Big Brain Soup or Art for Pleasure and Passion?

[sooZen]

Zen Upchuck
4/23/11 06:45 am

Some mornings I sit here and wonder what the heck is SooZ gonna write about and voila! It all comes tumbling out. There is no set agenda or thesis idea. I am not writing a book report or even the beginnings of a story. It is just a stream of my conscious. Also, I think I am very fortunate in that I love words, stories, tales and poetry and have from a very young age. But, (there is that word again) I really believe that, like any passion or proclivity, one must have an aptitude and innate leaning towards whatever you do creatively. It drives me nuts when people tell me, "I am not a bit creative, I can't make or do anything!" Truth is, if you are human, you are creative. You (and I) just had/have to find what it is that you have a passion for and make it real.

I can sit down and take instruction (actually I am one of the fortunate that can actually "read" instructions) and create something but if it is not your passion, you will never, no matter how much you would like to, be really proficient at it. Oh you may take up a musical instrument but to be really good, you need to have a innate proclivity, somewhere deep in your DNA for that ability. I teach, have taught, bead work and wire work and I know pretty quickly if someone has a affinity for the materials and the ability to be really proficient at it. There are a few rare individuals that, no matter what creative activity, are going to be good, if not great, at it. Then there are savants and prodigies that come into this life knowing and remembering (it may be all they know, ever) a talent and manifest it. And whether or not this is carried over from a past life (I still don't KNOW this for sure but I have my instincts and opinions) or is a family nurturing and history or a myriad of things that determines what we love and are good at creatively.

If your family, say in the family history, always were farmers or iron workers or weavers or whatever-ers, you certainly grew up in that atmosphere and are influenced by that. Or, you may find that, looking back, way back somewhere in your history that a great, great, great was a stonemason or a scribe or a goat herder and that too may influence your proclivities. You can be sure that if you love something, love doing that something, that you probably carried it with you in your DNA. We are imprinted, our genes, our molecules our atoms carry history and memory.

Also, Art is not something that is always concrete, a "thing" that one does. Art is how you live. If one has the proclivity or ability to communicate to and sooth people, that is their art. Everything one does should and can be Art and art-full. It is true that some are born with bigger brains, more gray matter, more wisdom, more creativity than the average bear. They usually leave an indelible mark in history, not always understood in the present but in that 20/20 hindsight, we can see what differences they made/make in our understanding and appreciation and perhaps, our enlightenment.

To be good at something is fulfilling, but to be great at something can be a sacrifice and a curse, rather than a blessing. Look at all the great and big brained people in history and you may see how tortured some were or misunderstood or even ridiculed for their foresightedness. Not always the case, of course, but there are plenty of examples that bear this out. Along with this big brain comes a big head and the downfall of many is a fragile ego that can be the downfall and end of some. Not always, of course because some are totally dedicated to their passion, their art and are able to overcome the foibles of the human ego (which is necessary and put there for a reason, a survival mechanism.)

Now I am fortunate in that I am not one of those "big brained" people but I am surrounded and know some because I am immersed in Art and creation. A genius is so focused on him or herself and what it is that they do that the mundane flies under their radar. Albert Einstein couldn't tie his shoes but he understood the workings of the universe and had an innate ability to see beyond the confines of what is considered "rational thought". Some big brains and geniuses forget to eat, forget to feed their families, forget to "get a job" because they are so consumed with their passion. Some big brains are so tortured that they cannot handle the normal course of events that living entails and end up depressed, drowning in sorrow and drugs or alcohol in order to even cope. That is a sad state of affairs. And some are crazy, really insane ala Vincent Van Gogh, who never sold one painting in his life and ended up taking it out on himself. Some are good, some are better and then some are great and will leave an indelible mark on human society. Gandhi and Martin Luther King were big brained, had a passion that was unassailable but they suffered for it. All of big brained people suffer, even Pablo Picasso, who was one of the fortunate geniuses, had to suffer the consequences of his enormous ego.

I'll pass on being a genius, on having that big brain. I like wearing my little hat and creating what brings me pleasure and satisfaction. No indelible marks need be my goal. I know that each day, each moment, Art happens and the chance to Be Creative, learn all that I can about what my proclivities are and enjoy what it is that I do and that is my goal. Those big brained people that I know have my appreciation, my admiration, and my respect (mostly, if they are not crazy or insane or abusive). For theirs in not an easy path and it is hard for them to stop their "thinking" long enough to be in this moment... Elizabeth Gilbert, "Eat, Pray, Love" says we all have genius within us (and I believe that) but not all of us are consumed by our passion to the point of destroying ourselves to create. She rises above and believes we all can rise above the pitfalls of being (and emotional turmoil of) a creator. Joy in creation, satisfaction in doing what you love is way more important for me.

This is Elizabeth's take on Creativity, genius and Art... It is well worth one's time to listen.

http://www.ted.com/talks/elizabeth_gilb ... enius.html

[dadio]

well worth anybody's time. thank you for sharing.

[sooZen]

and thank you for taking the time...

[mnaz]

... Those big brained people that I know have my appreciation, my admiration, and my respect (mostly, if they are not crazy or insane or abusive). For theirs in not an easy path and it is hard for them to stop their "thinking" long enough to be in this moment...

that's an interesting take ... hmmm ....

[sooZen]

"...hmmm"? Hello Mr. mnaz, my friend, just why do you find this "take" interesting? I wrote that back in April, 2011 and since I never remember what it is that I wrote yesterday, I had to go back and read it again... Makes sense to me but like I said, I am not one of those "big brained" people (geniuses) so my "take" is, strictly speaking, intuitive and experiential.

Having lived a couple of times with so called "big brains", one who was defined as "crazy, insane and abusive" and the other, whom I live with now and have for 40 years, and is not crazy or insane or abusive...I have found that their paths are not easy and it is, from my "little brain" perspective, nigh near impossible for them to stop the chatter in their minds to focus on the present for they seem to be always "thinking" of something, anything but what is here and now...

[Artguy]

[quote]Human suffering is eternal, Warme believes -- there will never be a biological, drug-based fine tuning that will end it. Warme has no objection to any relief that can be offered without serious side effects, from drugs to electroshock to sacrificed chickens. But as a rational humanist skeptic, what he really believes in is the aesthetic cure. "In films, books and operas, we discover human nature writ large, with complexities, blemishes and perversities included. Like psychiatrists, art invites you to wrestle with ghosts. I listen to my patients and they tell me the same archetypical stories I read in Homer." His job, Warme figures, is to convince patients to become more conscious creators of their own selves, "to look over the way they have lived their lives, to tell them that the story you have lived up to now -- you might benefit from a different story."


Ya crazy art making that's me...This is a quote from a well known Canadian psychiatrist I have played psychotic ping pong with....Even we mentally have a handle on beauty.

Nice to see you around Sooze....Bring back Buddhabitch...

[sooZen]

the BBitch never leaves me, she is one with me...nice to "see" you too K! I am around and about, watching and listening to the chatter in my head and otherwise... I get notified if someone replies to something posted, otherwise, I have stuff to do, ya know how that is.

Buddha, Osho, the Dalai Lama and other fine observers of human nature, basically said the same thing (abet a bit simpler)...as Warme in your quotes. There is no way to avoid suffering so you must master yourself, create yourself and evolve yourself in order to BE yourself in totality. Art, in all its guises and forms, is the ultimate creation of oneself and sharing that beauty and/or even shocking others furthers their understanding, appreciation and growth. Ping Pong...I like that game! Hah!

[mnaz]

oh, it just caught my eye that's all, soozen. i conjured up an image of "the thinker" being in the moment, of sorts . . .

a well-written piece here that i finally found . . .

[sooZen]

...When I find something, it is usually the last place I look...Hah!