The Opposition

So, why is it so darn hard to be creative?

I suspect that each of you struggling creative types has asked that question countless times.  God knows I have.  If you share my experience, I believe that you have attempted this journey several times before.  Conceptually, it's easy.  Figure out what you're made to do, and then do it.  (This is a process that deserves greater discussion, so anticipate a full post on the topic within a few days.)  At its heart, it doesn't get much simpler than this.  Figure it out, and then do it.  If you're a writer, write; if you're a painter, paint; if you're a musician, then pick up your instrument and play.  (Fill in your personal passion and activity here.)  Simple, and yet...

Have you noticed how often life seems to happen, getting in the way of what you yearn to do?  Isn't it interesting?  We have plenty of time to sit on the couch and sacrifice brain cells to reality TV, but it becomes nearly impossible to claim fifteen minutes to jot a thought down on paper.  You start a sketch, and coffee gets spilled on it.  You spend an hour trying a new photographic technique, only to misplace the memory card from the camera.  The car breaks down, the kids get sick, workplace drama carries over into your personal life...  and your creativity suffers.  True, life goes on all the time, but it seems to be a near universal truth that it happens with unusual and frustrating intensity any time you start to actively explore your creative self.  It's almost as though there were a sentient and malevolent force trying to prevent you from becoming engaged with your creativity.  Silly, I know, but I also know that most if not all of you have experienced this at one time or another.

Well, here's a radical thought.  What if that's exactly what it is? 

Before going any further, I want to clarify something about myself and my view of the world we inhabit.  Though Christian, I am NOT one of those Christians who sees Satan lurking behind every unpleasant or unfortunate thing that happens.  For the most part, I think a cold is just a cold, that the guy that cuts you off in traffic is just someone that wasn't paying attention, that the fan belt in your car breaks simply because it was old and worn out.  I don't believe that these events are evil and malevolent, and I certainly don't think the world is out to get us.  Please don't take this as a personal affront, but to be honest, I don't think the world is sufficiently aware of any one of us to care whether we have a good day or not.  The world is indifferent. 

But...  That doesn't mean that there isn't something out there that stands in opposition to our creative self-discovery.  You don't have to be Christian or even spiritual to experience this, or to accept this.  The laws of the physical world support this as well.  Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.  You cannot have light without also having darkness.  The universe is a maelstrom of creation and destruction.  Call it Yin and Yang, Push and Pull, Good and Evil, Light and Darkness.  To my eyes, the universe attempts to bring everything into a state of entropy, nullifying movement, cooling heat, canceling creation.  In effect, the universe tends to resist the active, seeking to bring everything into a state of just existing.   

So how does this relate to our personal struggle to be creative?  In it's simplest terms, creativity is the opposite of entropy.  It is the ultimate expression of movement, of action.  It is an active refusal to just exist, a claiming of our heritage as created beings, an acceptance of the audacious idea that we may share in the creative energy that brought the universe into existence in the first place.  In daring to be creative, we actively rebel against the stillness that the universe attempts to force upon creation.  The law of inertia, however, states that a body at rest tends to stay at rest.  When you start to explore your creativity, you are attempting to go from a static to an active state.  Because of the way it is designed, the universe will resist this change.  Fortunately, the law of inertia also states that a body in motion tends to stay in motion.  Thanks to a wonderful thing called momentum, the longer and harder we push, the more likely we are to keep moving. 

Now, let's take this a step further.  If we accept that we are created, then we must also accept that there is a creator:  an active, creative force that brought us into existence.  Based on the observable laws of the universe we inhabit, it follows, therefore, that there must also be a force that opposes the act of creation.  Whether we like this concept or not is irrelevant.  As a Christian, I believe that my Creator is Good and Holy; therefore I must also believe that the opposing force is Evil and Profane.  Your spiritual journey may have you in a different place, and you may be far more comfortable labeling these forces with names like Light and Darkness, Creation and Destruction, Positive Energy and Negative Energy.  I honestly don't believe that the names we apply have any real significance.  What does matter is that we acknowledge that they exist, and that they have a very real and measurable impact on our lives and actions.

So long as we are content to just exist, to drift along with the current, we are not unleashing anything that requires opposition.  We are, for all intents and purposes, inert, existing in the universe's preferred state of entropy.  If, however, we start to try and connect with that part of our Creator that resides within us, we begin to move and become active.  We come into contact with that vibrant energy that speaks stars into existence, letting it flow through us and energize us.  And the universe, the negative force, the Evil, resists us!  Why?  Because the laws that govern our existence requires it to do so.   By becoming active, we encounter the force which exists to quell activity.  Left unchecked, this negative force will effectively neutralize our efforts to become creative, bringing us back to a standstill.

If this is so, does it mean that our creative endeavors are doomed before we ever begin?  In a word, no.   Not if we acknowledge the inevitable resistance.  By exercising our free will, we can actively and deliberately continue to push forward on our journey of self-discovery.  In fact, we can choose to be encouraged by the resistance.  The simple truth is that the presence of resistance is a positive indicator that we are on the right track.  It is the very act of releasing our creativity that triggers resistance!  So if the brown and gloppy stuff seems to hit the fan every time you start to make progress, be of good cheer.  You are on the verge of discovering magic.

There is good news.  The same law of inertia that makes it so hard to get moving also makes it more likely that we will keep moving if we persist.  Yes, the universe loves balance and entropy, but that doesn't mean that we must remain inert.  Try thinking of it as cyclical energy, rather than as irresistible force meeting immovable object. 

We tend to think of light and darkness as static and opposite, like a rectangle divided down the center, half black and half white.  Each side presses against the other, neither moving forward, neither overtaking the other.  Instead, consider the Asian symbol of yin & yang, a circular symbol.  Like our rectangle, it is equally divided, but not by a straight line.  Instead, the division is curved and dynamic, with each side pressing into the other.  Encompassed within the heart of the darkness is an area of light, and within the heart of light is an area of darkness.   As you look at the symbol, it is easy to see how the opposing forces actually create energy, rather than neutralizing it.  As we have seen, the active creative energy creates resistance from the negative, but rather than acting against each other, the forces each serve to move the other forward with ever increasing speed and power.  The energy becomes self-sustaining.

 

Our creative lives can utilize this same energy.  When we encounter resistance, we have a choice.  We can treat it as a wall, and let it stop us cold.  Alternately, we can choose to focus our creative energy in a way that redirects the resistance we encounter, letting it impell us forward.   As we do this, we gain momentum, pressed forward by the very forces that could have held us back.  If we continue, we hit a tipping point where we become bodies in motion, and that law of inertia tends to keep us in motion.

For those of you who share my faith, there is additional power in this.   We have the right to call on God, to ask His help in unlocking the potential he has placed inside us.  This is our birthright.  God wants us to connect with him, to discover what he made us for, to become effective and dynamic.  If he did not, he would not have offered us salvation or grace.  Now I am just twisted enough to delight in what this implies:  If we move forward in this dynamic way, the resistance that our enemy places as an obstacle becomes the energy that drives us forward.  Isn't that cool?  Perhaps it reveals a fundamental lack of spiritual maturity on my part, but I love the thought that the machinations of the Devil can be used to move me for the Good.

In closing, let me encourage you.  If you are meeting resistance, good!  You are on the right track, beyond any doubt.  Don't ignore the negative or pretend it isn't there.  Press up against it, focus your energy.  Push your creativity with everything you have.  Be willing to fail spectacularly, for the sake of moving forward.  I promise, that which resists you will remain, but it will start to move with you.  If you are overcome by darkness, realize that it is cyclical and it will pass.

My prayers are with you.