Creativity and the Art of Seeing
Many people express a desire for a creative life thinking
that a creative life entails doing everything in an original way instead living
a life that you are truly present in. It’s
an important distinction because people get unhappy with the life they are
living, the work they are doing, or the food they are eating but get
overwhelmed with the prospect of chucking everything and inventing a whole new
way of being. It isn’t that hard. Open your eyes. Just like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz whose
power to return home resided inside herself, not in her ruby slippers, the
power to live a creative life is already inside you.
The word creativity is fraught with expectations and judgment—most
people think either you have “the gift” for creation or you don’t—and has come
to mean building something out of nothing when really creativity is recognizing
the materials you have at hand and rearranging them into something pleasing to
yourself. There isn’t a work of art or a
brilliant solution to a problem that hasn’t stood on the shoulders of the work
of others.
And so it is with a creative life. Achieving a creative life doesn’t mean
starting from scratch, for example growing your own fiber for the socks you
knit. It could just mean paying more
attention to where your buy your non-toxic knitting materials and adding a
twist to a design to make it your own. It could mean starting with a cold frame to
grown your own lettuce before you commit to a yard full of raised beds and a
compost heap. And if you always thought
you would love to live the life of an artist, the perfect first step is doing a
little of that art every day. Fifteen
minutes before your official day begins even.
Pay no attention to the critics but pay strict attention to the joy you
feel the rest of the day for being what you are.
When I was in grad school, one woman in the program was so
worried about whether she was “good enough” to be a writer, she badgered the
instructors to give her feedback, give her the imprimatur authorizing her do
what she wanted until finally one instructor said, “If you want to write, I
can’t stop you.” No matter what you want
to do, if you decide to do it, no one can stop you. And don’t be afraid to
rename yourself: artist, gardener,
seamstress, yogi, writer. You are the
story you tell about yourself and if you see your story clearly, so will
others. When others see it, it
reinforces the truth of your story.
Envision the perfect life for you and then making subtle
shifts in that direction. It doesn’t take the strength of Atlas to move the
world to your liking, but it does take crystal clear vision to see what your
building blocks are and strategize how to move them around. If you’re a painter you don’t have to invent
new ways to paint a nude, for example, but you do have to see the nude in front
of you—his colors, form, light, composition, dimension—and perhaps concentrate
on one of those elements before you incorporate others. Recognize the tune in your head before you
attempt a symphony. If you want to grow
your own food and process it for the winter, see what’s possible, doable, right
now. Perhaps it’s planning a cold frame
or reading up on how to start a compost pile.
Planning is the second step to achieving the creative life you envision.
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