On harnessing a space of creativity in our lives
I’ve been thinking..
There’s not enough respect for creativity in our everyday society.
I recently watched this video on creativity:
In the video, sir Ken Robinson speaks of a girl who has problems with mental health and with the help of a few mentors, she was able to become a successful and inspiring person. He also mentions, however, that without this respect and patience from a few people, she may not have been where she is today.
Our world does not value creativity. Slowly, we are starting to integrate creativity into the crevices of our everyday lives, but it is a collective effort. (It is also not yet a mainstream movement). It is something that we are always in the midst of progress with.
The world comes forth with the “winner” “loser” mindset. According to Susan Cain in her book, “Bittersweet,” there is a term called “learned perfection”, first coined in 2003. The term describes this phenomenon: we are expected to be perfect, to not look like we’re trying doing it, and to continue on with the duties of our lives without acknowledging the pains and hurts that are inevitable in life.
I think that there is a lot of opportunity our society brings us. My father has always taught me so — he came from rural China with little to eat and a loving mother who would allow herself to go hungry in order to provide rations for him and his brothers. Coming from his world to America, it was an internal revelation, a slow and gradual birth of insight into this new world that brings so much abundance. My father always urges me to work hard and he always speaks nostalgically of his past and his journey to America, I think partly in hopes that I can gain from what he has learned.
But within opportunity, we need acknowledgement that everyone deserves the right to express themselves, to create, to be. We need to work on weaving creativity into our education systems, our individual lives, our communities.
Coming back to the term, “learned perfection.” Susan Cain states that especially in prestigious schools like Princeton, Yale, Stanford, people uphold extremely high expectations of themselves that are channeled through work and school culture. You are supposed to “try hard, but not too hard, and master things seemingly effortlessly. You are not to acknowledge your losses.” She speaks of the Princeton clubs, how these prestigious clubs are symbols of belonging and prestige, and not getting accepted into one is heartbreaking for some students, yet — these individuals are regarded as a mere statistic in the valued framework of Princeton prestige. From speaking to the recent students of Princeton, she garners the insight that people are oftentimes more hurt than they care to admit when they don’t enter into one of these clubs.
Self-expression is creativity. How can we harness spaces of self-expression in our lives? How can we build policy that informs the creative process rather than denies it?
For starters, we have to begin within. What is holding us back from allowing ourselves to be expressed fully? For me, it is my fear of rejection. I oftentimes search for communities and am lost in a space of directionless — I get caught up in my head about what people are thinking of me and how my actions influence others. You are not responsible for other people’s actions, I tell myself.
The point I’m pushing forth is, you have to do the inner work to be able to connect with your creativity and with others. To connect with yourself looks different for everyone, but it always starts with a willingness to know yourself.
Community is one form of establishing creativity. You share ideas, journeys, intuitions. But how are you to do that if you fear the opinions of others? Expectations of the world, of others, of everything will always hold you back and bring you further from yourself if you don’t direct your energy inwards. When you connect with community, it is important that you see each connection as an add to yourself, or you may end up giving too much.
Something I’m also learning to respect is time. Finding your inner pool of creativity takes time. It takes conscious effort, discipline, and most importantly — patience and time. I can brain dump about creativity, but ultimately, it comes down to action and that patience you give to yourself to see your growth.
Can creativity take action in the comfort of your room? Studies have shown that solitude harnesses creativity. What my brain tells me is that you are just you when you are alone. There’s nothing to prove, this is the fullest expression of yourself. If you allow yourself to feel the ebbs and flows of everyday life, even in the comfort of your own room, channeling these energies into love outside of your room, into beautiful art, dance, yoga. The possibilities are endless! Everyday, for example, I make time to “indulge” (imagine that) in my thought processes and a bit of flow state. I express creativity through writing, listening to music, reading, dancing around, admiring nature.
I have these weird labels in my head. Sometimes I feel guilty about stupid shit like watching Youtube. I think a lot of creativity is getting past these labels, of allowing yourself to do things that go against these expectations channeled through you. You are not your expectations of yourself. It’s your job to consciously and mindfully work past the expectations a lifetime has ingrained into you. Don’t get so comfortable with what you assume is right for you, just because it has worked before. Always work to become more of yourself.
Going on to the other question I proposed: how can we create communities and policies that grow creativity? My first thought: I don’t know. I am affiliated with an organization at my school right now called APIDA. I go to their events sometimes, and the leader of the organization is my sociology professor. In these organizations and specifically, these events, we focus on building connection through different channels. For example, we have support groups for queer identifying individuals. We are able to speak of the interconnected struggles we face and the expectations that we battle with. Through sharing, we are each able to feel under each other’s skin. Creativity always starts from within; when I think creative, I think “self-expression.” But the self is inextricably connected with others. We are always seeking connection, and what other people give to us in the duration of our lives becomes a part of ourselves.
I have a Civic engagement trip coming up for my Asian American experience class (said sociology class) and I was reading through the civic engagement policies that they are currently working on. This made me realize — and I think I’ve intuitively known but hadn’t put it into words until now — that the Asian American experience is inextricably connected with creativity. Why? What about seeking equal opportunity is connected with art? Both forms are expressions of creativity because both advocate for the seeking of the self, for the seeking of oneness.
I oftentimes feel trapped in a world of expectations, that I’m living against the grain of what the world expects out of me. We are thrown into this world, the Jung analyst James Hollis reads, and a lot of us drift further and further away from our souls to achieve big titles, shiny things, things we believe will bring us fulfillment in this world.
So, becoming more of yourself takes time. It takes patience. It takes the slow and steady disintegration of labels that the world has on you. It takes connecting with people who inspire you, and always seeking to know what you don’t know. It takes overcoming the fear of what you don’t know and learning to embrace change.
cover photo courtesy of safiyah on Pinterest.
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