Be
Creative
“We
don't create to achieve or make history, no matter how we're schooled
or what we tell ourselves. We create because we have to. And the
reward for creating, in any form, is that it keeps us alive.”
Mark Nepo
(Three Intentions, September 18, 2019)
People ask me why I don't
post my art on Facebook, or make a website, or sign up at a gallery,
or any of the other ways to make money selling stuff. I sound so lame
when I answer that I can hardly believe myself—a woman who has
lived all her life in a capitalist culture. I say, I don't want to
mass produce my work—for me, it's soul work, done to express what
is within me. Like Nepo says, it's not done for the purpose of
achieving something, though, it's nice when that happens. Instead,
the joy for me is in the doing of it. When I produce a large enough
stack of finished pieces, I do a show to move some of them, and I am
delighted when people buy them. I'm not anti-income, believe me. But
that's not why I create things. And, I'll bet it is the same for you.
Another statement I hear
a lot is, “I'm not at all creative; I couldn't do that (make art)
if my life depended on it.” That is simply not true. Everything alive is creative—that's the nature of life. Trees spring forth
from an acorn or a seed; they grow, flower, fruit, and produce more
trees. Birds build nests, lay eggs, and nurture their offspring.
Bears forage for dense vegetation, go into their dens, hibernate, and
give birth to babies, who come out in spring and begin the cycle all
over again. By its very nature, life is creative, and we, so long as
we are breathing, are the living embodiment of that creativity. You may
not have identified avenues of creativity for yourself yet, but
if you give it some thought, you will.
We create because we have
to. It's in our nature as living beings to go on creating so long as
we are alive. And it is that creativity that keeps us alive. I read an
article recently that declared “The End of Retirement.” As more
and more people are living well into their nineties, they see no
reason to retire in their sixties. So they create new careers and
dive into new ventures much as they did in their twenties—only now
with a great deal more freedom of choice. Life goes on, and as long
as life goes on, it will be creative.
In the Spirit,
Jane
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