Transcript for

Episode 109:

Community as a Source of Inspiration, or The "Scenius"

As I record this, I'm right in the middle of leading a seven-day challenge called "Inspired to Spin," in which I'm offering 7 strategies for finding (you guessed it) inspiration to spin. The last strategy I'm going to talk about is community. For me, being in community with other spinners is the easiest and most effective way to remain constantly inspired to spin.

Hello there darling Sheepspotter! Welcome to episode 109 of The Sheepspot Podcast. I'm Sasha, and my job is to help you make more yarns you love. In this episode I'll introduce you to the "scenius" and talk about the importance, in my own spinning practice, of community as a source of encouragement, support, and inspiration.

Genius vs. "Scenius"

Musician and producer Brian Eno, who has collaborated with everyone from John Cale to U2, coined the term "scenius" to describe the crucial importance of community for makers. Here's what he said:

Like all art students, I was encouraged to believe that there were a few great figures like Picasso and Kandinsky, Rembrandt and Giotto and so on who sort-of appeared out of nowhere and produced artistic revolution,” he explains. As I looked at art more and more, I discovered that that wasn’t really a true picture. What really happened was that there were sometimes very fertile scenes involving lots and lots of people – some of them artists, some of them collectors, some of them curators, thinkers, theorists, people who were fashionable and knew what the hip things were – all sorts of people who created a kind of ecology of talent. And out of that ecology arose some wonderful work. So I came up with this word ‘scenius’ – the intelligence of a whole operation or group of people. I think that’s a more useful way to think about culture. Let’s forget the idea of ‘genius’ for a little while, let’s think about the whole ecology of ideas that give rise to good new thoughts and good new work.

There have been many historical examples of "sceniuses": think the Bloomsbury group, the Chelsea Hotel in the 60s and 70s, the Manchester music scene in the mid- to late-70s. Or, in the spinning context, The Spinning Loft in the early 2010s, which was definitely a spinning scenius for me.

According to Kevin Kelly, writing for Wired magazine, the scenius has a few crucial functions in supporting creatives, including mutual appreciation, with scenius serving as "the best of peer pressure"; the "rapid exchange of tools and techniques"; and the "network effect" or contagiousness of success. I'll talk about each of these in turn.

"The best of peer pressure"

In elaborating on "the best of peer pressure," Kelly writes, "risky moves are applauded by the group," and "subtlety is appreciated." In my spinning community, The Guild, in which I'm a teaching presence and also a participant, we're a relatively small group and we've spent a lot of time together online, both in live meetups and in the discussion forum, so we know when one of us is stretching to do something new or different. The group notices. Which means we can support by encouraging, being available for questions, and offering suggestions when an experiment blows up.

For example, the group knows that I have this weird blockage around knitting garments, so when I post pics of a garment they chime in to celebrate. And when I needed to change the neckline on a vest I was knitting (which was a little terrifying to me, TBH), they talked it through with me and reassured me that all would be well. When I knit another vest and it turned out to be huge, someone in the group knew me well enough to send me a message that said, basically, if you think that vest is too big I'm betting you aren't going to wear it, so just bite the bullet and frog it, which was the right advice.

"The rapid exchange of tools and techniques"

Kelly writes, about the exchange of tools and techniques within a scenius, "As soon as something is invented, it is flaunted and then shared. Ideas flow quickly because they are flowing inside a common language and sensibility." In the Guild, we are unapologetic enablers, celebrating the acquisition of new tools with great enthusiasm. I bought my beloved EE6 espinner after I saw it getting raves in the group, and, as you know, I adore that wheel and have happily spun meters and meters of yarn on it.

Also, when we're learning something new for the monthly challenges, we share what's working for us and what isn't, and as so often in spinning, sometimes the tiniest tweak (to the angle of your wrist, or the way you load your prep tool) to what you're doing makes a huge difference. So we can help each other get unstuck  quickly during the learning process, rather than getting hung up for days or weeks. We help each other keep moving forward.

Contagious success

Finally, Kelly talks about the "network effects of success – When a record is broken, a hit happens, or breakthrough erupts, the success is claimed by the entire scene. This empowers the scene to further success." I really think this is true: success is contagious, and one success leads to other successes. Because each person's success is a kind of permission slip for others to aim high. And sometimes we actually do need permission to succeed. A vibrant spinning community can provide that.

For example, when one member of the group enters a skein for competition and wins, it tells others in the group a) that there are actual spinning competitions and b) that it's possible to win them. Other people they know have done it, so why not them? Why not give it a try?

A continual flow of ideas

Kelly writes, "when buoyed by scenius, you act like genius. Your like-minded peers, and the entire environment inspire you." Every time I log into The Guild, I'm immersed in a continuous flow of spinning experiments and ideas, from spinners whose spinning brains work very differently from mine. I love spinning color and I'm endlessly experimenting with it; the community reminds me that I also love naturally colored fibers. I've been on a bit of a finewool kick lately; the community reminds me how much I love the longwools. I've been spinning a lot of mill-prepped fibers over the past year or so; the community reminds me how much I love prepping my own fiber. This is, for me, the most important advantage of being part of a spinning community: the way that encounters with other spinners and their creative priorities remind me what is possible in my own practice.

Are you part of a spinning scenius? I'd love to hear about how community has inspired your spinning! There's a thread devoted to this episode inside the Flock. You'll find a link in the description of this episode right in your podcasting app, so head over to the thread and share your experiences.

If you're not part of a spinning community, and you're past the early stages of your yarn making journey, consider joining The Guild. We open in January and June (if you're listening to this episode soon after it comes out, the doors might be open right now!) You can find out more at sheepspot.com/guild.

That's it for me this time. Next week I have a special surprise for you, and you don't want to miss it. While you're waiting for the mystery to be unveiled, be sure to spin something, 'cuz you know it will do you good.