I’m not sure I would be considered a “creative person.” I’m certainly not part of the creative class, professionally (I’m retired, even if I once belonged there). Yet, when I write – and when I do certain other things in my life – I can attest to feeling creative. And it feels good!
What is this feeling of creativity? Does it involve producing something for others’ consumption (an artifact)? Or can it be merely an idea – a germ? Whatever, it surely must be communicated somehow. Internal conversations in my head rarely give me that creative feeling. Something must be expressed outwardly.
This is not to say that experience, sensory data, and logic aren’t important raw materials for any creative expression. There are also emotional ingredients – expressed through physical action, language, and art. Additionally, I am sensitive to creative product of others – creativity tends to be infectious. Sometimes, creativity is inspired by a numinous sense of awe – of nature, science, history, God.
Can I force myself to be creative, despite many powerful forces working to suppress creativity? Indeed, one reason why I can’t write more frequently is those forces impinging too much on my day-to-day routines. So, let’s explore four examples of things that clearly count as creativity in my life, perhaps to encourage conditions that stimulate it. Conversely, maybe we can minimize some of those negative, anti-creative, influences in our lives:
- Writing a blog post for Warp & Woof: This is the most obvious example of a creative act in my life, and I’ve been doing it regularly for eight years now. I start with a germ of an idea, based on some input – reading, conversation, experiences with others close to me, or exposure to external creative artifact (usually film, TV, podcasts). I then develop that original germ with background research, both preceding and following an actual outline of what I will hypothetically write (still very tentative). Next, the most important step — I must commit to sitting down at my computer and writing the prose. This is the most difficult barrier to overcome – it causes the greatest delay in my final product. Once I have a first draft, I can massage it (usually two or three more times), but that first draft is the most burdensome. Finally, I publish. The published artifact is my creative product. Or is it? Weren’t each of the phases of the work – the concept, the research, the revisions – all creative instances in themselves? It’s true that each phase gave me a bit of a thrill – that creative feeling – because I know each step required overcoming some barrier … barriers to getting it DONE! Getting it done is the final reward. I don’t rely on feedback, or approval from my audience (there isn’t any). I measure the creativity of a post by what I’ve had to overcome to complete the task. The harder it was to write, the more creative I judge it to be. In philosophy, a creative act might be considered an emergent property of consciousness,itself an emergent property of the physical world.
- Engaging in conversation with others: Here, the creative vibe comes from learning something about the other person, perhaps including influence over the conversation’s direction. If I can acquire any new knowledge – about the other person, or simply a new way of looking at the world based on what they tell me, I have created an idea in my mind. This person has given me something, and I have accepted their gift. Accepting gifts counts as creativity as much as giving gifts. If I give them something, so much the better. Note that much regularized, routine “small talk” DOES NOT count as acquisition of new knowledge, hence is not creative – but always be alert to the possibility of real creative interchange in many social settings. It may be that the motivation to engage in social interaction comes from another source (intimacy?), and that some social interactions will be more “successful” than others, but the successful engagements do certainly constitute creative acts.
- Neighborhood walks: This may not sound like a rich creative experience, since I tend to follow the same routes in a repeating cycle (there are seven pre-determined paths radiating out from my house in a fixed order), but I have my eyes and ears open (well, my eyes anyway – usually listening to podcasts via earbuds). The new experiences along the route may come from climatic conditions (seasonal), time of day (lighting), cars in driveways and on the street (always an observer), children playing, and other walkers, joggers, bikers on trails. All these external phenomena inform thoughts in my head, interpretations, speculations – sometimes photos (of settings and geographic details). These all constitute creativity. They can become grist for further creative experience – including writing or conversation. My neighborhood walks offer me the opportunity for solitude (those earbuds) while remaining open to unexpected inputs – hence, discovery!
- Listening to music: I don’t do this as much as I should. But when I do listen to my favorite playlists (on walks, in the car, at my computer) I clearly get that intoxicating, invigorating feeling of creativity. I’ve heard these songs before – that’s why I added them to my playlists – but not nearly enough! When certain songs come up, I feel a shot of memory – an emotional charge related to some recalled creative burst from long ago – it feels good. Others may not feel the adrenaline rush I do from the same songs, or artists, but surely have their own favorites. I am not a musician, so I can’t relate to the skill set these artists exhibit, but something still clicks when I hear them. Is it the record producer? The lead guitar? The song’s lyrics? All of them together? Perhaps it’s my sense of history that inspires me – popular music does reflect certain temporal moods and styles, as does the classical music I grew up with. (Full disclosure: I like punk, myself!)
Skill sets have a lot to do with the nature of creative experience. My skills gravitate toward reading, writing, listening. Others may have developed different, and deeper, skill sets. I can imagine a focus on meal preparation, for instance, or dance, or mathematics. For some, participation in athletics has been a primary motivation, or systems design for others. Everybody must follow their own path toward creativity – and find solace in a community of the like-minded. Ultimately, creativity is never solitary but always shared with some community. If occasional solitude helps the process, the end must be communication, which requires an audience. It doesn’t have to be a big audience, but it must be external to the self. Just as consciousness is an emergent property of nature, so too is creativity an emergent property of consciousness. Creative behavior must be something new, not repetition of old habits, not obedience to norms enforced by social fear. Much has been written lately about the impact of artificial intelligence on the creative process. I see AI as a tool – an augmentation of your skill set – but not the source of the creative impulse, nor of that thrill of creative achievement. AI may provide, at best, a refinement of a creative product, never its inception. At least not until we have true AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) which will then replace humans altogether. For now, keep doing what feels good – analyze what forces hinder that feeling, and avoid them. Encourage positive generativity. Therein lies the secret of human creativity!
— William Sundwick
Warp and Woof 