Hop On Pop
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12/21/2010 6:37:18 AM
The nature of the creative mind:
"The truly creative mind in any field is no more than this: A human
creature born abnormally, inhumanly sensitive.
To him
a touch is a blow,
a sound is a noise,
a misfortune is a tragedy,
a joy is an ecstasy,
a friend is a lover,
a lover is a god,
and failure is death.
Add to this cruelly delicate organism the overpowering necessity to
create, create, create - so that without the creating of music or
poetry or books or buildings or something of meaning, his very breath
is cut off from him. He must create, must pour out creation. By some
strange, unknown, inward urgency he is not really alive unless he is
creating."
-Pearl S. Buck
Agree?
Disagree?
I think that this is as true as anything that I have ever read.
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Tom O'Brien
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12/21/2010 9:48:53 AM
Absolutely agree! I think all people are inherently creative, but most of us are stifled in childhood. But those of us who keep creating know that there is no other choice. Failure is indeed death. To create is to live.
There is a fire inside of a creative person in which tools are forged. We are all trying to understand ourselves through our creativity and to share what we learn about the world with others. It's a kind of "checking in" to link soul to soul in a way that is otherwise impossible.
Some people create when they want to. Some people create because they have to. I think every act should be an act of creation.
Interestingly, creation and destruction go hand-in-hand. You can't make a note without destroying the silence. You can't paint a color without destroying the blank canvas.
I never understood how some people can live without being creative. Obviously, everyone here values creativity. But there are people who just do there mundane jobs and come home and watch TV. They are definitely a different species!
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Richard Scotti
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12/23/2010 8:17:37 AM
---- Updated 12/23/2010 8:58:28 AM
Sensitivity and creativity are bosom buddies for sure. Feeling everything to the extreme has to be a prime motivation for expressing those feelings and sharing them with others. It would be difficult not to do so. Creativity seems to have a self-healing power that cleanses some of the pain that many artists experience and also accentuates the joy that they feel as well.
You can't appreciate the heights unless you've seen the depths. Life is that much sweeter when you've paid your dues.
Patti Smith says that she HAS to create something everyday. She talks about that and many other related topics in her new book "Just Kids". It's a great read.
I was very creative from an early age. My mother would tell me I was TOO sensitive to which i always said "Thank you". She never understood that reply because she meant it as a criticism. She was proud of my creativity but she didn't understand that it was my sensitivity that fueled that passion in me.
I don't need to create something everyday but I do need to be creative most of the time. I've been working on a new CD and I'm taking my time with it and not rushing it out before it's ready. I rest up and chill out between sessions so as not to burn out and lose perspective. It's been a real joy and I hope to complete everything in 2 months. I am really stepping outside my comfort zone on this one, doing RnB, Gospel, Soul and of course my usual rock stuff but hopefully more evolved. The CD is called "Humankind" and has a theme concerning our ongoing loss of humanity and how you can't have a civilization without civility. Being more humane is a moral issue, not a political one. If we can't help the less fortunate, we are in deep trouble. It's not a preachy CD but I tell it how I see it.
There's some dance stuff on there too because having fun is part of being more human. But regardless of genre, my new mantra is "A song has to make the listener feel something. A song has to have soul. It has to come from an authentic place. It has to be real. Hopefully I will live up to this standard 12 times in my CD. It's been hard work but it's been the best musical experience of my life.
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Chandra Moon
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12/23/2010 12:50:44 PM
What a great quote I haven't heard that one before but it's very true though all of us to a greater or lesser degree. I must admit if I don't feel I've done something creative every day I feel the day's been wasted.
If I can't write anything new I play old songs or learn new pieces on the piano etc.
I'm also working on a new album called Over The Moon for 2011 and not rushing it this time either though I can't wait to get back in the studio.
Just getting the barcode done, choosing the name of the album and visualising the finished CD is part of the creative process. I remember when I first started thinking about the first one, I'd started doodling an album sleeve before I'd even started recording.
The over-sensitivity alluded to in the quote is the bane of the creative person as we do feel things painfully deeply but without the awful times I wonder if we'd write the songs we do. At the moment I'm very happy in my personal life and I'm writing less than ever but planning the album and what I'm going to do with the tracks I've already written satisfies my creative self for now but I know there's a well of more stuff to come.
Wow I'm waffling on now - thanks Todd for a great topic!
Happy Christmas to all xx
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