xjwsforChrist

COCO SAID

The instinct which creates the arts is not the same as that which produces art.

The creative instinct is, in its final analysis and in its simplest terms, an enormous extra vitality, a super-energy, born inexplicably in an individual, a vitality great beyond all the needs of his own living — an energy which no single life can consume.

This energy consumes itself then in creating more life, in the form of music, painting, writing, or whatever is its most natural medium of expression. Nor can the individual keep himself from this process, because only by its full function is he relieved of the burden of this extra and peculiar energy — an energy at once physical and mental, so that all his senses are more alert and more profound than another man's, and all his brain more sensitive and quickened to that which his senses reveal to him in such abundance that actuality overflows into imagination. It is a process proceeding from within. It is the heightened activity of every cell of his being, which sweeps not only himself, but all human life about him, or in him, in his dreams, into the circle of its activity.

Pearl S. Buck

TEC SAID

Love that.

It's true. It takes everything of you; full absorption. At least when you're in the moment of creating something.

Peace,
tammy

PSACRAMENTO SAID

There is only one reason to create: Love
There is only one force strong enough to create: Love

COCO SAID

Thanks, Tammy and Paul, for your thoughts.

Though I've read PB since kidhood, this quotation is new to me. It is an overwhelming, irresistible force ...

And, of course, ... LOVE!!!

Gosh - I'm worn out!

Peace and love, too, to you two and yours.

CoCo qui ecrit

LEANN SAID

Some people cannot feel alive unless they produce something.. it is like letting some force outward that was born within.

This takes many forms. Art, music.. creation is one. Love can be involved or something totally different in that love is its own energy even without a physical manifestation attached to it.

Thanks for Sharing Coco.. I enjoyed what you wrote.

COCO SAID

Greetings, sister!

Yes, that force hankers to get out and do something. I try to remain calm when the usual creativity within seems, at least for the moment, stilled. When once again active, that energy, that force is irresistible and clamors to create.

All the best.

CoCo reste tranquille

ANTHONY SAID

I don't think the creative force comes from the individual. It seems to be an external energy and the creator is merely the channel.

One of my favorite musicians is Kristin Hersh. It is interesting to hear her talk about her songwriting process because it occurs pretty much independent of her. She literally hears the songs that come to her in complete form and these 'voices' do not give her rest until she writes/records the song. The auditory hallucinations sometimes visualize as colors and images as well. It is quite fascinating.
_________________
Author of 'Happiness: How to Find It'
www.anthonymathenia.com

LEANN SAID

I agree it can be channeled and is not from the person... however if the right combination exists the self can create something new. We may have absorded energy to add to what we had, but the production is more than just was drawn in...

For example.. you are blue, you asorb yellow and the new product is green. The 'growing' of life and creativity is in itself change, and unique to the person.. You can add the same energy to a hundred people and not get the same product.

ANTHONY SAID

In my own writing I've seen countless occurrences where the writing is very self-aware and has access to knowledge beyond what I should know. An small example is an upcoming chapter of 'Happiness: How to Find It'. I set the story in 1992 and had a convention scene early on. During these scenes the main character Rose is lamenting her lack of marriage opportunities. When i wrote the story I wanted to make sure that I used the correct songs from that convention program and so I looked it up online. One of the talks for the day was 'Is Marriage the Key to Happiness'. Strange.
_________________
Author of 'Happiness: How to Find It'
www.anthonymathenia.com

LEANN SAID

I find those occurences intriguing, and believe they exist because we have senses beyond our physical awareness, drawing on things beyond your conscious mind.. However when we are coming down to art or writing.. you are the 'author' because it is your expression of what comes in, assuming you are not channeling from another 'life'.

Our personality is an expression of the life we are, the combination of the forces of who you are makes you uniquely Anthony... no one could write what you do in the same way you would.

ANTHONY SAID

As if someone standing up in a Pentecostal church offering a "word from the Lord" isn't an act of self expression? The message is corrupted every time the prophet opens his mouth and puts it in his tongue. What is best about art is that the artist often isn't aware of the message they are channeling, unlike some self-absorbed navi.
_________________
Author of 'Happiness: How to Find It'
www.anthonymathenia.com

LEANN SAID


Just because someone may not be aware of the message they are giving does not mean it has not been 'formed' in combination with the person.

LEANN SAID

When I think of how to describe the creative force.. I think of wind and an instrument.

The force of the wind (breath) passes through the instrument to create a unique sound. the wind and the instrument form to create 'art'.

COCO SAID

Posted: Mon Aug 20, 2012 9:30 pm Post subject: Thank you, dear LeAnn and Anthony, ...
for your fascinating replies.

For quite a while I have longed for input such as you have kindly posted. I wish not merely to write and recite poetry and stories but to discuss them as well. Same, too, with those of other writers. Since my earliest days I was driven to paint, to compose, to write ...

I quoted Pearl Buck above. My mother was an avid reader of her work and I still have and treasure many of my mother's books. Whether nature, nurture, some unidentifiable source - an obsession for all things literary hounds me and licks at my heels daily.

Wish you could see my library ...

With a heartfelt and rather sizable gratitude,

CoCo de la bibliotheque

LEANN SAID

Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2012 1:01 pm Post subject:
I would love to see your library! I truly enjoy the imagery of poetry... it is a combination of writing and painting.

Please continue to share with us your passion.