Weekly Soul: Week 41 - Meaning & Fulfillment (Craigie)
Today's meditation from Weekly Soul: Fifty-two Meditations on Meaningful, Joyful, and Peaceful Living by Dr. Frederic Craigie:
-41-
The
effort to bring something new and meaningful into the world – whether in the
arts, the kitchen or the marketplace—is exactly what generates the sense of
meaning and fulfillment for which so many of us yearn so deeply.
Peter Korn
In the range of 65,000 years ago, someone wandered
into a network of caves in what is now Spain, finding a suitable wall surface
and inscribing images of animals and geometric designs. In ever-unfolding
fields of archaeology and cultural anthropology, these images presently claim
title to being the oldest examples of visual arts yet discovered. They were
made by Neanderthals, long before modern humans appeared on the scene, giving
rise to fresh theories about the sophistication of what we have long considered
to be barrel-chested, dim-witted brutes.
In the following millennia, people around
the world left behind increasingly elaborate cave art, culminating in the
richly-colored and energetic human and animal images in Lascaux. In my seasonal
home in Arizona, progenitors of today’s Native American communities created
above-ground rock art—animal forms, hand prints, sun images, spirals and the
omnipresent flute player named Kokopelli—relatively recently in the timeline of
human life but still thousands of years ago.
Theories abound about what lies behind
images like these. Perhaps they were created in gratefulness or celebration of
a community accomplishment like a successful hunt, or in petition for successes
to come. Perhaps they marked the cycles of life. Kokopelli, for instance,
symbolizes fertility in addition to music. Perhaps they had some spiritual
significance not yet understood.
Whatever their origin or meaning, these
ancient images are art. They are creation. The coincidence of these images with
such a long scope of human history attests to me that it is fundamental to our
nature, as Korn says, “to bring something new and meaningful into the world.”
Creativity matters. The data show that
creativity enhances brain function and basic physiological health and supports
a range of physical and mental health outcomes. But it’s more than that. When
you bring something new into the world—painting, photography, music, dancing,
writing, cooking—you bring new energy into your life. The energy and spirit
inside of you have a chance to meet the light of day.
Creativity moves in different ways. Sometimes
the creative process is fairly well marked from the beginning, as in “Now I’m
going to write a poem about social justice,” or “Now I’m going to try to
capture this stunning Maine seascape in watercolor.” Sometimes, you really
don’t know where you’re going, and it emerges. The process takes on a life of
its own. My friends who are novelists say that their characters often chart
their own lives in the writing and surprise their authors with what they say or
do. Sometimes, the creative process draws upon and evokes emotions that defy
being limited by words. When I compose a fiddle tune, it’s much more about the
feeling and movement of the music than it is about language and ideas.
However it emerges, the fruit of your
creativity out there in the world can touch other people. I imagine that you,
like me, have had the experience of being moved to tears by a piece of music
that brings you back to a memorable episode in your life. And who among us has
not been moved by a painting that draws you in, or an expressive dance routine,
or by a poem that touches your soul?
Ultimately, though, the creative process
is personal. You don’t create for the audience… or even if you create something
with a loving, gifting destination, it has to pass muster with your own heart
first. If no one ever sees your cave painting, or reads your poem, or hears
your music, you can take satisfaction in having given life to something that
never existed before. Something that arises uniquely from you. Empowering “the
sense of meaning and fulfillment for which so many of us yearn so deeply.”
Reflection
- I refer above to “painting,
photography, music, dancing, writing, cooking.” These are among a larger
list of creative arts. What is your experience with the creative arts? How
has your exploration or expression of creativity added something
personally meaningful for you?
- How would you put into words where
your own creativity comes from? Do you find that there are times when you
have been more productively creative, or that you have ever done something
to lay the groundwork for the creative process?
- If you had the time and resources,
what form of creative art might you wish to explore?
- In the coming week, create something
new—a doodle, a tune, a few words of poetry, a new recipe of your own
design. It does not have to be extraordinary; in fact, it’s likely to be
more meaningful if what you create is purposefully not ready for prime
time. How does this feel?
Author
Peter Korn (b. 1951) is a furniture
maker, designer, writer, and educator. Coming of age in the late 1960s and
early 1970s, he embraced the ethos of many young people at the time, aiming to
craft a life that would be simpler and more fulfilling than that of their
parents’ generation. He completed his college degree at the University of
Pennsylvania and bypassed his father’s hopes that he would pursue a
professional career, heading to Nantucket to work as a carpenter and home
builder. This was his first experience of working with his hands, and he found
it both difficult and immensely satisfying. He began to design and build
furniture—finding the craft of woodworking very different from carpentry—and
developed his skills, his business, and a network of fellow artisans over a
number of years. Korn began writing about the process of furniture making,
publishing his first book, Working with Wood: The Basics of Craftsmanship,
in 1993. Increasingly, he became intrigued with the “why” of furniture making,
along with the “how” of furniture making. He founded an institute on the coast
of Maine that invites visitors to explore the craft of furniture-making art,
both the techniques and the philosophy around bringing things “new and
meaningful into the world.”
The quotation comes from Why We Make
Things and Why it Matters: The Education of a Craftsman (David R. Godine,
2013).
Book Description:
Keywords:
meditation; reflection; inspiration; miracles; aliveness; purpose; laughter; joy; presence; mindfulness; activism; acceptance; gratitude; forgiveness; creativity; civility; hope; affirmation; wholeness; well-being; mental health; personal growth; transformation; inner peace; personal reflection; joy; joyful living; inspirational quotes; inspirational commentary
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