Really good question, Jeffery. The short, "one-point" answer I'd have is that I can't possibly imagine not doing so. But I did my best to unpack my answer into a five-point format. For what it's worth, here are what I think are mine at the moment:
1. Discovery. It’s a way to discover myself and things about the world.
2. Delight. Remember, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi didn’t study what we know of as “flow state” to be more productive. He was trying to crack the secret to happiness. Creating puts me in the flow state like nothing else can.
3. Flowing water never grows stale. Usually that’s applied to Tai Chi but I think it can be applied to any creative endeavor.
4. Storytelling. I take this one seriously as I think it’s a basic human requirement—we need to tell, hear and share each other’s stories. We've been doing it for as far back as we've been people.
5. The alternative would be terrible. As Shaw said, without art, the crudeness of reality would make the world unbearable.
That's a very interesting exercise Jeffrey, I've put some time into the question you pose and I'm not at all sure I've come up with an answer just yet.
I think my 5-pointed star would include (today) adventure and curiosity, perhaps recognition as well, but the final two I'm still mulling over.
I wonder how much the star points would change over a person's creative life.
Really good question, Jeffery. The short, "one-point" answer I'd have is that I can't possibly imagine not doing so. But I did my best to unpack my answer into a five-point format. For what it's worth, here are what I think are mine at the moment:
1. Discovery. It’s a way to discover myself and things about the world.
2. Delight. Remember, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi didn’t study what we know of as “flow state” to be more productive. He was trying to crack the secret to happiness. Creating puts me in the flow state like nothing else can.
3. Flowing water never grows stale. Usually that’s applied to Tai Chi but I think it can be applied to any creative endeavor.
4. Storytelling. I take this one seriously as I think it’s a basic human requirement—we need to tell, hear and share each other’s stories. We've been doing it for as far back as we've been people.
5. The alternative would be terrible. As Shaw said, without art, the crudeness of reality would make the world unbearable.
That's a very interesting exercise Jeffrey, I've put some time into the question you pose and I'm not at all sure I've come up with an answer just yet.
I think my 5-pointed star would include (today) adventure and curiosity, perhaps recognition as well, but the final two I'm still mulling over.
I wonder how much the star points would change over a person's creative life.