Sometimes I think I get a little ‘out there’ on things, and I’m afraid this is one of those times. I truly believe that nurturing your creative self, that part of you that does more than just work for a living, and then, when all the work is done, both at home and at your workplace, you just seek entertainment.
Now, I am not averse to entertainment itself, not at all. I’ve played in, and even organized musical bands and choruses in my time, and love to play guitar and sing. Where would I be without an audience? I watch many movies, most on Netflix and Amazon prime- while I exercise, as I often recommend. I listen to the radio, and love to listen to music as well. I even love podcasts, which are great to listen to while driving, or heavy hand walking (or now, with the snow, ski pole walking) around the woods here in my yard. In fact, I’ll go so far as to say I love entertainment, and love to be entertained! Who doesn’t?
But my point is, if you only live to work and then to be entertained, where does that leave you after you are done working, or even just when you have some downtime? Well of course, we all need to help out others in our family and neighborhoods, that is a given. And it usually takes a lot of time as well. But sometimes, if you are just on free time, you have better have a go-to outlet that you 1. enjoy, and 2. that you have some ability in. (Otherwise, you won’t really enjoy it much.)
You need a creative outlet! Not just a hobby, something like ‘paint by numbers’, because it’s not really creative, something that you create that wasn’t there before. You need to paint (like the cave walls in France), or play music (like Homer and the other ancient bards). You need to write like I do, (check out some of my books, by my pen names Jess Thornton and Simon Stanton, along with my real name of Jay Bowers). Or sing, or write poetry, or build things of wood, or clay, or whatever.
The point is: creativity is essential to our nature as humans- in fact, it is largely what made us human, setting us apart from the beasts- we think, we imagine, and then we create! Even putting together wonderful recipes of healthy food for our families can be very creative- although for most folks now it’s not. If you just pick up fast food, or get a ready made meal delivered- even a paleo or ketogenic meal- although it may be wonderful nutritionally, healthy as can be and nutrient dense- it’s not creative, not for you.
I’m sure it was for the person who created it, that recipe, and they are fulfilled by it. Just as, when you watch a wonderful movie, see a great performance of music or drama or comedy or whatever- you are entertained, you enjoy it. But you are enjoying another’s creativity, and their fulfillment. They probably get paid, sure, if it’s that kind of a venue- but the fulfillment comes from creating whatever it is. The paycheck comes later, and that’s great- but even if it doesn’t, that person has created something, something he fulfilled. And that is the best reward we can get on this earth, really. It is our own uniqueness on display!
I guarantee the cave painters in the Lascaux caves in southern France didn’t do it for the money- there was no money then. Nor did they do it for widespread fame, because the only people who could have known about those marvelous paintings would have been the few people in their own tribe, perhaps 50 or so. It may have been, probably was religious in nature. But the loving attention to detail and the perfect crafting of those beasts within that cave, well, that was all about creating.
The fact that those paintings have endured all this time, over 30,000 years is amazing, and wonderful! For us, mainly. For those paleolithic painters, though- they got their reward as they were doing the work. The creating- 30,000 years ago!
