Brainwashed

http://changethis.com/manifesto/show/66.01.Brainwashed

Summary:
Acknowledging the Lizard: The brain fears being laughed at so it shuts down that part and focuses on following instructions. This in turn shuts down our art. It's a resistance that lives in fear and is easily aroused. Artists, on the other hand, have discovered that the resistance is the barrier that keeps them from their art. Taking the risks however, leads to the reward. By acknowledging the lizard brain, it can then be ignored. This gets work doen and art is created.
Connect: Social media connects us to others but at the same time we could be missing the big picture. If people only focus on how many facebook friends they have or who is sending tweets, then they have lost the importance that social media can have. Social media allows people to connect and no longer be isolated. Although, most social media is done in isolation. Now people can interact with just about everyone.
Make Art: Art can be done by anyone and is an original gift. By interacting with others you have the ability to create something and call it art. It doesn't follow rules or instructions and is simply unique. A price doesn't matter.

Discussion:
The layers can be connected to my blog because it gives explanation to the creative process. While these layers give for good reason to reinvent myself and open my eyes to a process, it did not directly relate to my blog. I did not think about these things when I was making each entry and I felt like the blogs had to be done in a fairly specific way which allowed for little creative freedom. An outline of what needed to be done for each blog keep me in a range that did not allow me to fully express my creativity. And after reading about the Layers, I feel more aware of what I need to do to be a better artist, person, and student but for these exercises I do not think that was something connected to the layers. In turn, I don't think this exercises helped a significant amount in making me a better artist, person, or student. It actually made me really stressed. Although it opened my mind to the various aspects of media and the deconstructions behind them, it was in a more mechanical way that put a lot of pressure on me. Some of the exercises on the other hand did allow me to pick music or movies that I enjoy but picking those does not mean it makes me a better artist, it just expresses something that I like. Perhaps over time I will look back on my early blog entries and see how maybe it did actually help to make me a better person, but for now I pretty much just see it as something stressful to do for a grade in class.
I feel that a better way to understand and learn about the creative process is to talk about it in class and and perhaps watch TED videos on it. Being opened up to it at the very beginning of the class would make students more aware of how they can be creative with out adding tons of extra pressure and assignments. These exercises can become very tedious and it would be simpler to learn up front their meanings so students can actually feel like they are learning something rather than feel like they are wasting their time. To learn about them and then do them can be more accomplishing and I'm sure students would feel better knowing the point behind what it is that they are doing. I think it would be a good idea to watch some videos on the creative process in class and then go through the seven layers of connect, be generous, make art, acknowledge the lizard, ship, fail, and learn. Going over them in a discussion like way will in my opinion, give more meaning to the creative process.
Overall I feel as thought the layers are slightly connected to my blog however I feel in a way that is not very significant in making me a better person, artist, or student. Instead of going this roundabout way to learn about the creative process, I think it make more sense to be direct about it in class by watching some videos and having a class discussion. That way when exercises are assigned, they won't feel like a waste of time and will aslo be less stressful to do.