In Hindi we have a proverb: Garib ki joru, sabki bhabhi!
Which literary means: A poor man's wife is a sister-in-law for all. Which further implies, everyone can crack a joke with her.
Some people feel Creativity is also a poor man's wife.
And they pass their own judgements about it.
Like recently, someone remarked --
Be creative and success is guaranteed in life!
I want to tell all such super-gyanis to shut up. To leave creativity alone. Because...
Creativity isn't a poor man's wife. Or a rich man's keep. She is the queen of adventurers, explorers, the gang of status-qua breakers.
Creative life is a choice that starts with an embrace of failure. A mindset that doesn't fear failure.
While others go for a well-paying job or a side hustle to make more money, a creative person hones his creative skills with no reward in immediate sight.
They follow their instincts and explore a journey which is uncertain. They don't have a map to follow.
Where is the guarantee of success?
And to them, success isn't just about money. It is about growth. The growth that is often invisible to others.
When I crack a difficult rhyme, or a slogan. When a friend makes a 'mistake' composing a song—— something not supposed to be in the scheme of things—— but she keeps it because she loves it. And the 'mistake' adds a new colour to her composition. When a scientist or researcher fails again and again trying the known routes, then uses a crude device, discovers something new. Which leads him into a new research.
Such moments, which have no value to others, mean so much to us, the creative souls. The crazy ones.
That's why creative artists perform their 'riyaz' (practice) every single day. They experiment. They play around, attempt things beyond their skills and competency. Fail miserably.
But they persist. They enjoy the process. The creative process of failing, learning, and discovering the limits...making a leap, breaking the boundaries.
That's how they grow. Surely, it isn't success, the way gurus talk about it. The ROI might be too low, or maybe NIL.
Let us look at it this way --
When we have an eye on success, we do things which are tested and proven. Things which come with an instruction manual--
- This is how to put the bulb in the holder, then push this switch and the lights will shine.
But the creative genius who made that shining bulb in the first place, failed, again and again. The legend says thousands of times.
Creating something isn't as straight as pushing a button. Or following the beaten path.
The path of creativity is ridden with uncertainties, ridicule and sacrifices.
It isn't for the smooth talkers and the inpatients. One must be ready to live with the failures. Failures are the signposts for creative geniuses.
Creative life is a choice that starts with an embrace of failure. A mindset that doesn't fear failure.
Failures are the signposts for creative geniuses.
But Edison Was Successful!
He was more successful and richer than the 'influencers' who talk of creativity and success in the same shallow breath. Creativity can surely bring super-success. If a man is as creative and as business savvy as Edison, he would go far...We must have the courage to fail and the intelligence to apply the learning in our work.
