Creativity Makes People Unfomfortable

There's a lot to be said for new beginnings. I love new beginnings. One might say I live for new beginnings. There are always new friends to meet, new places to discover, new projects to develop. It's the challenge of mystery, the exciting promise of a new adventure that draws me into the future. It's hard to imagine why some people live their lives in a straight jacket, afraid to move. At the very least, they conform to a self imposed stereotype. Too afraid to express themselves; reluctant to change, to try anything different, they expect others to do the same. Dennis Walsh progressofmusic@hotmail.com Like racing down a turnpike with too many signs and far too many choices, we stream through life never sure where and when to stop and go. The human race has a history of being closed-minded. Traditions were handed down from generation to generation. We were taught what was "right" and "wrong", "true" and "false." We were taught what to think and what not to think. We were taught what to do and what not to do. Anyone straying away from the accepted norm was considered foolish. Struggling to make it all work, we pass through life frustrated with it all but more determined than ever to fit into the system that puts bread on the table and gives us purpose. Pity those who do not do that. They live in a special type of hell reserved for self pity and boredom. Rising to the occasion, we spend the day complaining about the way life should be and griping about the way it is, powerless to do more than that. Like it or not we are part of the big picture regardless of those who may want us to believe we have nothing to do with the outcome. People have an innate desire and need to create. It is part of what makes us human. Once we have created an artistic work, there is usually an immense feeling of satisfaction and resolution- a feeling that we have "made a statement". During times of great euphoria or times of trauma, musicians compose and perform music in an attempt to describe feelings that cannot otherwise be expressed. Creativity makes the difference between an interesting, fulfilling life and one that is not. But creativity comes with a price. Creative people work at the edge of their competence. The possibility of failure is present but that is where they get the best results. Psychologists say genius is inseparable from failure. That may be true. Creativity tends to produce great quantities of mediocrity. The difference between success and failure is when creative people produce and keep producing work without giving up. That's when they achieve their vision. As a song shouldn't have to be explained and it's up to the listener to figure out what it means, Ludwig von Beethoven, arguably the most influential composer of all time, changed the voice of classical music. Influenced by political tensions that ravaged Europe in the wake of the French Revolution, his genius produced something so unique that it caused many people to dislike him. He provoked emotional fury and frantic applause wherever he went: That made people uncomfortable. Creativity makes some people uncomfortable.