The Courage to Create

There's a book by Rollo May with the same title. If you haven't read it - you should. May discusses the psychological framework needed - no, demanded - for creation. It is a very exhausting, taxing thing to be "creative" and requires almost as much as it gives - almost.

This post however, is a little more personal than that. It's about fear and creativity, or more specifically - losing fear in order to create. The fear that is constantly breathing down my neck when I'm trying to create something - anything - even a sandwich (I'm serious) - has to go.

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Today I was making some oatmeal (I wasn't afraid) and the thought hit me that when I make something I have to decide before I make it not to care about how it turns out. I think more specifically, I have to not worry about the result of its outcome. The artist must not worry about how a work of art is recieved, because that is dependent on the viewer - the artist (once the work is finished) has to let go of control of the piece. Control is an ally of fear - both are fatal. Of course craftsmanship is important, and there is a right way to care about my work - but I should not be 'care'-full about it. It will be what it is, and I'm making it where I am.

In that line of thought - to me it became pretty obvious that the biggest enemy to creativity is fear. It could be a tangible, concrete (even realized) fear. It could also be vague, unfounded and mysterious.

Learning to practice a healthy indifference to the final result of what I make reminded me of an awesome TED talk that heard a few years ago. It's by Elizabeth Gilbert - the author of "Eat, Pray, Love".

Here's the talk