Dear Writer,
We've been thinking this week about our creativity, not just as writers, but as beings who are part of a species that Creates Things.
We’ve talked about all the ways in which we create.
So here’s the real nugget; why?
There are answers like “human progress” and “we made houses to endure the elements better” and “we made machines to help us do more in less time” and blah blah blah. Sure.
That explains the creations that do things, that serve a functional purpose, and that’s all very cool.
But why do we garden when there are plenty of vegetables and flowers at the store? Food is, at the level of human need, about nutrition; why do we work so hard to make it delicious? Or beautiful? Why do we decorate our houses, our offices, ourselves?
There’s basic needs, but then… there’s art. And I would argue that everything we create, even the practical stuff that fulfills basic human needs, is art.
Art is the why, because art creates meaning, and meaning is the most essential basic human need.
More on that tomorrow.
Everything,
L