The Creative Process: The Perfecting Spiral

OK, so let me say at the get go, one sure way to kill creativity is to embrace "perfection." Perfection is an intellectual construct designed to drive us mere mortals nuts. So forget about perfection. I'm using the concept of perfecting in the global sense of improving your craft, whatever that craft might be. Have a hunch that if you think about "perfect" when doing genealogy, you'll be miserable! Or am I just speaking for myself?

When I was teaching art classes at the local college I noticed that there was a general pattern to achieving excellence. I really wish that I could have spared beginning drawing students the pain and agony of those first weeks' learning, which was doing the very hardest work first. After a short while they had the basics under their belts (or if not they had dropped the class) and were on the way to enjoying what they were doing. Do we all remember the joy and misery of our early genealogy efforts? I sure do.

Semester after semester, through Drawing 2, 3, and 4, they spiraled through a pursuit of excellence. Small imperfections in their methods were identified and fixed. Little by little they got better and most got really, seriously good. There was never any shame or derision attached to finding those techniques that didn't work, and no labeling them as "mistakes". We simply spotted some task that wasn't working and happily replaced it with a technique that would work better.

And this process of perfecting was self motivated and driven by the goal of the "personal best". Who cares how Michelangelo or da Vinci drew! This is here and now and this is you! So by focusing the pursuit of perfecting inward, and not out to some outer goal, there was no drive to imitate in a hollow fashion. It all felt very much like an inward spiral of improving, getting closer to excellence with every loop of the circle, the spiral getting smaller and tighter too. For those who had worked at it a long while only smaller adjustments were needed... but those changes were also harder to spot. Very few made it to the deepest levels.

I try to remember this as I navigate the standards in the sphere of genealogy. Everyday I'm learning and trying to do better. It's not easy: do I go back and fix all the "mistakes" I've made or push forward... or a little of both? Which efforts are going to be important when I get down the road later? Do I pay attention to what I read in blogs or is there a higher standard? It's hard to say. I go and do and I learn. Every day.

I think it does help to think of this process of perfecting as a spiral. Once around the circle, and at this point it's a large circle, and one has a rough feel for the territory. Twice around, covering some of the same territory, leads to a deeper understanding of what's needed. A third time around and we often more easily see the errors of our ways and make some decisions about how the work can be improved. As the circles in the spiral get smaller the work gets more fine-pointed, room for improvements more difficult to see. Finding those small refinements moving toward excellence is for very few, and only the very persistent make it. And so it goes, around and around.

We live, we learn, we improve... hopefully. No "mistakes", no harsh judgements. Only ways to make the work better.

Cousins J. C. and brother Mike, the Williams boys,

on the occasion of the Frostburg, Maryland 150th year anniversary in 1962

of the town's founding in 1812. All the men in town grew beards and got a pin,
proclaiming them "Brothers of the Brush".

Small town fun if ever there was!

Mike Williams (1949 - 2000)

The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-creative-process-perfecting-spiral.html

Recharging, Charging Forward

Every once in a bit, usually around some holiday or other, I have a slump. Maybe you do too? Don't get me wrong: I do love genealogy for a lot of reasons. But even with something you love, a break does a body good:)

What pulled me out of the Labor Day Slump of 2012 was a wonderful seminar sponsored by the San Diego Genealogical Society featuring Lisa Alzo yesterday. It was top quality and I couldn't have asked for more... or taken it because my head was full! Lisa was a wonderful speaker and for just $40, including lunch, what's not to like?

I love the intellectual stimulation and challenges a day like this brings. Sitting there listening to a well-crafted presentation and having my mind feel like it's free to roam and come up with other thoughts, other solutions as I look into each of the concepts presented. I keep a list going during times like this where I capture all of the random thoughts that come so freely flowing: blog topics, places to look for brick wall ancestors, new strategies to employ.

Here's an example something Lisa included in her first presentation that might apply to my recent quest looking for Jane James Williams my GGGM. Birds Of Passage, or those who come to a country and later go back to their homeland. Some stay put, wanting nothing more to do with The New World. But Lisa expanded that definition for me to include individuals who might have gone back and forth bringing over relatives and helping them get settled in America, then going back for others. This brought a new thought to the Williams family and had me thinking differently about some ships lists.

At lunch I randomly sat next to a fellow attendee and we got chatting about our interests. I mentioned the Williams people from Wales and she reminded me of a film Mom had talked about but I'd forgotten: How Green Was My Valley. Made in 1941 in black and white and directed by John Ford, it tells the story of hard life in a Welsh mining community. I saw it a number of years ago but I wanted to revisit it now in light of the Williams people. My luncheon companion said that she'd read the book and it was really nice... so when I got home I popped on Amazon and bought it for -- are you ready -- a penny!! Can't wait to read it:)

It did me a world of good to go to that seminar yesterday. Now I'm all charged up and ready to go:)


Photo of the day from Aunt Betty:

The Congregational Church of
Frostburg, Maryland, about 1928.

Photo below cropped and numbered by Aunt Betty,
in an effort to identify everyone.
All identified except for about two dozen, mostly boys.
Good work, Aunty Betty!!

Mom thinks this might be the church choir
of which she and her sister were members.
Mom is number 31 and her sister, Dorothy is number 1.

Stained glass window in memorial to
Johanna Harris, Aunty Betty's GGM.
Beautiful and still there, special and precious.

 

 

The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2012/09/recharging-charging-forward.html

Don't Bother Me... and Happy Birthday Aunty Betty!!

First things first: Happy Birthday to my dear and wonderfully generous Aunt Betty. Actually, Aunt Betty is Mom's cousin but everyone, and I do mean everyone, calls her Aunt Betty. She's the one who generously shared her entire photo archive, beautifully organized, of our Williams ancestors. So, Aunt Betty, if you're reading this on your special day please do have a wonderful birthday!!!

Now on to the "Don't Bother Me" part of this post. Do you find that there comes a time each spring when all you can think about is your garden... even if that "garden" is two pots of herbs in a window or 40 acres? That's where I am, servant of the earth.

We live in Southern California where houses sit on postage stamp lots. The closer to the coast the smaller the lot, unless you're a billionaire. Even Mitt Romney's new house on the ocean in this place has only slightly more land surrounding it than the average;) But a garden is a garden no matter the size and if you love a SoCal garden, now is the time that the launch sequence begins!

I have heard the clarion call of the earth and am off to the garden center instead of the Family History Center, remembering my grandmother's gardens and Mom's gardens and her gigantic beefsteak tomatoes. For lunch I'd take the salt and pepper out to Mom's garden and feast on those big red beauties. My tomatoes are never as tasty.

Photo of the day from Aunt Betty's Archive:

The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2012/03/dont-bother-me-and-happy-birthday-aunty.html

Aunt Betty's Photo Archive Has Arrived... and am I surprised!

Last Thursday I got Aunt Betty's envelope with a DVD of her photo archive in it. I was thrilled to have such a treasure because Aunt Betty, as I've posted here many a time, is super organized and all the ancestors and family are properly labeled. She's a model of how to do a photo archive!

Friday was a really busy day for me as I go painting in a friend's studio space, got back late, feed the doggie, date with hubby, off to sleep. Saturday morning woke up with one thought: look at Aunt Betty's photo files. Popped the DVD in the slot on the computer and WOAH!! Slide show!

The notation on the DVD top says that Aunt Betty made this in 2004, eight years ago... she was so ahead of her time!

There's a special feeling I get when looking at old photos of ancestors I didn't know. But seeing this slide show deepened that feeling a couple of notches. I watched as people aged. I saw them in carfree moments at family reunions. Saw family who I only knew as older folks captured in their prime or as kids. This is the real magic of preserving family history!

Aunt Betty, 1947

Thank you Aunt Betty!!

More Info is Always Good!

See post below:) Cousin Debby filled in a few more names from the Uncle Gene and Aunt Nellie fete, but between us we're still missing names matched to faces. She says that her parents were at this event but they don't appear in the photo.

Don't you get all fussy when a beautiful group photo like the one below has no markings on the back? Think I've labeled my photos but my New Year's resolution is to go through every family photo I have and make sure it's properly labeled. Seriously!
Franks' Daughter, and blogger buddy, helpfully posted a comment about Aunt Betty's table. Here it is:

Aunt Betty's Table, search for "Victorian Eastlake Marble Top Side Table." It looks a lot like that style. Incised carvings and design typical of the Eastlake era of the late 19th century. Check out some history of Eastlake at http://www.buffaloah.com/a/archsty/east/index.html and follow some of the links there for similar tables.

Thanks, Frank's Daughter!! I had no idea where to start:) But your sharing of the Eastlake thing got me rolling and that web site is a find. Plus, Aunt Betty has side chairs from the same era and they look something like this one below copied from that web site.


 

I've learned a lot about the Victorian Eastlake style and the why of it, which is fascinating, I must say. Charles Eastlake was an English architect who wrote a vastly popular book that hit the USA in 1872. He made no furniture himself but directed cabinet makers. He proposed a rather clean design but mass-market furniture manufacturers got a bit carried away and added ornamentation of all types. Most was around the geometric theme but you can find sprigs of leaves and other designs from nature too.

 

 

Eastlake furniture was also known as Cottage Furniture. It reached its heights of popularity from about 1876 to 1890, and that pretty much fits in with what history we know about Aunt Betty's beautiful table... see post below for picture.

 

 

Here's a quote from the web site Frank's Daughter gave me that describes Eastlake's feelings about how US manufactures used his book to come up with designs:

Eastlake himself commenting on his influence in the United States, said, "I find American tradesmen continually advertising what they are pleased to call Eastlake furniture, the production of which I have had nothing whatever to do, and for the taste of which I should be very sorry to be considered responsible."

Picture This

It's Friday and Mom and I have been having some genealogy fun. Aunt Betty too! And Cousin Debby has sent a "mystery photo" of a family gathering and I'm hanging in the air waiting to find out who's who! So here's my picture album for this week and a little story about each:)

Above you see my Grandfather Kelly's family. That's him in the top row: John Lee Kelly. No one called him John. He was Lee to one and all. Peg, Frank, and Gene were known as such by the family. I never heard of Dad's Uncle Eugene, it was always Uncle Gene. Funny, that. Where's the line on the family tree programs where we put our commonly used names? I guess we can stick it in somewhere. But in looking at this photo, probably taken about 1913, I thought it a good idea for myself to put names and commonly used names with the usual dates near the image. Yup, there's my GGF and GGM in the center of the front row. It's really sweet that I can look at this picture, close to 100 years old, and see Grandpop Kelly's family! Don't you think he was good looking?!

Next up are the photos of Aunt Betty's table, which is a whole story unto itself, which I'll save for a later time. But look at this beauty! I know next to nothing about antiques but I'd really like to find out where it was made and maybe that will give us a clue as to its origins. So there's some sleuthing to do about this beautiful table:) If you have any tips that will point me in the right direction, please share! Or will Aunt Betty and I have to end up on Antiques Roadshow in order to find out? Does anyone know how to get to those Keno brothers??

 

Now here's Cousin Debby's photo. She's asked if Mom and I can recognize anyone. Not off hand, we can't. But Mom and I looked real hard at it yesterday during our marathon morning phone calls and here's what we noticed... which I'll list under the photo.

OK, so here's what Mom and I came up with.

See in the front row? The woman with the corsage and the man standing to her left and behind. Mom thinks thats Mary Helen Gormer, or Nellie as Mom knew her and Uncle Gene. Mom looked at the photo and immediately guessed that it was Uncle Gene in that bow tie!

So we went on to guess what kind of occasion this was. Our bet is that it was a milestone wedding anniversary. Gene and Nellie were married 3 Jan 1910. This looks like a photo taken in the late 1950s... look at those fancy clothes! Don't they just scream late 1950s?! We think so. If this was taken about January 3rd 1960, it would have been their 50th wedding anniversary! And look in the upper right corner: you can see a stair rail with, what, Christmas cards?! Could be.

Mom thinks that's Nellie's sister seated to her left. Mom said "That looks like Nellie's sister." And I trust Mom on this unless we get facts otherwise;)

So who are the rest? Mom and I can't identify them. None of my aunts and uncles on the Kelly side, because we'd recognize them. So we're guessing that the people are mostly on the Gormer side and friends of the happy couple.

Cousin Debby? Do you have any more information for us? We're about to bust to know!!