Go where you would’t go.

Today I had a lot of mundane tasks, some interesting, some not, but I opened a book* by Eric Maisel, my creativity guru, and trusting the right page would fall open, I saw this exercise under the heading, “Anxious Situations.”

Invent a character to go where you wouldn’t go.

Think for a minute about the sorts of places that, because of your personality, principles, or upbringing you would never venture into.

*A Life in the Arts, p.77, in a chapter titled, “Of Moods and Madness.”

Here is the entire instruction: “Think for a minute about the sorts of places that, because of your personality, principles, or upbringing you would never venture into. Invent a character with the sort of personality traits, principles, or upbringing that would allow him or her to venture into one of those places. Follow that character there. Describe the setting in some detail and indicate why the character is successful or comfortable in that setting and why by contrast, you are not.

My bold, alternate self, flew to Germany to storm the Olafur studio, and politely, firmly insist he becomes part of the (dream) team. After being rebuffed a few times, he was invited to join them for a meal and was shown around the office, where he saw some amazing new projects in development.