Goals & Spontaneity

There are two ways of animating in 2D. The pose to pose method and the straight-ahead method.

The pose to pose method is blocking in all the actions that are going to happen overtime, like checkpoints through the over-arching action. Straight-ahead is going one frame at a time just relying on the earlier frame for animation, largely not knowing the direction one is going in.

The method that is most used by animators is a hybrid one. Where checkpoints (keys) are made but are not set in stone. This way one gets the organic flow of straight-ahead and at the same time is not entirely blind to where one is going. Result is, beautiful, lively animation that sticks to the available time.

This goal - spontaneity relationship is as necessary in life as in animation. Goals or checkpoints are important but not at the cost of sucking out novelty in living and exploring possibilities. There always has to be a small amount of flexibility in our goals so as to allow for magic to happen when it comes out of spontaneity. One can plan for the good things, great things can’t be planned, they have to be allowed into our lives by making more room for them.

Leaving identity behind

Theres a great difference in knowing what is right and doing what is right. There are incredible amount of books with beneficial wisdom, films that can change lives and advice from well-meaning and well-informed friends that go to deaf ears when it comes to actual implementation. We value learning but are terribly skeptical of applying learnings to our own lives. The rigidness of our identity becomes our true weakness.

Applying a new learning to our lives is a risk worth taking, not taking it, is in fact more dangerous. The raging identity overzealous in guarding its boundaries needs to take a break. Taking ourselves out of our own way makes us into more wholesome beings and not regurgitations of what we were all this while.

Busy ‘ness and being valued

Being busy is considered being of value by many. Having no time to enjoy the gifts of life is merely a sign of being disorganized.

In the culture we live in, having time is something to be looked down upon. We are used to denigrating people who seem to be having time for themselves and for others. As a result, we are more likely to hide behind our screens or our files or whatever it is we work on, for much longer than is required. Not only to show outwardly importance but to gain a value of our self by staying away from free time. Free time somehow should always be unjust or rightly earned by spending crazy amounts of time ‘working’ to compensate it.

While we stay glued to our screens, our friendships wither, our relationships are ignored, a fine time that is worth living for is lost and our body ages and crumbles through it all. Divorced from living, the work we are capable of doing is bereft of meaning for oneself and others

Life isn’t a support system for art. Its the other way around. - Stephen King