Posted on January 19, 1996
Creation is a Mystery
Creation
What is creation? Why do we do it? I don’t know how many of you out there are creators. A lot of you may have projects of your own, whether it’s painting or writing or recording shows like we do.
Not that this is only for those of us who create things. I think that people who like to consume but not necessarily create can benefit from understanding how I think as a creator.
For a little background, I not only record the show but I also write. My books have been lucky enough to find a decent-sized audience, but I don’t talk about my writing much on the show. That’s because I hate the idea of flogging my stuff. I know that many of you tune into the show the listen to Carol and I talk about whatever movie we just saw or endlessly speculate about the people in Massive Love. You don’t necessarily come to hear book recommendations. Especially from the author.
That’s not to say I don’t want you to read the books. I absolutely do. Part of the joy of creation is sharing what you’ve made with as many people as possible. I don’t know what it is inside of us that makes us want to reach the biggest audience we can. And to be fair, that’s probably not every creator, but it’s there.
The audience is always in my mind when I’m doing something. Not always at the forefront, but it’s always there somewhere. Releasing what you’ve made into the wild isn’t the only aspect of creation, but it’s a big one.
Still, it always begins with you. What do you want to do? What do you want to create?
The act of creation begins as something selfish and then it becomes selfless. It’s beautiful that way.
Communication
What it really comes down to is communication.
Human beings need to communicate. We are social animals and we seek out the company of others. Have you ever felt like the people on the shows you watch or listen to are friends? Do you ever find yourself talking back to them?
I hope many of you are nodding and smiling now.
This happens because we form connections with those we listen to. They become a part of their lives even when they don’t know it.
The downside to being a creator is that we don’t hear you talk back. We still crave that connection as well, but it’s much harder to get.
So we look at things like how many listeners our show gets. How many people have read this book. Seeing the evidence of the audience makes us feel connected. It makes us feel validated. The bigger the audience the more validated we feel.
We have put something out to the world. We have said, here is what we think, here is what we have to say. More importantly, here is who we are. The world can either accept you or reject you. To those of you who have accepted us, we feel that connection. We feel grateful.
Those numbers tell a story, but it’s a cold and hard story. I can only speak for myself, but what I really enjoy is the personal connection. The letters, the emails, the messages. When a listener takes the time from their day to drop us a line and say something it really connects us to the audience like nothing else can. It allows us to hear you. Carol and I have been blessed over the past couple of years doing this show to speak with many fans who were kind enough to let us know they were out there.
I guess the last piece of the puzzle is something that no one can define. It’s just an innate need. Some people see a mountain and they must climb it. Creators see a place where nothing is and they want to make something.
The drive exists as part of the DNA. We would do it even if there was no audience. It would be a colder, and harder thing to do, but we would still do it.
I started writing short stories when I was about twelve. When I did it I wasn’t looking to become famous, I wasn’t looking for fortune, I wasn’t even doing it for an audience. I did it because I had to.
I can still remember the first stories that I wrote and how I amazed myself that I was actually doing it. That it was me that had made this something out of nothing.
I had enjoyed reading for a long time at that point and while I was reading the books I would always place myself in the story somehow. I would give myself dialogue and become part of the story. Soon I realized that I was rewriting the whole thing in my own head.
That connection, it was there, and that yearn for the connection was part of what drove me to paint myself into the book. They are all tied together.
I don’t know what exactly it is about creating that speaks to me. I don’t know what exactly it is about consuming media that speaks to me either. All I can say is that it is a vital aspect of our society. One of the most important things for the maintenance of mental health and personal fulfillment.
There’s very little that’s fun about the world without creation. And very little that’s fun without enjoying someone else’s creation. I guess what I want to say most of all is thank you. Thank you to all of you who have reached out and thank you to all of you who haven’t reached out but have talked back to us. Thank you for enjoying what we do. Thank you for accepting us.
Thank you.
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