The Roots of Creativity...

            I am determined to keep discussions of cosmology separate from these articles about music, but in this case it seems clearly impossible. Cosmology (or philosophy or whatever you wish to call it, though I don't like the term "philosophy") is another subject that I tend to get excited about. Almost no one wants to discuss it, maybe because it's like religion and tends to cause arguments, or maybe just because most people's interests run in a more worldly direction.
          Whatever, the reason, on this subject I cannot avoid it, since in reality all subjects overlap.
          The problem is I cannot really get to the bottom of the subject of creativity without a full disclosure about cosmology, and that cannot happen without permanently hijacking this blog. So keep in mind that I must make some bald-faced statements without explaining them in depth, or the experiences that lead me to those conclusions.

          I have been puzzling over "what is creativity?" and "why are some people artists?" for a very long time, and I find that like most of the very basic questions about human beings, it has it's roots in nature.
          Now, this is where the Cosmology comes in. Almost everything can be traced back to Nature. Yet I find that everything also seems to have a deep permanent home in the spirit, or Spirituality. The two parallel each other in everything. Hence scientists argue that "everything is physical", and religious leaders that "everything is spiritual". This has been going on for untold centuries and I refuse to interpose myself in this argument today. To keep it as simple as possible for today's article, all I can say is "both are true" and leave it at that....Disappointing, I know, but what can I say...?
       In my explanation, keep it mind that I am relating this in reverse order. My thoughts on the subject did not drop out of the sky. I spent a long time "back-tracking" it to the source.
       All organisms on this planet are provided with some mechanism to effect change on it's environment to enhance quality for itself, in order to benefit itself or to prolong life. This will of course, usually have consequences on other organisms around it, either negative or positive. At the same time those other organisms also are making their own changes which will either further enhance or help deter the changes made by the first-mentioned organism. The long and the short of it is that all creatures in a given environment will seek a stasis where everything is in harmony. However, this harmony is never stable, and is more of an on-going "search for stability/harmony".
      The point being that all creatures develop with a capability for adaptation. And this is the key which allows us to understand human behavior; we term some people artists and others non-artists, but this is one of those unnatural divisions we humans make...Like "where does a cloud begin and end"? "When does Spring begin"?. If the calendar says "spring" and you're still freezing to death, what does that mean?
      All humans possess creativity, and will usually express itself in one form or other. The prime manifestation for creativity in humans, is the desire to create and give birth to children. Nothing wrong with that, just basic human design, and for the multitude of people, that, and "nesting" (improving upon your environment....which these days consists of such things as cell-phones & cable TV) is part of that.
     So you will find folks that, even though considered non-artists, will spend inordinate amounts of time & money doing landscaping, home-improvements, decorating or some such...but when they aren't just paying for these services, but feel the need or desire to do it for themselves as an expression of their own nature, haven't they crossed a line somewhere toward art?
    
      When I first began pursuing this line of thought, it sprang from a much more limited question of "what is the difference between self-expression and art?". I couldn't stand the notion that art seemed to be a sub-category of self-expression creating the mistaken impression that art is the inferior category. Of course, I now see that art is by nature a smaller, very highly developed form of self-expression, and not inferior at all.
      Also, puzzling was that some apparently selfish, obscure and enigmatic forms of self-expression occasionally pop up, hailed by some faction of supposedly educated critics as "Great Art". This is more difficult to explain, and I admit that it is perhaps some short-coming on my part. Or maybe just a case of "one being born every minute"...Like the old joke,"Wow! I don't understand it ! It must be GREAT!!"

      So where is that line where adaptation/creativity/expression becomes art? Darned if I know, it's one of those unanswerable questions. But it seems to have something to do with connectivity with other human beings, the transmission of the quality experience, and perhaps even a spiritual source for your material...Just remember "popularity" and "art" are not necessarily synonymous, which brings us to the discussion of Art vs. Entertainment....but that's another story.