How Creatives Change the World

After-Hours Discussion on a Thursday Night

Photo by Tom Podmore on Unsplash

If Thursday evening Imaginative Storm writing is the main course (I invite you to look back to my first post where I describe this unique chirography experience), the 20-30 minutes after it is when you are urged to stay for coffee and dessert. And the dessert is a buffet full of delightful surprises, usually started off with expedition co-leader James Nave (along with Allegra Huston) asking what everyone is thinking about.

Imaginative Storm

Getting any group of creatives to voice what they are thinking about without filtering it through their art is a bold move, but it is what makes Imaginative Storm writing groups so unique. We come to the group volunteering to be vulnerable because we know that is where our highest and best ideas live. When we cast aside worries about judgment and criticism, we can allow the pureness of spirit, the essence of any artistic creation, to emerge unencumbered.

Which is what happened last week when one of our writers wondered how we could change the world with our work. What difference did it make to the overwhelming problems of the day, coming at us from all corners, that we write? Besides the considerable personal rewards we reap, what does society gain because we choose to write, draw, sculpt, or create something from our imaginations? If we want to effect social change, wouldn’t it be better to run for office or protest in the streets or try out for the Supreme Court? What does art matter?

Good question and one I have asked myself over the years. The discussion that flowed forth inspired me. I should mention in our Imaginative Storm groups, although we are geographically scattered, the Work creates a Venn diagram of perspectives where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. There is a synergy within the group, no matter who shows up, week over week. Whether we are building a community word bank from the writing prompt, creating our 10-minute stories, or sharing after-hours ideas, something grander is created than any one of us could have envisioned. Many of us will name this time as our favorite activity of the week.

I did not take notes. What follows are the impressions I came away with, so I apologize for any misinterpretations of meaning or facts.

One writer shared how art conveys authenticity. You can’t lie with art. It expresses all the layers of who you are. I believe there is something akin to a “moral compass” in artists that guide their minds and bodies in creating the thing that best represents the truth as they understand it at that moment.

Another spoke of the historic thread art gives us. That art is the very distillation of what culture is. It is what is left over after a civilization is denuded of the tectonic forces of politics, religion, economics, and wars. It is our cumulative record of the mistakes we have made, our victories, and how we felt about them. Art provides a tangible way to see the timelessness of injustices, corruptions, and where we were blind, bringing renewed awareness. It is a forum to inspire populations to act to change their lives for the better.

I would add that by studying art, we gain a glimpse into the future. We explore possibilities that are not yet part of our reality, but one day might be. How many of today’s “impossible” devices and dreams were inspired by the hard-working imaginations of science fiction writers? Art can provide a cautionary tale without having to live through it (the textbook example being George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949)).

Someone else shared that we create art despite oppression or punishment by the government. There seems to be a need and a longing to pass on important wisdom even at great peril. There is also a need to pass on inspiration. Art-the Ghent Altarpiece, Mona Lisa, the 6th C Kanakaria mosaics are three among thousands of pieces throughout history stolen because the thief recognized their inherent societal value. Books (Salman Rushdie, Anne Frank, Khaled Hosseini, three familiar authors) smuggled into and out of countries are part of the legends that accompany these works. Creativity will not be oppressed. It might go underground for a time, but imbued with a primal energy, somehow it reemerges.

Art has an important role in processing emotions, not only of the artist, but of society. Artists take personal pain (physical or emotional) and through written or visual art make it universal and relatable. We rinse the rawness out of emotions and make sense of them by putting anger, fear, confusion, and sorrow into context. We find beauty in the suffering so we can find peace. This is a high bar.

Through this alchemy, we strive to build empathy. To create simpatico relationships between different cultures by drawing on the reservoir of shared human experiences. By challenging old paradigms, we offer new ways of thinking, invitations to debate new possibilities. Without realizing it, our work takes on the grander goal of building solidarity, not necessarily around the specific idea we put forth, but in putting forth the idea, we create space for society’s growth. Our courage in revealing our hand inspires others and a community of healthy debate and tolerance is fostered. It should not go unnoticed that the word unity lies within community.

Anne Lamott’s sage advice always comes to mind when I face a task that seems overwhelming. Drawing on childhood memories of a conversation her father had with her brother who was anxious about writing a report about birds, their father told him to write it “Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird.” (Bird by Bird, 1994). If we think we have to write the book or paint the masterpiece or perform the most exquisite pas de deux to please King so-and-so, our efforts will screech to a halt. Our paralysis will snuff out our creativity. And when creativity is snuffed out, nothing changes.

Love, Alice

Photo by Debby Hudson on Unsplash