Thoughts on Creativity
October 3, 2001
7:32 a.m.
As usual, I find myself trying to do too many things at once. I suppose that's okay, though, as at least one of the alternatives is less than appealing.   I was talking to John Bodin Sunday at the Formula 1 race. John, for those you don't know, is a person very similar to me in that he always has 97,000 things happening at once. This is a guy who works as a server support person, after all. Those of you in the technical world will know that this alone could keep a guy busy full-time. But John also has a wife, and a six-month old daughter, and friends, and other stuff. On top of all that he writes a nonfiction newsletter for the Indy Racing League (IRL), and he does a bunch of stuff with racing simulators. He is, in fact, making quiet a little name for himself in that arena. John is a pretty bright guy. He is also a person who started writing fiction about the same time I did, and has since moved on to other things. Now, that alone would cause most sane people to consider him to be much the wiser of the two of us--but I think it bothers him a little that he's not writing fiction anymore. He talked about his work on software racing sims as we were walking. "That's my creative outlet these days. I'm not really writing anymore, so that's what I've got going." And as we talked it struck me that he was almost apologizing for not writing. "Everyone is creative in their own ways," I think I said. We talked about that a little. He's very happy with who he is. Just as I'm happy today with who I am. But the conversation got me thinking. I think just living life to its fullest is an exercise in creativity, you know? Deciding to do something is a creative thing in and of itself. I was reading a Bob Eggleton inteview a little while ago in a certain magazine a bit ago, and in it he talked about not understanding how "non-creative" people can bear to live. I think this is the secret. Merely living life to its fullest is an exercise in creativity. When I think of it that way, a lot of things start to make sense. When I think of it that way, I feel good. Take your time. Do a lot, but enjoy whatever you're doing--even if its something we would rather not be doing (if that makes sense). Create your life out of these patches of time that would normally just fall away. So I looked at John that afternoon. He's got places to go, you know? He's got things to do. He's got people to love and people that love him. I almost mentioned to him that I read his latest review of a F1 simulation (something he joked was novelette length), and that I noticed the first portion of the piece, a first person account of a run from a driver's point of view, was firmly fiction. But I decided I didn't want to do that. John doesn't have to write to be creative. He don't have to paint, or sculpt, or anything else. He is a man who lives his life moment to moment. He is a man who looks for the good in everything. I don't think I'll ever quit writing. That's just who I am. But my friend taught me something that afternoon, and I thank him for it. Have a great day.  Daily Persistence is © Ron Collins |
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"Satisfaction of one's curiosity is one of the greatest sources of happiness in life." Linus Pauling |
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