The Subversive Power of Creativity
Image: Nick Fewings@jannerboy62 on Unsplash
Hello, folks! Welcome back to the blog. I’m so glad you’re here.
Today I want to talk a little about creativity and its power to bring people together and create change. Perhaps like you, I have felt the brunt of the lies that my creative dreams are frivolous and silly. That they are simply child’s play and should be abandoned– which is kind of ironic because I write for kids and believe in the value of play.
And the sad truth is, I’ve almost caved to these lies… too many times. Let me tell you, I have been through the wringer when it comes to creative blocks and resistance. One creative drought of mine lasted years. It was a time of depression and grief, of living in survival mode. So when I say that I have had to fight for my creative writing, that is the honest truth.
Being Human & Making Space for Art
But there’s something I’ve come to realize (and need to remind myself often): creativity and beauty make us human. It’s what keeps us going. It’s what brings us together. Some of the earliest evidence of human society is artwork, after all. Talk about survival mode– even in prehistoric days, humanity was making space for art on cavern walls. Just like Robin Williams’ character said in the movie Dead Poets Society, “poetry, beauty, romance, love– these are what we stay alive for.”
I may never make what some may call a “big influence” with my creativity, but at this point, I refuse to deny that it does make a difference. I’ve also had to reckon with the fact that if it sustains me, the way it always has, it’s worth it.
I’ve seen a short quote by Toni Morrison making the rounds on social media lately, but I wanted to investigate it further. I thought I’d share it in more context here:
“I am staring out of the window in an extremely dark mood, feeling helpless. Then a friend, a fellow artist, calls... he asks, ‘How are you?' and instead of ‘Oh, fine... and you?', I blurt out the truth: ‘Not well. Not only am I depressed, I can’t seem to work, to write; it’s as though I am paralyzed, unable to write anything... I’ve never felt this way before…' I am about to explain with further detail when he interrupts, shouting: ‘No! No, no, no! This is precisely the time when artists go to work... not when everything is fine, but in times of dread. That’s our job.' I felt foolish the rest of the morning, especially when I recalled the artists who had done their work in gulags, prison cells, hospital beds; who did their work while hounded, exiled, reviled, pilloried. And those who were executed... this is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.” – Toni Morrison, 2015
Read the entire essay here:
https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/no-place-self-pity-no-room-fear/
Connected by Art
So, I want to ask you: how many times have you felt the warmth of connection and unity with others through art and beauty? Have you joined in a collective laugh or cry in a theater? Have you sung along with a crowd at a concert? Or even with family in the car on a long road trip? Have you read a picture book to your kids and enjoyed the story together?
We need art. And as author and artist Amie McNee says, “We need your art!” So I hope you never doubt that (your) art makes a difference, or believe the lies of the powers-that-be that it is unnecessary or useless. No.
I know that when I’ve felt alone or as if I cannot continue, it has been art, music, poetry, literature— the creative works of humanity— that have picked me up and kept me going. I cannot tell you how many times over the last decade that the musical Hamilton alone has been my best lifeline.
What works of art been yours?
Just as Toni Morrison wrote, “That (art) is how civilizations heal.” And as Jonathan Larson wrote in the musical Rent, “The opposite of war isn’t peace. It’s creation!”
And we need healing. We need art. We need creativity.
So I hope you keep creating. I sure will.
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I’ll be back on the blog again soon!
Katie
