Every fifth grader has heard of the conservation of energy, the principle that says energy can not be created or destroyed but only transformed. This is also partly true of creativity.
Creativity is the ability to store emotions, to capture feelings, to create things that inspire and perpetuate creativity in others.
Any artist can tell you how emotionally draining the act of creating can be. Whether it’s writing, painting, sculpting, acting or composing music.
But the beauty of the creative arts is that once you channel your energy into the task of creating the energy stays where it is no matter how many people draw inspiration from it.
Imagine how sad the world would be if creativity followed the same laws as physical energy. A world where after you finished a book the words were gone from the page until you used the stored energy to create a painting; which in turn vanished after someone became inspired from looking at it.
An actors craft carries the same amount of creativity whether his audience is a thousand or just one. A musician can inspire millions with one song out of just one night of furious composition, a few months with paper and pen can become a hundred years of literary enjoyment.
And these artists drained of emotion and low on energy can pick up someone else’s creative work and become inspired all over again.
“Every book, every volume you see here, has a soul. The soul of the person who wrote it and of those who read it and lived and dreamed with it. Every time a book changes hands, every time someone runs his eyes down its pages, its spirit grows and strengthens.” — Carlos Ruiz Zafón – The Shadow of the Wind
Go now. I send you out into the world to create, inspire and dream.
Now, if only we could power our vehicles with creative energy. Ah . . . the power of imagination.
C. O. Bonham 