LIVE THE HELL OUT OF LIFE, THEN ALL THAT REMAINS FOR US IS HEAVEN - I came up with that motto yesterday. What do you think? :-)
We are in the habit of giving to what we feel a form of expression which differs so much from, and which we nevertheless after a little time take to be, reality itself.
~ Marcel Proust
I've loved that quote from the moment I read it a couple years ago in the book How Proust Can Change Your Life by Alain de Botton. How often do we continue passing on mere words that do not mean anything in and of themselves? We toss phrases around without questioning, but what do those words actually mean in a practical sense?
And about Cliches, Alaine de Botton writes:
We are obliged to create our own language because there are dimensions to ourselves absent from clichés, which require us to flout etiquette in order to convey with greater accuracy the distinctive timbre of our thought.
I apologize to those who have already heard this from me for being redundant; but honestly, aren't most of us mere followers and repeaters of what the majority believes, says, or does? We make assumptions and build belief systems based on ambiguity. If the majority claims something to be true, shall we blindly accept that to be our own truth? Do we not have our own brains?
Is it laziness? Perhaps. My mother tells me, "Most people do not have the luxury to think; they are too busy putting food on the table." Uh... okay... Then why do we exist? I ask. If, hypothetically speaking, all we were meant to do was go through the repetition of work, eat, and sleep until we die (without complaining, mind you), then why bother?
I suggest that perhaps the phrase "created in God's image" is meant to speak to our creative mind. Humans need to think and create freely. Our intelligence is what separates us from other living things. If we don't allow ourselves the freedom to use our minds to constantly ask questions, explore, and create, then we are no different than the other creatures on earth that are only motivated by their biological needs.
I insist that using our creativity is just as vital to the survival of the human race as metabolism and reproduction. What fun is life if we are not continually entertained with our own ability at making things come to life? A machine can be programmed to mimic and repeat. It takes a human being to be original and create something from nothing. Conformity will be the death of creation.
Marcel Proust also said:
Our vanity, our passions, our spirit of imitation, our abstract intelligence, our habits have long been at work, and it is the task of art to undo this work of theirs, making us travel back in the direction from which we have come to the depths where what has really existed lies unknown within us.
There is an artist, a creator, that lives in each of us. The way I see it, that makes life worth living. Let's live the hell out of life!!
Yay!
I definitely agree that we are meant to be creators, that it is an essential part of a life lived to the fullest. Unfortunately, there is truth in your mother's words as well. The question is, how did they get to that point? And too often the finger points back at us. So for those of us who have claimed the "luxury" (some would say "right") of creativity, what can we do to mend what humankind has broken? We claim the right to be creative, and with any right comes responsibility as well.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment, Hannah!
ReplyDeleteHmm... great thought! But I was describing creativity as a natural trait rather than a right. We don't "claim" to have the right to freedom. We are free. And in doing what comes naturally, we express life in action.
Of course, there are other traits that have the opposite effect when expressed, such as greed and hunger for power... but I was not addressing those in this post.
Interesting post and definitely thought-provoking, which is the best kind, IMHO.
ReplyDeleteAmericans are followers, at least that's been my experience. In politics, those on the left or right follow their favorite talk radio host's opinions, or their ideological leader, parroting the party line.
My firsthand experience with orthodox Xianity taught me that variant opinions were not welcome. Hence, I became a washout and now self-identify as a post-Xian.
My salvation of late and a way that I'm maintaining my sanity in a divided country, has been hearkening back to the past, through history.
My favorite way to do this has been to take a different historical figure, going through the alphabet (A to Z), head to the wonderful state library branch, and come home with a stack of books that I pore through during the week. Then, I formulate some of my thoughts via my blog, and put up my History Maker Monday post for the week (I started this in January).
Life in action, I like that!
ReplyDeleteI see the distinction you point out, and I think it's "both-and" situation. My father was my father from the beginning, but something special happened when I was able to look at him and say "Daddy." He was already my father, and would be whether I called him that or not, and my claiming it did not make it any more or less objectively true, but it was still an important and necessary part of our relationship.
When I speak of "claiming" creativity, I don't mean that it is not ours otherwise. I suppose I refer more to claiming it as a true statement of identity. Self-identifying as creative, versus ignoring one's innate creative trait.
Jim, Thank you for your comment!
ReplyDeleteI, too, have been disillusioned by religion and have been rethinking what I thought I knew about Christianity and looking at everything in a new light for the last couple of years.
I look forward to reading some of your "History Maker Monday" posts. :-)
Hannah,
ReplyDelete"I suppose I refer more to claiming it as a true statement of identity. Self-identifying as creative, versus ignoring one's innate creative trait."
Yep. I think we're on the same page!
As far as the father/daddy analogy, I completely understand.