National Public Radio's Julie Burstein has interviewed creative people for the last ten years. She's collected some of the most interesting stories in a new book, "Spark: How Creativity Works." An article at phillyburbs.com reports on a talk Burstein gave about creativity:
Burstein emphasizes that the painful moments "often spark creativity," and that we must "stop, look and remember" that which hurts us most. While many frequently look away and shrug off pain, the truly gifted artists embrace pain.
Burstein told the stories of painter Bill Viola, who nearly drowned as a teenager and went on to create water imagery, as well as novelist Richard Ford's dyslexia that forced him to ardently study and analyze compositions, creating the foundation for his writing.
She also spoke of painter Chuck Close's prosopagnosia - an inability to recognize human faces - that drove him to creating a method for "breaking down" faces into components. He now uses that technique to create astonishing 8-foot-tall facial portraits.
In each case, the artist persevered through the pain, and the act of mastering that pain led to success. Burstein shared that we must not "back away from a challenge - drive into it" if you want to tap into your own creative genius.
"Use tension and pain to drive and perfect."
It reminds me of the sign-off Don Sherwood, a radio announcer I used to listen to when I was a kid, always used: "Out of the mud grows a lotus."
This sounds romantic but of course when you're in the middle of the pain it's anything but romantic.
I compare it to a recent physiotherapy massage session I had for a problem with my shoulder. The pain was excruciating and the impulse was to tighten every possible muscle to fight it--but, ironically, the release comes when you are able to relax.
I hope you are not in pain of any kind---physical or emotional. But if you are, perhaps it's worth taking a moment to think about what creative benefit it might hold, even if that's the last thing that's on your mind at the moment.
When in pain of any kind it helps to have support. People are the best, but books can help, too. A few of my favorites that I return to when I'm low: The Art of Possibility by Benjamin Zander, The Courage to Create by Rollo May, and No More Second-Hand Art by Peter London.
