Right Brain, Left Brain. Who is steering the ship?

I had heard about #ds106 earlier this year and was hoping that I would have a chance to participate in the experience.  That opportunity presented itself in a "headless" section that started last week.  I had also enrolled in Coursera's Creativity, Innovation and Change MOOC and thought that this would be the perfect way to tap into my creativity.  I have not been disappointed.  It is only the first week and I am having the "time of my life!"

I was hesitant to jump in, and posted the following question in the Google+ Community:

When I receive the following response from Christina Hendricks, I decided I had nothing to lose.  Alan Levine @cogdog, our fearless leader, (despite being headless) also chimed in:

The first week is appropriately described as "Boot Camp."  Our first directive suggestion was to introduce ourselves to the group using Social Media.  I posted in Google+ as well as Twitter.

I have spent the past week setting up a new blog (I wanted to compare Blogger to Wordpress), participating in Daily Creates (exercises designed to stimulate creative activity), and getting to know my fellow classmates.  Of course, my computer decided to go ballistic at the same time, so I have been experimenting with different iPad apps to complete these tasks.  My latest Daily Create effort #602 is by far the best (the sixth for me).  I am learning to integrate my analytic and creative mind.  In addition to this worthwhile effort, I have been having fun coming up with a caption in order to enhance my Tweets:

And of course, we were given 3 videos to watch and look for those essential "nuggets" that really resonate with you.  For me, those nuggets looked like this:

 "Disruptive Wonder"...everyday fundamental things and experiences frame reality in a way we often take for granted...The random jumble of letters that I have confined to a single possibility of making my name.  And then I wondered, what else could these letters spell? "

This is the question that Kellie Anderson posed.  Had it not been for fellow Frainger, Ary Aranguiz @trendingteacher, I would have never thought to play with the letter of my name.  After several tries, I came up with this.  I like it!

Cathleen Nardi = Learnd Teach-in 

"Do Not Try to Create and Analyze at the Same Time.  They are different processes."  

This little nugget is embedded in The Daily Creates (tdc) (don't ask me where because I can't find it again).  This is the biggest 'AHA' that I had this week. It actually became manifest during tdc#600.  All of a sudden, my analytical mind took a back seat to my creative mind.  It was a mind blowing experience!  I can compare it to my yoga practice.  If I am thinking about how I will NEVER be able to do the wheel pose, chances are I won't.  If I just let go, and allow my body to form the wheel, guess what, it happens.  For me, tapping into the Universal energy is what creativity is all about.

" I also try in several ways to encourage the class (encourage=give heart) to blog as part of the journey to the magic."

I was thrilled to meet Gardner Campbell again in my MOOC journey.  His keynote address at OpenEd 2012 formed the basis of a Tumblr blog earlier this year.  His words resonate with me.  His encouragement to blog is essential in the process of this creative work.  It is only by reflection that we actually make sense, making meaning of what we experience.

So now that I have the building blocks of Daily Creates, blogging and communicating with my online co-participants, now I actually need to find a voice and a theme that I can use to tell my story.  Thankfully, Boot Camp is a two week process.  I hope to find some inspiration in the next week.  Perhaps my headless image (see above) who has taken charge in what appears to be a crisis will be my inspiration. 

Thanks for listening.

Going Headless in #DS106

I just finished a class in Art & Inquiry with MOMA's Learning Education Team.  The class made me realize the importance of imagery and communication.  With that in mind, I enrolled in Digital Storytelling 106, as a catalyst to get my creative juices flowing.  The Fall section of the class is "headless" meaning there are no teachers, no directors.  The class is run by an extremely creative group of volunteers who have already taken the class. 

Our first assignment was to introduce ourselves.  I had just completed a peer review of a lesson plan for  the Poet & the Mouse (lower left image), which was, of course headless. This made me wonder about headless imagery in art.  The image above was the result. Our group is big on making play on words with the "headless" theme, as you can see from this Twitter exchange:

In addition to the class syllabus, there is a "Daily Create." The Daily Create provides a space for regular practice of spontaneous creativity through challenges published every day. Each assignment should take no more than 15-20 minutes. There are no registrations, no prizes, just a community of people producing art daily.  

For these experiments in daily creates, I have been using my iPad in order to become more familiar with the creative apps that are available.  My first attempt was "Impression".  I used FrameArtist (as I did with the Headless image above).

Make an impression: take a picture of an indentation

The best part about DS106 is that I have reconnected with my 'Fraingers,' a group of people who have connected via MOOCs from all over the world.  Their passion for learning and creativity continually inspire me.

My goals for this class are:

• To improve my MOOC discipline by participating regularly in Daily Creates and adding entries to my blog.
• To use my iPad as much as possible to learn new apps in the creation of digital artwork.
• To transform my writing from its clinical style to storytelling by finding my voice.
• To have fun!!!