Destroy to CREATE

Creativity happens in all walks of life, writes V. IRAI ANBU CREATIVITY IS to bring something new into being. It is the very quality that distinguishes the divine from the bovine. `Cosmic dance' implies the nuance that God is both the creator and the created. The concept is called `The wisdom of balance'. It leads to the inference that creator and creativity are one and the same and is the `balance of wisdom'. Only through creativity we can reach the creator. It is told that the moment we approach the painting on the wall to read the name of the artist, we lose the beauty of the mural. One has to dissolve entirely to engross in it to enjoy the art. We believe that only talented people are creative. The recent study at Exter University confirms that the notion that geniuses like Shakespeare, Picasso and Mozart were gifted is a myth. Excellence is enhanced by opportunities, encouragement, training, motivation and practice. Programmed mind As Saint Exupery says in his `Little Prince', creativity in a child is brimming to the brink. The child wonders at everything with an eye of creativity. The adults see them, name them and forget them. It is very difficult to deprogramme the already programmed mind. The average adult thinks of 3 to 6 alternatives for any situation whereas the average child thinks of 60 alternatives. Hence the greatness of a head need not always be associated with greyness of hair. Creativity happens in all walks of life, from literature to science and from philosophy to business. It is the root of all innovations. Instinct induces stereotyping, intellect produces the average and intuition culminates in the extraordinary. Six phases William J.J. Gordon identifies six phases in creativity namely, Involvement - detachment, Speculation, Deferment, Autonomy, Purposiveness and Use of the commonplace. The process of creation requires both involvement and detachment but neither can be allowed to prevail over the other. There must be a continual shifting back and forth between them. The speculative nature of the creative process affirms that what is not yet actual is possible. The object being worked on begins to have an independent life of its own. To progress to a final product that is new, place to begin is the commonplace-the well-worn, the comfortable, the unimaginative, the mediocre that does not standout in its context. Every act can become a creative one; into a prayer, a meditation, a dedication, and a labour of love. Human brain is known for `use dependent plasticity'. Acumen alone could take it to a new horizon from the beaten track. We can forcibly create something. But it would lack the flavour and fervour. The nightingale cannot warble even if the cage is of marble.

Craft and art There is a difference between craft and art. The former is carefully carved, cultured and nurtured whereas the latter is casually chiselled with the inner fire and innate flare. That is why, for some, their autobiographies seem to be their best fictions. Everyone is a born creator. Those who know this fact, make full use of the potential. Creation requires insight. Insight refers to the action of the mind when it is freed from the blocks of accumulated knowledge. It overflows with high mental energy generated by passion. Hence too much knowledge destroys the tenets of creativity. Nature is the creator par excellence. Existence exhibits a great sense of proportion and there is an immaculate order in all its actions. One learns creativity by properly observing the intricacies inherent in nature. Margin of destruction Every creation has a margin of destruction. We operate to cure, chisel to hew, pluck to spin, cut to stitch, plough to sow, peal to heal and scrub to polish. Unless we puncture a bamboo, we cannot relish the music of flute. `Destroy to create' and not `create to destroy' is the apt axiom for happiness. There is a beautiful fable worth pondering... The master sculptor surveyed the different blocks of marble at the quarry. He had been searching for the "Buddha Block" for over 40 years in vain. The zen monk who visited his gallery heard the plight and assured the availability of the block. He pointed to a well in his own courtyard in front of the sculpture school. The excited master sculptor ran to the well and looked down. There he saw his own image looking back at him. The pinnacle of creativity lies in bringing out a new being from us. It requires the courage of dissolving the self, extinguishing the ego, and losing the head. That ultimate destruction leads to a creation; a new being born out of us - utterly fabulous, fresh, and fragrant. What we leave of us is more important than what we leave behind us.