The chief enemy of creativity is good sense.
Pablo Picasso
When we talk about job creation—not that we do nearly as much as should—I’m constantly struck by our general neglect of creativity in terms of enhancing the human condition.
Yes, I know it’s important to do practical things—like repairing our aging sewerage systems or doing something about our flaky power grid—but I think we might be absolutely amazed if we invested serious money into the creative arts—without a precise objective in mind except to bring more beauty into our lives.
The aesthetic is—in my opinion—much more important than we generally acknowledge. It uplifts the quality of lives in so many ways and has a profound effect on how we look at life. It enhances our moods and puts a spring into our steps. It makes us want to sing in the rain—which is very useful if you live in Seattle (as I do).
Instead, we let our cities deteriorate, our industries pollute, and focus virtually entirely on the practical and what we can count, measure, and monetize. It’s as if we are in the grip of some sort of greed pandemic. And it is certainly madness because we humans have never been logical, sensible, or practical—though we pretend otherwise. Instead we are a mass of emotions, delusions, insecurities, fears and needs—all mixed with with sexual desires of just about every shade, flavor, and peculiarity.
I wish we’d face up to the fact that to be normal is to be weird—and to be normal in the sense that we pretend is impossible. But what I do know is that virtually all of us respond positively to beauty. We all become better people if the aesthetic is innate to our lives.
Images are from a Shutterstock mailer. Top is from agsandrew’s portfolio and the bottom is by LolaTsvetaeva.
They stopped me in my tracks.
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