Response to The Courage to Create: Chapters 3 and 4
Creative
inspiration can be stunning, beautiful and speak deeply to the artist. It is human nature to expect that others will
accept the truths we believe. The
capacities of individual and societal change are the subjects of this week’s
response. Individually, the chapters
speak to the relationship between creativity and the subconscious, and the elements
of the creative encounter. However, the
chapters contrast the experience of the individual artist, who is achieving
higher levels of understanding, against society’s inherent resistance to change
and new ideas. By
examining the individual creative experience, the creative encounter, and how
society resists new ideas, we can better understand how criticisms are born
from fear, and how we can adjust our attitudes to embolden our courage and
carry forward.
May describes a breakthrough as, “A
dynamic struggle goes on within a person between what he or she consciously thinks
on the one hand and, on the other, some insight, some perspective that is
struggling to be born” (59). In
addition, May writes that the inspiration completes an incomplete Gestalt, or
unfinished pattern (61). He notes, “the
insight never comes hit or miss, but in accordance with a pattern of which one
essential element is our own commitment” (61).
The idea that creative insight is the completion of an unfinished
pattern, or a Gestalt, presupposes the notion that the individual had
previously identified such a pattern. In
addition, I am in agreement that new revelations destroy existing ideas. Both notions, of identifying an unfinished
pattern and the capacity to accept new ideas are indicative of a mind that is
exploring its environment and receptive to what it finds. I have come to believe that the subconscious
mind is incapable of lying. It is only
able to express what it has experienced.
As such, the notion that revelation always seems to be in-line with our
own commitment is reflective of a mind speaking for itself. The feeling of joy and gratification May
describes is the direct result of conscious awareness from the authentic deeper
self. The struggle of realizing deeper
meaning is reflective of an individual mind questioning its environment and its
willingness to accept what it finds.
Both elements require the courage May speaks to in earlier chapters.
The creative encounter is highly
personal. May proposed, “Creativity
occurs in an act of encounter and is to be understood with this encounter as
its center” (77). He writes that the
encounter occurs between the person and their world, or the subjective pole and
the objective pole (78). Vision is described
as the intermediate step between the two poles, and that it is the vision that
cues the viewer towards the artist’s encounter with reality (79). Finally, May writes that passion is the
quality of commitment the artist has with the encounter (87), and knowledge is
born through the creative act as much as the artistic achievement (85). Much of this is self-explanatory. However, the point is that an artist has an
encounter, determines the quality of engagement, and forms creative meaning
between the world and their own subjective interpretation. The encounter is described as highly
personal with symbolic references that touch shared understanding. The encounter is also reflective of the
acquisition of knowledge through a deeper understanding. I have adopted May’s notions of the creative
encounter and have already benefited from the results. I find it difficult to summarize and respond
to May’s work and give it the passion and life that he expresses. However,
although the artist may form deep connections with an encounter, it is likely
it will be met with resistance.
Society is a collection of ideas and
shared practices to which people are anchored.
May writes, “Wherever there is a breakthrough of a significant idea or
significant new form in art, the new idea will destroy what a lot of people
believe is essential to the survival of their intellectual and spiritual world”
(60). May also writes that the artist
must be receptive to the world and be willing to accept what is revealed
(80). This notion is the “opposite of
the authoritarian demands impelled by ‘will power’” (80). I believe it is reasonable to infer that it
is also the opposite of conventional wisdom.
May identifies that our world is mechanized and it prompts “uniformity,
predictability, and orderliness” (69).
Again, May speaks to the new idea and the willingness to accept it. However, new ideas are challenged at the
social level. An idea that is too far
from someone’s belief system will not be accepted and rationalized out of
existence. Conformity is the natural
by-product of most civilizations and serves a useful purpose. Creativity is the embodiment of new and
different ideas. By its very nature,
creativity is a threat to established society that finds comfort in the
predictable, and it will be challenged.
As with the earlier chapters, this
week’s material was densely packed with great and well thought out ideas. May’s writing re-affirmed his earlier notions
on courage and creativity. Peole wanting
to share their insights is perfectly natural.
Especially when the insights are personal and revelatory. However, it is not so natural for society to easily
accept new ideas. The artist striving to
speak with their own voice needs to be aware of the resistance. Many negative critiques are born from fear
and speak to the one critiquing rather than the artist. For whatever reason, it is too easy for us to
give credibility to opinions that may not be valid, and allow them to adversely
affect our work. I believe this is the
fundamental notion of May’s writing.
That one needs to have the courage to speak with their own voice, to
weather the storm of criticism and to move forward despite the resistance to
new ideas.
Works Cited
May, Rollo. The Courage to Create. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. 1975.
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