Creation

          Some people have the creation in their head. It springs like Athena fully formed out through their hands. All the artist has to do is the work to bring it forth for the rest of us be it onto paper or canvas, from marble or metal, as a book or as a song, any was an idea can manifest. It's incredible to watch when you can catch that process such as this kid. They are called geniuses, and rightfully so. They are the Beethovens, the Michelangelos, the Di Vincis, the ones who work magic. But the trick is that they can already see the painting even before the brush touches paper, they can see the sculpture trapped inside the marble, they can hear the song without writing a note. It's brilliant and breathtaking. And they let us into their vision of the world whenever they successfully manage to finish one of those pieces. I wonder how many ideas they didn't get to because of the physical and mortal limitations they were restricted to.

          Everyone gets ideas like this. Only a select few have the skills to support such ideas, to bring them out to share with the rest of us. These skills come from both innate talent and hard grinding that slowly shaped their personal tools through teaching, learning, and practicing. The old phrase "Practice Makes Perfect" rings true again and again. And that's why we revere those of creative genius. They have both the spark that ignites ideas and the strong foundation to let that idea catch fire and blossom into life.
          I treasure the moments that I have ideas like that. Some of my stories and drawings are almost spontaneously born like that. Usually coming to me in the shower or while I am driving. Sometimes I have the skills ready to catch it and get it down on paper. I don't have the foundation yet to turn all of these ideas into viable creations yet so they remain as embers, as saved drafts, or plot outlines, or quick sketches tucked in a notebook.
          But mostly my creative process is one of building. I don't see the end picture. I don't have the completed work in my head when I begin whatever creative process I am inspired to work in. I have burst and spurts where things comes easily and then just as quickly, the idea flickers away again and my hands pause. What you see is the end result, the final culmination of those flashes of inspiration being woven together with lots of hair twisting, lip biting, legs crossing and uncrossing, shifts between computer to phone to computer, distractions and frantic moments spent on another idea another project before I lose that flicker.
          I don't mind it. I like the building process. I like how I can take an idea and build it up into something more. I like the world building my ideas usually require. I like coming up with rules to follow and break. I like the slow grind because that's what my skills allow and what they need in order to improve.
          I'm writing this just to make note of it. Just to capture the differences that I find between myself and others and to remind myself that it's okay that I can't see the whole picture at first. That I'd have to sketch out that painting that the boy in the video creates on a perfectly blank slate in minutes. I have so many ideas and not the skills to catch them all (and I will probably never catch any of the music stuff) but I continue to work on that. I'll continue to work on my creations.