Whether a creator is writing a screenplay, comic, or song, whether they dance, paint, or act, there is something inside of them that they feel they need to express, a topic to explore, an idea they want to see flourish and grow.
Discovering the drive behind one's own creativity can be part of the journey
itself: very rarely does a writer first pick up the pen completely knowing the story they wish to tell, much less with a mindset of knowing the person(s) they wish to tell it to. Creativity is just like that: it is an intrinsic generative essence, the driving force breathing life into thought, something that exists in an indeterminate state until its creator gives it form.
Thoughts can be like a dusty grain found at the roadside: the only way to know if that tiny speck is lifeless sand or a seed waiting to grow is to plant it, nurture it with creativity, and watch to see if the tiny shred of an idea germinates into a blade of grass, a fragrant flower, or towering tree.
Regardless of what an idea becomes, one thing a creative person cannot ever forget is their audience. Their reader. Their observer. The person they wish to communicate with through their creation. No creation can exist in a vacuum: even the most unique of ideas is the seed of a melting pot of experience courtesy of an individual's lived experiences, both physical and mental, throughout life. While personal journals and stories kept to oneself can be intimate places where an individual is able to explore their thoughts in private, creative thought itself thrives through the ages in communing with others, either by accident or by intent.
A single blade of grass may grow for a season before it withers and dies, and a lone flower may blossom without ever bearing fruit. Even the mightiest of trees can pierce the lonely sky in the hope of one day reaching the sun, only for the wind and ravages of time to bring them low again.
But that is not necessarily the end.
Though there are benefits to art made for its own sake and to personal expression, no creator can perfectly predict—much less control—the influence they have on others. Whether one among millions of cushioning blades beneath the feet of summer picnickers, a bed of flowering blooms bringing peace to one small corner of the inner city, or a towering tree casting cooling shade on those who stand in awe below, meaning grows through communication, through exchange. It germinates, breeds new thoughts, and spreads new seeds for future creatives to pick up and grow, be it an idea that comes to bear the following season, or eons later when chance meets conditions that are just right.
Whatever your muse, and whatever you create, know that you are never alone. The human experience is a shared one, and together, thanks to the creators in the past who've left seeds to those of us in the present, we can continue on the tradition and ensure those who come in the future grow beautiful thoughts and create a more vibrant future.
As winter's bitter chill shows signs of giving way to springtime's gentle warmth, take care of your seeds. Plant them in good soil, and may your creativity bear sweet fruit in the coming year.
Happy creating, everyone.
