What is Creativity?
Café-Salon Philosophique #36
May 8, 1999
No. of Participants: 10
Evening's Topic: "What is Creativity?"
"Good evening, and welcome to Café-Salon Philosophique!" Conversation flowed into discussing, "What is Creativity?" Dennis began the discussion by stating, "We are all artists, we just don't know that we are." "People use too much of the left brain and not enough of the right." "Use of language is also an art."
"But, it seems as though the booming economy has driven Americans far from artistic expression and freedom. People are "busy" doing "this, that and the other thing." It is phenomenonal how material greed continues to escalate - The accummulation of "MORE," and "BIGGER is better!" Supposedly, "action-packed" movies, cruises, amusement parks, "star studded" attractions, fancy dinners, etc. is the "creative entertainment" that we are supposed to be happy and satisfied with.
"The creative process has been lost. We have forgotten exactly what that is. In this culture, time is not given for growth and development of creative ideas," Dennis said. Children of today, in our country and around the world learn to "grow up" too fast. Parenting has fallen by the wayside. Aziza commented on the fact that "spontaneity has been lost." From a very early age, we learn to suppress our natural expressions of the genuine and inner artist.
Art today is thought of as the painter who paints, the dancer who dances, the sculptor who sculpts. These forms of art use only parts of the body, not the whole. Samuel says, "The Arts have lost their necessity." "Theatre is seen nowadays only as entertainment." People aren't satisfied with theatre unless it is made into big productions with elaborate costumes, scenery, special effects and music.
The true artist who works from inner creativity does not need such things. Working with the "unknown, the invisible, and the formless"eludes most people. "The Art of Transforming" information into useable knowledge remains unknown to the vast majority of people. Samuel shared how in the "World of Mime" the imagination shapes invisible space into "real" forms and objects. The Creator of Mime becomes one with his audience and make things real and visible to the audience.
The true creative process of being, doing and discovery of the artist within is lost by "the sense of urgency" for "needing to be known," and "rich and famous." The world functions daily as if "time is running out." Every individual has the potential to tap into their creativity and work towards developing their artistic genius. But, there must be a recognition that one is creative or even that one is an artist. Most people deny this part of themselves.
Health of the individual is another important aspect for nourishing creativity. The body is organic and must be treated with respect. Care must be taken in how it is fed, balancing rest with activity, and most importantly, remembering to breathe. Where do you think tension comes from? Have you ever noticed what helps to relieve it? Most individuals do not know how to be human. Humans learn to struggle and fight life, instead of living it.
Ninety-nine percent (99.9%) of most humans are totally unconscious and unaware of the vehicle in which they live - The Human Body. We "pretend" to know. We hide behind masks of spirituality and habitual programming.
Real community no longer exists. It seems as though there is a very small percentage of real sharing that happens in the world for the common good of all that involves no motives of selfishness on any one's part. Most of the time egos, unreal expectations or "every man for himself " hinders the forming of community. Or why is it that disasters and tragedies bring people together as a whole? Why is there not real caring and sharing on a daily basis? Between neighbors? The person you meet on the street? With animals?, etc.
The group then bounced back to sharing how they tap into their creativity. Jeff is a "computer person" and says, "all the lines, tabs, arranging and organizing of graphs calls for thinking creatively." Wayne gathers "images and symbols" for the creative process in his daily life through dreaming. Dennis believes "successful humans" know how to use their intuition. He thinks "intuition and creativity go hand in hand."
Aziza finds that "painting and writing poetry" fulfills her creative expression. "But, she said, I took care of all of my husbands for so many years that I didn't spend as much time doing artwork as I would have liked to." Samuel mentioned, "even the simplest things can be an art, such as cooking." Aziza added, "anything in life can be thought of as artistic expression."
"It's too bad religion hijacked art." Dennis said. "Religious organizations seem to have the tendency to suppress and depress the liveliness of people." Common key words used are: "guilt, shame, hell, and damnation if you don't live right." Artistic expression is lost because we become stifled by learning to "be rigid, lack true movement, forget to breathe, be told that we must sit still and be good, etc."
Corporate America, The Government, and commercialization of "The Arts" has distracted artists from the true creative process. Samuel brought up the fact that television programming and commercials influence people. Take for example, Nike's advertising to "just do it!" which can imply no rational thought, judgement or action when doing something.
Samuel also commented on the fact, "that there is no real art or artist today." "The genuine artist is not going to appear until one becomes an enlightened being." Wayne believes all forms of art imitate life.
Have you tapped into your creative potential? Do you know how to express your inner artist? Would you like to find out more about how you can? BodySpeak™ training can show you how!
Our next Cafe meeting is May 22, 1999 at the Troubadour Bookstore located at 1638 Pearl St. Start time is 6:30 p.m. Hope to see you there! Invite your friends!
Reported by Alessandra