Find yourself

 

 A conversation I had with a one of  my closest friends last evening set me thinking.

Most of us, as adults today, have corporate jobs, or are doctors or accountants or lawyers or home makers or other such things. On the face of it, we all fit into Society's concept of  'successful adults'. By 'successful' I mean, 'well adjusted' or in other words, 'boxed-in'.

Why is it that we have very few creative thinkers? How many of us can claim to have done something original? By creative, I don't just mean creating a work of Art .(Not everybody has an inclination or an aptitude but my firm belief is that every single person can be taught  Art if they have a willingness to learn, even if you cannot draw a straight line. But more on that perhaps in a later post.)

By creativity I mean originality of thinking. I quote the following  from this  site

What is creativity?

Creativity is the bringing into being of something which did not exist before, either as a product, a process or a thought.

You would be demonstrating creativity if you:

• Invent something which has never existed before
• Invent something which exists elsewhere but you are not aware of
• Invent a new process for doing something
• Reapply an existing process or product into a new or different market
• Develop a new way of looking at something (bringing a new idea into existence)
• Change the way someone else looks at something

Creativity is the very essence of being. Yet most educational systems kill creativity.I agree completely with Sir Ken Robinson. (In case you have not heard of him, this talk by him is truly worth watching. It will take approximately 20 minutes)

As adults, many of us seem to lead 'dead lives'. We study hard, get great grades (or aspire to), get a job (which we sometimes crib about) , earn well, get married (sometimes to the completely wrong person), have kids, provide for the kids, happy when the kids grow up (and we pat ourselves on the back if they have managed to get a coveted degree--MIT, Yale.Havard, (on the presumption that education matters to most parents)), we grow old, we die.


But my question is have we really lived?

Where is the passion in your life? If you were to die tomorrow would you be satisfied? (If you have answered yes read no more, this post is not for you. If you are happy and content exactly the way you are living, good for you! Read no further :))

Would you be content having led the life you have led?

What are you doing with your life?

I truly believe that it is creativity and passion which can make all the difference between existing and truly living. An excellent book which I just finished reading is "I will not die an unlived life" by Dawna Markova. 

It is definitely  not a book for light reading and I do not think very young people (By very young I mean those below 25-26) or people who are just starting out their lives  (new mothers, ones who are just getting married or those who have just got their first job)  might appreciate it at this stage in their life. (But then again I may be wrong.)


Be Creative. (yes you definitely can if you open your mind to new possibilities, new opportunities and think beyond what is. It really is not too late ,no matter how old you are)

Find your passion.

LIVE.
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 Addendum:
This post seems to have ruffled a lot of feathers, judging by the comments I have got. :-) (Apologies if you were offended) .

Obviously what I have said had disturbed a lot of people, made them uncomfortable, made them think.I have enabled comment moderation for this post simply because of the large number of  'comments from disturbed people' I have received :-)

Most people who wrote the above comments do not even seemed to have watched the video I talked about or even seem t have bothered to find out what the book is about (unless you read how will you know?) and have dismissed it as 'modern bull sh***' without even considering there can exist an alternate view point or a different way of life.

Since I spend time in individually  replying to comments, I felt it was best I answer the 'disturbed souls' here rather than saying the same thing over and over to individual comments.If you are happy leading the lives you are leading who am I to ask you to change or who am I to question?! If you are happy so be it! Good for you!

If my saying the life is 'boxed-in' offended you , go ahead and label the creative souls as 'crazy' :-) I don't mind :-)

Dawna Markova does not ever say that you have to do 'something great' to be 'creative'. Her book is so magnificently written, so inspiring and very humbling.Her writing is sheer poetry. Unless you read you will not even know what I am talking about.

But thank you for taking the time to write the comment,. Hope I have answered what you have said and apologies if I have not published your comment.