The Diet of The Artist

Art is the offering of one's heart.

Art arrives where you're not. Art is the dissolution of oneself until all that remains is the craft.

There's a beautiful Zen saying,

"When you do something, you should burn yourself up completely, like a good bonfire, leaving no trace of yourself."

I have always been fascinated by art. I am engrossed by the magic of film. I am addicted to the melodies of songs. I crave understanding the writings of the greats.

Inspired by creative prowess, I used to ask myself...

"How can I get more ideas? How can I be more creative?"

I pondered this and I realized...these are the wrong questions to ask.

I'm reminded of an interview with the modern-day renaissance man, Donald Glover (a.k.a Childish Gambino). He said the following about his creative process,

"People often ask me, "Do you want to do this or do you want to do that?"
I only see what I'm supposed to make. I am not concerned whether it's called painting, music, etc. I only see what I'm supposed to make...and I go to it."

Humanity’s greatest achievements did not begin with an idea. They began with a feeling, a pulling force to create something out of nothing.

• We landed on the moon because we felt the need to.
• We harnessed the power of the sun to create electricity because we felt the need to.
• We can travel to distant lands within hours because we felt the need to.

Not only are we here because of creativity. We are Creativity.

Creativity is in our DNA. The question of “How can I be more creative?" is equivalent to saying “How can I breath more?”

Lack of breathing implies obstructed breathing. Lack of creativity implies obstructed creativity.

It's not about gaining more creativity. It's about what is preventing it in the first place?

The Slippery Slope of Modernity

Modernity (modern times) has gifted us creative marvels: technology, modern medicine, and infinite ways to reach anyone in the world.

Modernity is the era of infinite creative possibilities, but it has a dangerous feature: the slippery slope of addictive environments.

The culture of Modernity is a whirlpool of extreme consumption.

• Binge eating
• Binge drinking
• Binge entertainment
• Binge everything

Buy, buy, buy. Eat, eat, eat. Consume, consume, consume. 24/7 consumption.

Anything that comes to Mind, you can binge into perversion.

Not only the world is becoming physically obese, but it is also becoming mentally obese.

The availability of abundance hijacked our primal instincts. The human mind and body are currently ill-equipped to handle the effects of Modernity.

The author and speaker, Simon Sinek, puts it beautifully,

"The human-animal is a legacy machine moving in a modern world."

or the Angel Philosopher, Naval Ravikant said,

"Most of modern life, all our diseases are diseases of abundance, not diseases of scarcity."

Please note: I do not view Modernity as a good or bad thing. Modernity brought us amazing wonders. It is the current result and progress of human nature.

However, Humanity is currently immature to handle the side effects of the extreme consumption culture.

A culture of extreme consumption implies a culture of less production. Production begins with creativity, the essence of the human spirit.

Without creativity, the human spirit dims. If the brilliance of the human spirit dims today, how could it shine tomorrow?

So what to do? We need to become creatively fit.

The Creative Exercise

Fundamentally, how does the human body become overweight? High amounts of calories in. Low amounts of calories out.

How does a computer slow down? The most common reason is that the storage drive is full. High amounts of data going in, low amounts of data going out.

Everything is input and output. Today, there's traffic congestion on the inputs.

We're eating massive amounts of food without exercise. We're loading massive amounts of data into our brains without processing or application. We're consuming without the respect of producing. The trades are in fact, off.

We need to find that balance between consumption and creation. We need to adjust our consume-create ratio.

A great example of a good consumption-creation ratio is the following system for thinking...

"If you’re overthinking, write.
If you’re underthinking, read."
- (Alex & Books)

Reading is consumption. Writing is creation. One balances and complements the other.

View content consumption as living in a village. Every resource you take, give a resource back.

To stay physically fit, you can't only eat food. You need to move too.
To stay creatively fit, you can't only consume content. You need to create too.

Calories in, calories out. Content in, creation out.

The Great Fast

Jesus and Buddha are arguably the most influential individuals that have ever walked the planet. Interestingly enough, their actions paralleled.

They left the world to save it. After saving the world, they left again.

• Jesus spent 40 days in the desert. Eventually, Jesus ascended from the world.
• Buddha left his kingdom and lived in the forest. Eventually, Buddha transcended from the world.

There must be wisdom here. To leave society and to come into ourselves.

I'm not suggesting leaving your homes and living in the mountains to be an ascetic (no matter how enticing it is).

However, an Inner Distance is needed. Why?

The more you consume society, the more society consumes you.

• At birth, you were a blank canvas with infinite possibilities. Then Society scribbled all over you.
• Society became too loud. It has deafened your ears to the melodies of Nature.
• Throughout the years, Society fed on you. It has devoured you whole.

You have taken so much from Society that you became it. In doing so, you have forgotten what you truly are.

You've forgotten that we are gods.

• Technology is indistinguishable from magic.
• Proper nutrition and medicine have doubled our lifespan compared to our ancient ancestors.
• The Internet resurrected The Library of Alexandria.
• The phrase "reaching for the stars" is no longer of myth and fairytales.

The Pantheon is real.

It's fitting humans are considered as "divine animals" because we shift between animal and god. Animals consume and gods create. Unfortunately, many of us have forgotten our divine nature but The Greats remembered.

There are more consumers than there are creators. If it were the reverse, humanity would progress 10x over. I sincerely believe that.

The Greats may differ in name and occupations, but they all possess the same spirit. The same spirit that currently lives in you.

But that spirit became dormant under the weight of today’s culture. It needs to be awakened. How?

Create. Creativity blossoms in solitude. Creativity comes from those attentive moments to yourself. In those moments, You disappear and a Master emerges with a masterpiece.

• See society, but not become it.
• Navigate society, but not drown in it.
• Operate within society, but not become its tool.
• Give gifts to society, but never become its slave.

To all the artists (everyone)...

Exercise your right to be a god.

If both God and Man wield the power to create, then the power gap between God and Man is either non-existent or closer than we realize.

Create. It's your birthright.