Yes and no … continued

This week Carrie Snyder wrote a blog post based on an article about creativity. The gist of it is that truly creative people say no to things so they have time for their creativity.

Carrie said she was annoyed by this article and I was too. I was going to write a response in Carrie’s comments but I realized I had far too much to say so here goes.

There seems to be a myth these days that creativity is a delicate creature. It requires constant nurturing. We must be quiet and tiptoe around it.

Creative people ditto. There are blogs I can’t even look at because they throw around words like “nurture” and “support” and “gather” with a liberal sprinkling of “energy” and, I’m sorry, but that’s just not for me. If it works for you – great. Fantastic. Seriously, go for it. But I’m of the “just do it” school of thought.

Maybe it’s about getting a journalism degree instead of an MFA. Maybe I don’t know what it is. But I don’t think I – or my “art” – is a fragile thing. I don’t think we can be snuffed out that easily.

I think it’s essential to get out and do things. Collect creativity fodder. Living life is a bellows for being creative. You need to see, do, hear, think, experience things to have something worth saying. This I do believe.

That’s why, this morning, I stopped writing, left my laptop and rode my bike up to my sons’ school. Because Spartacat was visiting! Holy heck, this was one cool assembly.

* as an aside - for all those parents who think they are too busy, or important or just above the rules to sign into the school – SPARTY signed in. That’s right; I scrawled my name on the visitor sign-in sheet right under Sparty’s. Fantastic! *

I didn’t stay long. I didn’t see the whole thing. But I saw all the kids run up and press their faces to the glass in the gym doors. I saw them file in with their classes. I saw the teachers all wearing red and black and even rigging up some pretty passable maternity Sens wear (seriously, there is some pregnancy going on in our school – I’m afraid to drink the water).

I saw Spartacat run in and pump up those kids and I listened to them yell “GO, SENS, GO!” and it was great.

And if I don’t use that – or a little piece of it – in something I write in the future, then I’m a monkey’s uncle.

So I say YES to creativity and to doing stuff and to living life. YES.

(although there are some, specific, things to be said no to and maybe I’ll address that in another post)