Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Creativity is illusive

Creativity is illusive, in the 90's Julia Cameron termed the spark of genius creative transcendence "spiritual electricity," and a generation before that in the 60's  Rollo May explored the fears keeping us from attaining it. Elizabeth Gilbert, who has contemplated the complexities of creativity for a long time and with electrifying insight, calls its supreme manifestation "Big Magic":

Gilbert goes on to say "This, I believe, is the central question upon which all creative living hinges: Do you have the courage to bring forth the treasures that are hidden within you?


[...]


Surely something wonderful is sheltered inside you. I say this with all confidence, because I happen to believe we are all walking repositories of buried treasure. I believe this is one of the oldest and most generous tricks the universe plays on us human beings, both for its own amusement and for ours: The universe buries strange jewels deep within us all, and then stands back to see if we can find them.


The hunt to uncover those jewels – that’s creative living.


The courage to go on that hunt in the first place – that’s what separates a mundane existence from a more enchanted one.


The often surprising results of that hunt – that’s what I call Big Magic."

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