The Maestro on Creativity
As I travel around with the film I find many artists who express to me the same problems you mentioned in your letter, namely, how can I release the creative forces that are in me and still keep body and soul together. I think you answered the question yourself when you said “…having strong faith in what you find is essential in your life.” One must understand what is essential and follow its dictates with undying faith.
If the Pope for example stood in front of a mirror and really looked at himself he would see a man dressed up in silly clothes. He would see a reflection of the outer man only. But he doesn’t. When he looks into a mirror he sees a man who has faith in a God. He sees God’s representative here on earth. He looks at the mirror through his inner eyes. He has faith that all he represents is true and right for humanity. If he is right or wrong in his assumption is something, at this point in man’s evolution, we can’t know for sure because of our limited knowledge of the universal scheme of things. But for him, in this time and place, he has faith that that is what he should do. So he carries on with that faith.
For me it is the same thing. I don’t know for certain how important being a creative person, living a creative life, is in the universe. But I have faith that given man’s history so far, it is the only thing that matters here on earth. To me it is the only activity that aligns itself up with what I can figure out about mankind and the universe.
The universe is a creative force that is in a state of constant creation, new stars, new galaxies, new worlds, maybe inhabited by new life. I have faith that that is so. I also see that humankind’s history to this point shows only what he/she has created. These creations are in the form of what is called art. History shows us art first then shows us the people and civilizations that produced it. If during the time of certain creativity there were men and women who had a lot of money and power and lived the “good life” it is of no importance. The fact that creative people managed to create, in spite of what others thought was the important thing to be doing, is all that really matters.
Therefore, it is of little importance for me if I live in a time of computers, nuclear power, or a world without the wheel, it is all the same. To be connected to the universal creative force is the only thing that matters. I am no different, creatively, than the humans who expressed themselves on cave walls thousands of years ago. They created without concern for how it would fit into man’s history or so that they could have a house that overlooked the sea. I believe they did it because they felt the same creative force that I feel and were compelled as I am to answer the creative call. They managed to produce works of creation with what limited material they had at hand.
For me to be a creator is the only activity worthy of mankind and it is the part I want to play in the limited time I have on this planet. Those of us who create now are creating for future life here and in the universe. Future life will not care which humans paid the mortgage on a mansion, drove the best of automobiles, or ate from golden plates, they will want to know who lived a creative life and left some proof of their existence. I have faith that it is so.
Maestro