“The artist is a receptacle for the emotions that come from all over the place: from the sky, from the earth, from a scrap of paper, from a passing shape, from a spider’s web.”
This quote from Pablo Picasso may seem like a funny way to describe creativity. It’s not consistent with the common myth about the artist, a uniquely gifted person who can come up with ideas out of thin air. Surely, creative people are not receptacles of everyday things – they are original and inspired.
But, as a person who works in a creative job, that description of creativity doesn’t jive with me. My ideas don’t fall out of the sky, and certainly not fully formed. My attempts to “be creative” can meet with painstaking work, and sometimes the inspiration just doesn’t feel like it’s there.
This is where I stumbled on the idea that, before I can be creative, I need to be receptive.
Creative people are receptive to the world around them
What does this mean? Being receptive has two parts.
The first component of being receptive is that I choose to be an observer. I need to notice and think about the stimuli around me.
Inspiration is all around us. Elizabeth Gilbert, the author of Eat Pray Love, describes ideas as a “disembodied, energetic life-form” that only come into physical being when they find a partner to collaborate with. All ideas – whether they’re artistic, industrial, scientific, religious or political – are looking for a partner.
But for ideas to find us, we need to be observant and open. Many of us may have had great ideas that never came to fruition because we chose not to pursue them. Others of us have missed opportunities because we haven’t noticed the potential around us.
It’s a whimsical explanation that Gilbert gives. But it makes me wonder what would happen if I could more deliberately learn how to be receptive to inspiration. How could I see the world differently and notice the potential in what I see?
Creative people are receptive to new ways of thinking
The second part of being receptive is being open to new ideas. When inspiration strikes, I’m brave enough to explore it, instead of dismissing it.
Again, children are a great example of this. They are open to all ideas – however outlandish they may seem to an adult. They haven’t had time to be jaded, or to become terrified of failing. They have a sense of wonder, and their eyes are open to what may seem obvious to others.
As a child, I wrote a story about a pair of characters who happened to be teeth. They “came loose” and fought giants and who knows what else. I wasn’t afraid someone would laugh at me for writing this crazy story. It meant I wasn’t afraid to fail.
We can forget that being receptive to new ideas requires bravery – particularly as we get older. You may have an idea in your head, and being original is almost always risky.
It’s easy to say, “That idea will never work,” and abandon it – but do you have the courage to put that idea down on paper? The answer will determine if your creativity is ever expressed.
Maybe it’s time to shift the focus off “trying to be creative” or to “get inspired”, and start thinking about being receptive instead.
Being receptive will involve looking and listening. It means slowing down. It’s also having the guts and open-mindedness to give new things a try.
But it’s through these things that new ideas can appear and flourish. Like Picasso, we can be receptacles of the inspiration we see around us.
