Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Faith Richmond. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Faith, thank you so much for taking the time to share your lessons learned with us and we’re sure your wisdom will help many. So, one question that comes up often and that we’re hoping you can shed some light on is keeping creativity alive over long stretches – how do you keep your creativity alive?
It can be hard to keep creativity alive. I understand that our daily lives can turn into a bit of a grind, and sometimes finding time to create can feel like just another chore. But even when I feel busy or overwhelmed, I can turn to people around me and I often find creative inspiration through them. Through talking with them, thinking about and expanding on their ideas, I am able to use each unique perspective as my muse. For example, I have derived so much inventiveness from my grandfather and his ideas. He loved parties and a good joke. These things were combined to create one of my favorite creative endeavors: the Funeral Rehearsal.
One day we were talking, and he was reminiscing about his time working as a sandhog (a tunnel digger) in New York. He said that many of his friends were injured or dying on the job, and that he used to joke with his colleague that they should go down to the local funeral parlor and ask them to put up a sign for “coming attractions.” And there it was – a great party and a fantastic joke ready to be created. We put on a rehearsal funeral. We started by sending out invitations to everyone he knew. They read, “Coming Soon to a Funeral Home Near You: Tom and Teddy”. Teddy was his beloved old dog. We rented a hall and I built a life-like coffin out of styrofoam. We designed an altar and hired a friend to play a priest. It turned into a really incredible event! And it’s just one example of how I have been able to keep my creativity alive by allowing myself to listen to and get inspired by other people.
Another time, I was helping a friend prepare for a Passover Seder, I started thinking about combining meals with storytelling. From there I started to write stories that coupled with special recipes and created what I call “Table Tales”. At these events, dinner guests tell a story together while sharing symbolic delicacies and talking about discussion questions.
After seeing the art cars of Cartopia and talking to the owner about his journey in creating art cars with the community, I was inspired to translate the art form into remote control cars. I then created a remote control art car fashion show event that I call “Car-a-bunga!” I invite people to make their own mini art cars with correlating costumes to participate in a fashion show runway. Then we run our rc cars through an obstacle course and destroy them in a demolition derby.
Those are some of the examples of events I was inspired to create, but I’ve also been inspired to write music or make storybooks. These days, I am always collaborating on one project or another. By being invested in people and intrigued by their perspective and their ideas, I am able to access a world of possibility. My approach to creative projects has developed in this way. When I open myself up to witnessing others and recognizing their distinct beauty, I feel motivated to create.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
These days I am really trying to focus on creative endeavors, but I worked as a teacher for many years. I had a lot of my identity tied up in that career. When I left, I had a bit of a crisis as I tried to figure out who I was without that obvious version of myself. Now I am trying to figure out what it means to be a person that identifies as just myself, a person with many talents and skills, and not as a job or a title. Since leaving my job as a teacher, I have come to see that the skills and ideas I applied in that career have significance outside of that world. I used to teach kids how to use words to express their thoughts and feelings. Now I talk to people and help them to develop and tell their own stories. I used to organize activities so young children could learn and grow. Now I create events so that people can play, grow, and expand their minds. I used to foster an environment where little ones could cooperate and collaborate. Now I focus my energy on creatively collaborating with others.
I still have a hard time figuring out how to talk about myself. Honestly, my nightmare question is “What do you do?” I don’t know how to respond without feeling like I’m just trying to satisfy someone else’s expectation of an acceptable answer. I spend a lot of time creating, making art and facilitating unique experiences, but that’s not how I make a living, so sometimes it just doesn’t feel like enough. I am a caregiver for my grandmother. I work with hospice patients. I volunteer at the foodbank. And somehow none of it really feels like a complete answer when I talk about who I am and what I do. But I do see each thing as an important part of my life as a person and as an artist because I am interested in and inspired by my experiences. I am still trying to figure out how I identify – still trying to make sense of where I’ve been and where I’m going – but I know that for me, doing that means valuing and appreciating every person and experience I have available to me.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
As I have been in this transitional time in my life and in my identity, I have tried
to see things with a child’s eyes. I have had to do my best to see the world as new so that I can treat myself as a new kind of seeking and exploring person. To me, being able to see things with a child’s eyes means three things: being curious, being playful, and letting go of expectations. So I have been working to develop those qualities.
Firstly, I am developing my curiosity. I ask why. I investigate. I try new things just to see what will happen. New little humans on this earth see everything as full of wonderment. Rocks are treasures. Sticks are magic. And every box is a world of possibility. I have tried to adopt this feeling of infinite potential as I look at the world around me – the people I meet and the interactions I have. There is always something to learn, possibly even something to delight in, if I am curious.
Secondly, I am developing my playfulness. Everything can be a game! And I am constantly asking people to play with me. That is so much of what the art projects and events I create are about. I just want to play around and see what I can do, see what others can do. It doesn’t have to be considered valid or important. When we are playful, we can recognize that joy is abounding in our daily lives, and that in itself is significant.
Finally, I am trying to let go of expectations. This is so hard! I feel other people’s and my own expectations pressing on me all the time, trying to move me in one direction or another. But they often just distract me from the real possibility at hand. People, environments, situations are all just waiting to be seen as they are, acknowledged and appreciated. And I am finding that there is so much inspiration in who and what they are, especially if I also have curiosity and playfulness at heart.
I have been developing these qualities and allowing them to help me on my journey toward myself as an artist, creator, and human being. If I were trying to help someone access this childlike wonderment for their own sake, I would give them one assignment: go on a treasure hunt. In your regular life, make a game of trying to find the most beautiful, interesting thing around you. Start looking, and you will find that there is so much to see. Try to see it with a child’s eyes.
Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?
As I find so much of my inspiration through connecting with other people and hearing their stories and ideas, I am always looking for opportunities to collaborate. Honestly, I have become that person who talks to strangers and invites acquaintances to come play with me. Every person offers new possibilities, and I am always eager to see what we can come up with when we can be honest and open with one another. It may be as simple as a children’s story or as elaborate as a one-of-a-kind event, I can never know until the connection is made and the creative process begins. If anyone finds themselves wanting to play with that interpersonal chemistry that sparks creativity, they can contact me at fez.richmond@gmail.com
