What is it, really, this creativity? The internet tells us, “the use of the imagination or original ideas, especially in the production of an artistic work.”
AI, chatGPT specifically, answered it this way when I asked it, “What, in a short answer, is creativity?”
“Creativity is the ability to generate original and valuable ideas by connecting existing concepts in new and imaginative ways.”
Then I asked it, “Would you consider creativity to be a major driving force in many of us?”
It answered, “Absolutely. Creativity is a major driving force in many of us—it fuels problem-solving, self-expression, innovation, and our desire to shape the world around us. It’s often at the heart of progress and personal fulfillment.”
Well hell… that pretty much says it. Guess I might as well just sign off right now, thought and message seem to be complete!
Yeah, maybe, but wait just a minute there, Hulse. Don’t you want to throw in your two cents’ worth? Now that you mention it, I actually DO!
Of course I want to see, and share, how the outside world views creativity… for honesty, for accuracy. How I see creativity, and how I feel about it is only my perception, and I would never foist that upon you, unless I first delivered the straight skinny on it.
One way to look at creativity is the process that brings the intangible thought to the tangible world. And in that light, every single thing we see in this world came from that creative process. Everything! Suddenly it becomes a very inventive, creative world, doesn’t it? Whether ultimately ugly or beautiful, it was conceived and brought into existence by someone!
To be creative, one doesn’t have to be necessarily brilliant or innovative or wildly inventive. One only needs to find something they’re interested in, and dream up a way of making it better, different, or maybe just their own version of it. When one is creative on any level, it’s like scratching an itch that’s hard to get to. And when you find it and scratch it, it feels soooo good!
For me, creating something is one of those things that are better in the process than they are in the completion. The process seems purely magical, a seed of an idea that, if watered and encouraged by me, grows and takes on its own identity, sometimes dragging me along with it, sometimes swiftly becoming a complete form that I’m able to bring into the tangible world. Oh sure, the completion is a nice reward for any thought and effort. It’s sort of a reaffirmation that we are still alive, still thinking, that we have something to contribute to this crazy life.
But the process… ah! As I said before, there’s the magic! When I’m in the middle of it, which I try to be as much as possible, hours float by like minutes, and life is simple and totally beautiful. There is no room for worries, no room for thoughts of the outside world, only an inner vibrancy that guides me to the next phase of my endeavor, and then the next phase, and the next.
That wonderful process is like a medium rare Montana steak, with a caesar salad, a baked potato and a fine cabernet. It’s like moving down a wonderful highway in a Corvette, not sure where you’re going, but loving where you are right now, while knowing you’ll also love it when you arrive. But for now, simply enjoying the ride! Or the meal!
Along with those fine benefits, creating something good is like a re-affirmation of the reason for being here in the first place. Creating something gives us a sense of completion, of meaning. For me, it helps me feel like I belong in this time and place, that I’m a part of it, that the muses and I “played” together, and traveled well together. Plus, I sleep very well at night.
Kurt Knew
As Kurt Vonnegut once wrote, “The least you can do is go into the arts. I’m not kidding. The arts are not a way to make a living. They are a very human way of making life more bearable. Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven’s sake. Sing in the shower. Dance to the radio. Tell stories. Write a poem to a friend, even a lousy poem. Do it as well as you possible can. You will get an enormous reward. You will have created something.”
He also wrote, “Nobody will stop you from creating. Do it tonight. Do it tomorrow. That is the way to make your soul grow… The kick of creation is the act of creating, not anything that happens afterward. I would tell all of you watching this screen: Before you go to bed, write a four line poem. Make it as good as you can. Don’t show it to anybody. Put it where nobody will find it. And you will discover that you have your reward.”
I so agree with him. Kurt knew. He knew and he told it in a way I never could. If you’re reading this, do yourself a huge favor. Do what Kurt said. Play the guitar, work on an old project, write a poem or a song, design something, anything. Draw or paint a picture, throw a pot or take a few pics with your camera and edit them, make them better.
But dive, somehow, into that intangible creative realm where the real you lives, and activate yourself, acknowledge that part of you that gets so often ignored by the bustle of the day. You’ll feel better, in ways you might have forgotten. Take a deep breath and sit down with that big medium rare Montana steak. For if you love the meat and potatoes of life, you will rediscover the deepest satisfaction possible, a feeling that you will want to experience over and over again.
Steve Hulse