Titulo Aqui

Oct 6, 2017

G.Ramey

Titulo aqui. (Something Clever).

Creative, adj.; able to invent or produce new and original things. At least, that’s what Webster’s says.

Be it for reproduction or ecstasy, sex is sex. It’s the one thing in my human life that I know I’m supposed to do; make babies, cultivate a legacy. It may even be fair to say I was born to have sex…..Weren’t we all? A topic worth diving into, for sure. While the physical act of having sex may reach to acheive a climax, the style in which it is executed is what makes or breaks the scenario. Every sex scene is unique. Whether once a week or three times a night, humans use their creative ability to build their sex life into one which they feel comfortable will contribute to their legacy.

Every pair of budding parents undergo the same process of pregnancy, preparation, and birth to continue survival of mankind. However, it is creativity among individuals in this process which truly allows the next generation to live in a finer way than the last. Without the creative process bringing humans new and safer birthing methods, positive evolution and growth of human natality could not be possible. Over time, if no mother had decided to expel old ways which could’ve been the source of her last stillbirth, technology for safer breeding and birthing would never be developed. With that being said, existence void of variation, void of creation, is likely to never evolve. If creativity, then, is the ability to produce new and original things, than individual humans are innately endowed with this gift, which is demonstrated perfectly through creation of new humans. Birth endows mankind with several traits. As humans, these unalienable gifts perpetuate species survival. Perceptual senses, thought, and the ability to populate and prosper simultaneously, for example. Lack of such human superpowers over a generational course may ensure the destruction of mankind. Generally, the masses are born with these, yet not all are used in the same way. Actually, it could be said that these powers are never harnessed identically; paradigm and perception define each human case. The differences which unite us may be perceived subtly, yet they are inescapable and intertwined with the fabric of everyday life. Thus, defining creativity itself as a key factor in ensuring human survival and flourishment brings me to believe that I ought to live creatively.

Because I am given the ability to create for flourishment purposes, harnessing my creative ability should be a priority of mine. In retrospect, I am meant to create, and will do so inevitably. I ought to embrace this fact and commit to answering my natural call to creation rather than denying it and suffering from backward progress. The Law of Conservation states that energy can neither be created nor destroyed, only transferred. In defining creativity as energy harnessed by man, personal and collective regression are determined by how we use our gift of creativity. Hector Verdugo, Homeboy Industry starchild, explains without the reference to energy, how his own creativity was channeled negatively for a vast span of his life. To willingly conform in an unhealthy environment for fear of unacceptance demonstrates how repression of innovation hinders intra and inter-relational growth. Running from the feds for three years, while requires craft, instilled fear and regret even further into Verdugo’s conscience, as well as perpetuated mal influence on his children. Shifting his creation from one of a negative environment and atmosphere has reserved Verdugo and his family seats in several interview chairs, and a spot on the committee of human flourishing. Rather than scheming on hot wiring and drug loads, Verdugo is sculpting his negative past into a positive message by channeling his creativity to follow his passions instead of causing harm to himself and others. As Hector shaped his life, I decide how to create my own. I ought to live creatively because my life is based upon the concept: I am required to do so. To refuse channeling this energy positively when dealing with even the minute tasks of life, such as how to tackle a pile of homework, would result in inevitable negative transfer; procrastination. Individual realization that creativity is ingrained into man as a means of evolution draws a path of personal flourishment, and later on, paves the way for contribution of the individual to society. Verdugo brought me to this epitome that individual progress must be a norm. Continual flourishment needs to be a priority of mine, on physical, intellectual, and spiritual fronts. I ought to live creatively through developing my philosophy into according action. To deny doing such compromises my intellectual survival.

Although survival is the ultimate goal of man, physical existence is simply not enough. I must integrate my ability to establish creativity into my subconscious. To paraphrase ideas of Twyla Tharp, I must think of creativity as a habit dire to the well being of my philosophy and according actions. If I fall into habits that are detrimental to me, then I regress and do not live up to my full human potential. If contributing to the continued survival and development of humanity is the pinnacle goal of the individual, then it is necessary for me to press myself to transcend beyond internal and external limits that I put in place (refusing to create as a result of fear, for example). I must deem infinite self-improvement as a creative habit. In chapter six of her book, The Creative Habit Learn It and Use It for Life. Tharp claims that, “The first steps of a creative act are like groping in the dark: random and chaotic, feverish and fearful, a lot of busy-ness with no apparent end in sight”. As a student, Tharp’s grasp of building the creative habit are directly correlated with my study endeavors. I’ve been in school for nearly fourteen years, but it wasn’t until I was a senior in high school that I finally felt like I had a solid grip on how to take class material and apply it to my life outside of assignments. Coming to terms with the way I wanted to live and how to get there, on both spiritual and pragmatic fronts was much like Tharp describes. However, there was always an apparent end in sight: flourishment. How to achieve continual flourishing is the tricky task. Yet, creativity is the answer. As previously stated, to solely live is not enough. I ought to live creatively in order to develop my lifestyle into one of personal innovation. I need to follow the fear of creating -- to willingly grope in the dark until my senses fathom light. I should train myself to live reflectively while aiming for personal progress through following passion. Once I have cultivated my own specialities, I may contribute to society.

Creativity as an everyday human norm is dire to our survival as well as improved standard of living. Matt Ridley’s Ted Talk, ‘When Ideas Have Sex’, posted in July of 2010, poses the question of how mankind became the only species to hold a positive correlation between population and prosperity growth. Individual creativity paves the way for an ability to create technology that humans don’t even understand. Nobody knows how to build a pencil. In a group of individuals, however, someone mines for the graphite, another shapes the wood, somebody else paints the product yellow, and so on. During the Talk, specialization of skill among the population is described as originating from distinct gender roles. The woman trades roots for meat man has hunted, and vice versa. Everyone has a role to play. Human acknowledgement of this claim displayed through individual creativity prolongs survival and betters the way we live.

An example of Tasmania is used to aid in Ridley's idea of mankind as the ‘Collective Brain’. When Tasmania became an island, its technology degenerated as a result of its insufficient population size. There weren't enough people on the island to maintain specialized skills throughout generations. The elders of the community were so weakly numbered that their teachings could not be fully dealt out to the youth. Thus, standard of living fell, as well as the remaining Tasmanian. The unique human feature of drawing on and exchanging individual creativity builds a habit, and essentially innate obligation, of cumulative creativity. When our minds have sex (creation of the pencil), advanced technology and improved standard of living are born. The more this creative habit is nurtured, the denser the link between populous and prosperous becomes. If this link is what ensures that humans remain the apex predator, than I ought to obligate myself to specialize my own creativity, and deem acting on the obligation as my contribution to society.

Understanding creativity as a means of individual as well as collective flourishment has brought me to realize that although we may naturally harness a creative trait, we do not all use it. Too often I hear my older brother, Sonnie, speak of himself in a negative light. He is 19 years old and claims to have depression linked to his overbearing job. Despite his passion for technology and video game design, he works heavy shifts at BJs as a dishwasher. I honestly worry about him much of the time and can’t help but feel that he is suppressing his creative ability. Not purposely, but for the sake of making a sufficient fiscal living. His work could be the dream job of any individual, but it is not of him. Individual skill specialization is occurring, yet it could be said that Sonnie is neglecting the specialization of his individual passion. How can one contribute to the cumulative brain when it only pressures them to fit into a box?

In reference to this anecdote, I’ve learned through my exploration of creativity that I cannot let societal pressure force me into homogeneity. I ought to live for more than paying this month’s rent or signing Ph.D. next to my name just because it is deemed as “successful”. Suppression of creativity is dangerous to the survival of the individual. I refuse to mimic the Tasmanian within my own viscera, meaning that I will not kill myself through stagnancy. Always, I ought to live for progress; moral before pragmatic. Building infinite growth of my mind and its endeavors into a creative habit is the way to go about this. Tangibly, I must wake up every morning and be grateful just to be gifted another day. I must contribute to the flourishment of man through flourishing myself; treating my body as a temple and mind as a shaman. In doing this, I may create methods to help those suffering, like my brother, from losing sight of their own role to play in this huge art piece that we call life. Thus, defining creativity itself as a key factor in ensuring human survival and flourishment brings me to believe that I ought to live creatively.