events that parallel today’s news, daily happenings (trip to the grocery store or planting my garden or squirrels playing in the yard or a wrong number phone call – several stories right there).

If you have enough imagination and courage, you can write a 1,000 words about a fly on the wall and make it interesting.

What was/is the biggest obstacle you’ve faced? How did you overcome it, and what did you learn from the experience?

The biggest obstacle anyone faces is being themselves. We all set out in life trying to please others and blend in and be accepted. Once you cross the line into being yourself and always doing the right thing regardless of the consequences, you have crossed the line into becoming a truly spiritual being.

For me, this was not a burning bush moment. It took a couple of years of contemplation. I had always been an independent loner. But to become a true iconoclast was a big step. It not only means to stop chasing the almighty dollar and to stop seeking approval from others, but it also involves discovering the meaning and destiny of your soul. You begin to realize you are eternal within infinity. You subsequently forsake your fragile ego as you accept your true self.

It’s easy to “believe” such things. The real truth hits home when you actually comprehend it.

Putting your vision into the world can be scary. Many of us wonder if we’re good enough. How do you respond to negative self-talk? What tools do you use to help work beyond your self-doubt?

This was never a problem for me. Even though I was shy in my early years, I also had a large ego and very high self-esteem. Initially, I assumed anything I wrote would be brilliant and eventually produced (I started with screenplays). It was more or less the same with the novels. I knew I had some interesting fresh ideas and didn’t have self-doubts about it.

Later, when I started doing weekly newspaper columns, I had occasional self-doubts because I was limited in space (about 850 words per column) and was often broaching sensitive topics for the reading audience. The paper had a circulation of over 30,000, plus a website, so I knew a fair amount of people would be reading it. My self-doubt would come when trying to present my point of view on a sensitive topic in a manner that would also appeal to the understanding of those opposing that point of view.

But I have never had any self-doubt about the actual writing. Person A loves a piece and Person B thinks it stinks. It proves nothing, except perhaps Person A is lying or Person B has rocks for brains.

If you get google alerts, what are some keywords/phrases you receive? Does this help your creativity?

I do not receive Google alerts. I have a large stack of material of potential subject matter and I’ve never had writer’s block. I’m too opinionated to ever run out of things to say.

Are there any archetypes (hero, warrior, goddess, messenger, trickster, fool, savior, wanderer, magician etc.) that you resonate with which you feel have helped guide you on your creative journey? Does someone or something sometimes act as your muse?

Not really. I tend to identify with independent people or underdogs.

When I was stuck in my house for 17 days without electricity or a way out of the area due to an ice storm earlier this year, I kept thinking about a mountain man from the early 1800s named Hugh Glass. He had been mauled badly by a bear (including broken legs) and all of his provisions, plus his clothing, had been carried off by his friends who assumed he was about to die. But he somehow crawled some 200 miles over many weeks to reach safety.

I thought about what he must have gone through as it took me 3 full days to saw, by hand, through a bunch of fallen trees blocking my path out to the road. When my electricity was finally restored, I wrote a blog about my experience and included the Hugh Glass story that kept me going.

Are there any recurring motifs in your sleeping dreams, and if so, what do you think they symbolize? Is there a bigger message for you? Do your nighttime dreams ever spark your creativity?

When I was going through my life-altering experience in my late 30s, I was also having many remarkable precognitive dreams. I would meet someone in my dreams, then meet them two days later in so-called real life. This led me to do a lot of dream studies. Dreams are supremely important in human activity.

Yes, I suspect dreams play a significant role in creativity even though it may not be noticeable. I have written columns and blogs about certain recurring dreams that have haunted me a bit. For example, I was drafted during the Vietnam Era. For many years, I would have recurring dreams of being drafted again and trying to explain to someone in charge that they couldn’t do that to me a second time. I’m sure it affects my viewpoint about war and slavery (draftees are essentially slaves) and the audacity of governmental control over citizens, even though I spent my entire tour of duty in the States.

In what ways do you promote your work?

After my four novels were published, I did a few things to promote them, such as a couple of radio interviews and a couple of book signings. However, writing the novels was my objective. It was something I had to do to prove something to myself. By the time they were published, I had no more desire for wealth and no stomach for schmoozing or sales.

I believe in destiny. My marketing plan is in the hands of the lords of destiny. I have accomplished my goals. It’s now out of my hands.

I quit my newspaper column in September of 2007 after seven straight years of never missing a week and now do blogs instead. I gave up the compensation factor of the columns for the freedom of the blog.

Freedom is too precious to compromise or give away. My soul is not for sale.

If you use social networking sites, have any been particularly helpful in helping you spread the word about your work? If so, which one(s) and how?

I am on Myspace at www.myspace.com/bret1111. I post my blogs there, as well as 7 other sites, including three newspaper sites. I have formed a handful of quite meaningful relationships on Myspace. I believe this has helped spread the word a bit about me.

Bret’s Blog Site — www.bret1111.blogspot.com – (Internet)

Institute for Quantum Living — www.instituteforquantumliving.com – (Toronto, Canada)

South Missourian News — www.southmissouriannews.com – (newspaper in rural Missouri)

The News — www.areawidenews.com – (newspaper in Salem, Ark)

The Villager — www.villageronline.com – (newspaper in Cherokee Village, Ark)

Nupathz — www.nupathz.com/weblog/weblog.php (Self-Help Website in West Plaines, Mo.)

I wrote a blog about Leonard Peltier and soon thereafter over a dozen Native Americans requested to be my friend on Myspace. I wrote a blog about the excesses of the federal government and over a dozen freedom-warrior types requested to be my friend on Myspace. Every time I do a humor blog I often get a couple of friend requests (friends telling friends, I suppose).

So my readership is slowly growing. I get enormous satisfaction whenever someone sends me a note about a blog or posts a comment, even if they didn’t like it – I often try to stir things up a bit. I started doing 2 or 3 new blogs every week in June of 2008. One year later, I have 120 blogs archived on my various sites. That’s 10 blogs per month.

What’s your favorite Internet tool either for promotion or enhancing your creativity?

My favorite tool is word of mouth. That’s a positive sign that someone likes it and is sharing it with others. It may not be the most productive way of marketing a product, but it’s easiest way. Destiny is my marketing tool.

Cultural Creatives tend to want their work to impact society in a positive way. Is changing/improving society with your work part of your goal? If yes, please elaborate a bit on your vision.

I don’t see as changing society so much as changing individuals. To me it’s a bit pretentious to set out to change society. You can only change the world an inch at a time, and it starts within yourself. If I could go through a lifetime and have a positive life-altering impact on a dozen or so people that would be a tremendous accomplishment. Perhaps they would do the same and soon it would mushroom to others and permeate a society. An individual cannot change society without other individuals who are in the same vibration.

There are only two things in this existence – you and everything else. You only have control over you.

You change the world by being a living example of virtue and a shining light.

Have you been able to earn a living while pursuing your creative passions? Is there anything from a business perspective that stands out as a key or catalyst to your success that you’d like to share?

I have always been able to earn a living regardless of circumstances. To find a job, you knock on doors even if they’re not looking for workers. I’ve done that multiple times in college – construction jobs, survey crews, farm labor, warehouse worker, etc. I worked on the 2000 census. I got the newspaper column because the newspaper was looking for a paginator (someone who puts the paper together once it’s written). I had no paginating experiences but asked if I could write a column. They let me take a shot at it and I wrote a column for them for the next 400 weeks.

Writing requires courage and persistence. If you don’t think you can do it, you probably can’t. If you don’t keep at it regardless of rejection, you should give up before you start.

The same is true with earning a living. It requires courage and persistence. You have to step forward with courage to ask for a job or do an interview or start your own business. And you must persist until you succeed.

It’s called life

Thanks so much for your time and wonderful insights Bret.

Tags: bret burquest, Creativity, the 11th sage