I am in Abilene Texas today enjoying the air conditioning, wearing SPF 50 sunblock and visiting with lots of folks I haven’t seen in a long long time. This post will be short, but I want to share with you some of the things I have been thinking about this week and some of the resources I found while on the road.

I was searching around for info about myths as metaphors for the creative process. The internet – being basically a literal beast – found this for me: Myths About Creativity on CreatingMinds.org. The first sub-heading caught my eye, “Creativity is Stupid”. I’ve never heard it said quite that blatantly, but I’ve confronted this belief more than once in my lifetime. I’ve come across many people who perceive creative people as unrealistic airy-fairy idealists who can’t cope with responsibility.

And I have to admit that this belief has wormed its way into my mind as well. I find myself making jokes about myself before someone else can, “I’m only working as a secretary until I get my big acting break, but what I really want to do is direct and write poetry. But, of course, poetry doesn’t pay the bills so would you like fries with that?”

The next article on the site spoke to the natural creativity we all have as children. Human beings are born creative. This is the greatest gift of human nature. But we are TAUGHT to conform in the same way we have to be TAUGHT to hate. Read Age and Creativity and share it with the Board of Directors for your local school system.

Another site that addresses the mental conditioning/programming of our societies is Melissa Karnaze’s Mindful Construct. No pun intended, but this is heady stuff, but Melissa has a wonderful way of making it accessible. This post – If You Are Polarized from Within, Someone Will Pull Your Strings – leads me to the question, “What if things were different.”

• What if the creativity we possessed when we were children had been cultivated and encouraged? (Allow me to use some generalities in service of making a larger point.)
• What if artists, poets and playwrights were valued for what they contributed to the culture. What id they commanded the same respect as say – a CEO?
• What can we do to challenge mainstream beliefs about creative artists?
• What do we do to perpetuate mainstream beliefs about creative artists?
• What can we do to honor and value creativity for the natural gift that it is rather than as a commodity (box office returns and celebrity)?

There are more questions to be asked. There is point and counterpoint to be explored. A dialogue to be developed. The important thing is to think about how we, as artists of all kinds, can represent and create a new culture. I know I need to clear some of these programmed beliefs from my own head. I’ve bought into the “system’ in so many ways and there are conflicts within my own mind. And I am very grateful that following my creative path has lead me to ask these questions – and to begin to expect some answers.

Tags: Creativity