There was an Indian proverb I once heard, “A man cannot play chess when being chased by a tiger.” That may not be 100% accurate, but it gets the point across: you cannot be both preoccupied with survival and creativity.
I experienced this first hand last week. Being back home, it felt like I was just filling the space between meals. I had no real responsibilities, so that led me to create my own. Which is how I started writing this thing. The thought occurred to me, “Why didn’t I start thing sooner? Had I started this back in college, I could be 1000 essays deep by now.” And while that is true, if I had started earlier I would have been further into this journey, but there’s a reason I didn’t back then and a reason I did now.
Back in college or when I was just starting my first job out of college, I was drinking a healthy cocktail of distractions and responsibilities everyday. In college, it was 3 part distractions, 1 part responsibilities. And vice versa in my job. But there was more than enough to take up my time and mental stamina that the thought never occurred to me to create something in addition to the life I was building.
But remove those distractions and responsibilities and you have your thoughts and yourself. And the only medium in which I have any sort of competency in is the written word. (I use “competency” very gracefully here. This is relative competency compared to my skill level in any other creative field, not competence overall. Still have a long way to go in that regard.) So, when the excuses were removed, I found myself writing more. And I was proud of the writing. It came naturally. It was prioritized over most things. And it was the only thing that gave me any sense of accomplishment.
For those 4 days I was home, you could say I lived the life of an artist. Now, I almost went mad living that life, so do not hear me say that I am an artist. That sounds far too fu-fu anyway. I can just now say I understand what conditions produce creativity.
I can say that I now understand Ralph Waldo Emerson’s retreat into the woods. John Smith’s version of that. Anne Lamott’s wood-chopping cabin in the NE. Or was that Joan Didion? Any way, I get the point of unplugging. I understand the value of getting away: you seek out a difference in living that shakes you up enough for the creativity to rise to the top. If you live in a white picket-fence, sidewalks and street lights neighborhood, then something either a lot more luxurious or a ton more barebones will jog your artistic membrane into starting positions. Yes, you still need to have your basic needs met, but beyond that the creativity is found in the difference. Difference in scenery helps, but it is the difference in responsibilities that truly matters.
It doesn’t have to be as dramatic as chess and tigers; the truth of that statement is not found in dangerous nature of the tiger, it is in the fact you have to prioritize the tiger over the chess game. When you go away, most priorities wait for you to come back. And when you no longer have priorities and responsibilities and deadlines and obligations, you can play chess.
Stimulant Corner:
Caffeine: ON | OFF
Nicotine: ON | OFF