The Burden and Courage of Creativity
SUMMARY
Creativity is essential to human nature and brings new ideas into existence. However, creativity can threaten some societies that may not appreciate change or innovation. Expressing creativity requires individuality, which is more prevalent in democratic and capitalistic societies. Creativity thrives when there are few penalties for deviating from the norm, but it must be viewed within the context of its current expression. Writers must have a complete understanding of their culture, art, craft, and their time to criticize it. Each writer must decide the degree of creativity they want to include in their work; only a few dare to develop and express it.
EXPANDED DISCUSSION
All of us are creative. We are wired that way. Some develop the skill more than others through either interest or sheer determination. No matter how it comes about, creativity brings new ideas into existence. This is certainly the purview of the writer.
Creativity can be threatening. Through the ideas and words expressed, societies may revolt against innovation. Purists may not like the changes or risks in an author’s work, as in literature. Throughout history, creative people have notoriously been burned at the stake, but today, at times, it is little better. Ostracizing and shunning (to outright condemnation) is the modern practice for those writers who seek new ways to express themselves and speak what they see as the truth. Creativity, then, is not always appreciated. It takes courage, frankly, and a sense of solo isolationism to achieve it uninfluenced by the expectations of the conventional world.
Being able to express creativity requires encouragement of the attitude of individuality (an idea not as available in lesser forms of government and politics than in democracy and capitalism, the two forms that have historically proven to be growth incubators for creativity, e.g., you’re not going to find the freedom to write the same book in China, Iran, North Korea, or Russia that you would in the United States, Japan, France, or Britain).
One of the reasons certain societies are more open to creativity than others is that society’s emphasis on fixed stability. Creativity is thinking outside the box, and in societies, the box is considered the norm for that society. Only when there are few penalties (like being sent to Siberia, Xinjiang, or a firing squad) can a writer express himself in a way that brings new light, innovation, and serious criticism of the times in which the creative individual lives.
Creativity does have context. It must be viewed within the context of its current expression. Because it is a variance and not the norm, creativity thrives within a complete understanding of what the current norm entails. For the writer, then, this is the burden. A writer must know his culture, art and craft, and his time to deviate from or criticize it. Writing, for example, is not necessarily a creative act. Looking at the subject anew is. Each writer then must decide and can decide the degree of creativity that will be included within his work. This is a conscious choice because, like all skills, creativity is natural, but it is also mandatorily developed. Writers can decide if their environment will allow it or if their courage can withstand it. All of us are creative. Only a few dare to develop and express it truly.
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