On Creating
So I read something recently.
I don’t think it is required reading, but it definitely made me sit back and say… huh.
Like. I never experienced that. I don’t even think I could come up with that.
But it was so, so important that it was written.
You see, there’s this degree of shock that comes when creation occurs. It births itself from the vague lands of imagination. Creations creashland into the splendor of the existing world, squalling like toddlers without attention.
Sometimes, they get cast aside, thrown into the landfill of regret or ignorance.
Other times, they comes into their own. They sprout like bamboo shoots, and soon bear the weight of Ozymandiac-like titans, demanding and receiving both attention and adulation.
And at the end of the day, creations are what define us.
But, like-honestly. What are we trying to do?
Allow me to realign with you a little.
I personally think that there is a fetish about the glorious and glamorous world of creation.
You see people like Paul Graham write poetic essays about creating. You see the rise of sub-communities like Nerdfighters or NanoWrimo that revolve around the mere act of creation. You see the hearts of young people rise and become ‘creators’, all to meet the never ceasing demand for something new.
Sometimes, I end up asking myself.
Is this an ocean that doesn’t need to be filled? Is this a rising tide that doesn’t need boats? am I part of the deep waters?
Yet, I do think that there is a well that needs to be dug. People are looking for something to drink and somewhere, there is a faucet that crisp and refreshing waters of critical thinking and impassioned anecdotes trickle from.
And I think that’s the gist of it.
I think that creating is important. It’s just also important to recognize that you don’t need to create for the sake fo creating. Do it for yourself. Recognize that it will get ignored. Hope to be a faucet.