Thank you for this reflection. Your comments about safety and love during childhood resonate very clearly with me. Yes, it is a gift I also had; a gift many are not afforded.
As one who keeps the Sabbath, or rather the Sabbath keeps him: frankly I never thought of it as creativity. I am not a creative person. Can appreciate those who are. So reading other people can give you a lot. Obviously I enjoyed the post.
Creative people are generally more curious and act on it with immediacy--as opposed to people who are more inclined to be less impulsive and can follow rules and to do what is expected of them. We are now in two camps: "neurodivergent" and "neurotypical". Artists probably would fall in the former and could be "on the spectrum". But I'd rather use the hemisphere theory: Artists live more in the right hemisphere, although we can have a natural leff-hemisphere style. If you're going to pursue a craft with rigor there has to be a left-hemisphere focus. Using frameworks is a left hemisphere aspect. Creativity riding on top of that can be all right hemisphere.
For me, creativity is like breathing. It's a very natural flow that truly is part of being human. Too many folks learn to block it as they grow up. Those of us who do not block it are considered to be childLIKE--as opposed to childISH. That is because we still experience the wonder of play and we choose to share it with our creative acts. I cannot imagine my life without creativity because it is so much a part of who and what I am. Take it away and there's nothing left.
Let me talk about this painting that you have in this post: What I read into it is the stark suffering of humanity. We are all connected, so if one part hurts, so do the others. There is no escape from our entanglement with one another. Nor should there be. Once we understand this connectivity, that becomes the Birth of Empathy, which is what I like to call this painting in my mind.
I don't make any claim that my response to the painting is the "correct" one or even the one in your mind. My creative self just read into it.
Thank you for this reflection. Your comments about safety and love during childhood resonate very clearly with me. Yes, it is a gift I also had; a gift many are not afforded.
As one who keeps the Sabbath, or rather the Sabbath keeps him: frankly I never thought of it as creativity. I am not a creative person. Can appreciate those who are. So reading other people can give you a lot. Obviously I enjoyed the post.
Creative people are generally more curious and act on it with immediacy--as opposed to people who are more inclined to be less impulsive and can follow rules and to do what is expected of them. We are now in two camps: "neurodivergent" and "neurotypical". Artists probably would fall in the former and could be "on the spectrum". But I'd rather use the hemisphere theory: Artists live more in the right hemisphere, although we can have a natural leff-hemisphere style. If you're going to pursue a craft with rigor there has to be a left-hemisphere focus. Using frameworks is a left hemisphere aspect. Creativity riding on top of that can be all right hemisphere.
Peter,
This is a gem of an essay, as good as anything I have ever read of yours. Just wonderfully beautiful in every regard.
For me, creativity is like breathing. It's a very natural flow that truly is part of being human. Too many folks learn to block it as they grow up. Those of us who do not block it are considered to be childLIKE--as opposed to childISH. That is because we still experience the wonder of play and we choose to share it with our creative acts. I cannot imagine my life without creativity because it is so much a part of who and what I am. Take it away and there's nothing left.
Let me talk about this painting that you have in this post: What I read into it is the stark suffering of humanity. We are all connected, so if one part hurts, so do the others. There is no escape from our entanglement with one another. Nor should there be. Once we understand this connectivity, that becomes the Birth of Empathy, which is what I like to call this painting in my mind.
I don't make any claim that my response to the painting is the "correct" one or even the one in your mind. My creative self just read into it.
Keep on creating! <3