I’ve been thinking a lot about the nature of creativity these days. It struck me when Dave (my musician husband) was feeling badly about himself because he hadn’t done any composing that day, that I never feel badly about not composing. The fact is, I’ve never felt the least natural impulse to compose, never been struck with a musical idea that had to get out there. So, when it comes to composing, I’m off the hook, as it were. On the other hand, if I have an idea for a blog post and I ignore it for a couple of days, I start to feel more and more depressed until I finally recognize that it’s because of that unfulfilled creative impulse, and get down to business.
I’m seeing an explosion of creativity on the internet (and that’s without trying AT ALL) during this time of solitude, crisis and stillness. It seems that people have a lot of pent-up creativity and during this period of forced inactivity they’re coming up with amazing things. Videos about solitude, posts about how to survive this insanity (check this one on the blog called Deroller Coaster). Lots and lots of comedic wit in all forms. If you can’t laugh, you’ll cry… My daughter is holed up in her London apartment with her husband creating art all day long. I’m truly impressed and inspired with all this.
It reminds me that during different times of my life I’ve been drawn to different types of art, and perhaps that’s what’s happening in other people’s lives right now. During periods of extreme emotional pain/growth I found myself writing poetry, i.e. during my adolescence and while I was going through therapy. Other times, not so much. Occasionally, I feel that poetry is the only way to express my feelings, but my normal bent is for prose. I’ve never done much drawing, except a bit during my teens. Since then, nada. My sister has recently started drawing and it turns out she has quite a talent for it. I find it amazing that these things can come out at any age, prompted by who knows what impulse. I love to create things through the craft of knitting, but I have yet to delve deeply into designing. I still hope that might be ahead of me. Who knows?
All I know is, when an idea strikes you, especially during this highly charged, emotional time, don’t ignore it. Figure out how to turn it into whatever it wants to be. It will help your mental state, believe me. It’ll give you something to concentrate on besides what that damn tickle in your throat might mean, and you’ll feel better for it.
Here’s a little something my daughter, Erica Lee Martin, dreamed up this week. The song is from The Little Mermaid, a favourite movie of her childhood.
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