...what one person calls a dream, ten others will label as a fantasy. So how do we distinguish them?
Imagine having your book on the New York Times bestseller list. It is possible to achieve this if you write well, write often, improve your craft, have a great story to tell, have the right opportunities to expose your work, obtain favorable exposure and reviews, and can manage the stress these challenges create. This is a fine dream, but if you omit any of these elements of skill and hard work from consideration, the scenario transforms into a fantasy. For example, you maintain the dream but do not write often; you hesitiate to share your writing with others; your story just does not arouse excitement; or you fail to do the necessary research to really provide a realistic setting for the characters. To a great extent, these are examples of how fantasy can get in the way of fulfilling your dreams. Realistic dreams become fantasies when you imagine successful outcomes while at the same time believing that you can somehow skip essential steps in the creative process.
Skipping Essential Steps Our culture increasingly encourages us to believe we can do anything. Sometimes, with the best of intentions, our parents have echoed this same sentiment. To a certain degree, this is a good thing. Such sentiments offer hope and support the ability to think about and identify the many possibilities of being. They reflect the general tone and tradition of our culture's "can do" spirit. These are the guidelines we need to successfully internalize if we are to be resilient in our creative quests. At the same time, however, we are also inundated with messages that encourage us to expect instant gratification. Similarly, we are often encouraged to believe that fulfilling our dreams should require little time or energy and that reward and satisfaction should come easily. From making purchases, to learning how to paint, to learning to play an instrument, to instant messages, to controlling video games with our thoughts, we have become obsessed with gratification of our desires with the least expenditure of energy and within the least amount of time. Unfortunately, an impaired tolerance for frustration is the side effect of maintaining such expectations. All creativity requires time, effort, commitment, and patience. And yet, our dreams of being creative are too often shattered by holding on to the fantasies that achieving products of creativity should not necessitate huge investments of personal time and energy. It is unrealistic to believe you can learn to take truly great pictures in a three-hour photo class. In reality, you will likely learn only the basics by enrolling in such a course. Certainly, attending a free seminar on faux-painting at your local home-improvement store will offer you the basic guidelines for helping you to create the appearance of texture on your walls. And going to a presentation at your local bookstore on shifting your career will offer you some ideas to motivate you in certain directions. But each of these creative endeavors, as with all sustained creativity, requires time, effort, commitment, and patience in order to be even modestly competent. I do not mean to suggest that there is only one path to fulfilling your creative dreams. Certainly, there are many individuals who have excelled in creative arenas withhout following some of the more traditional routes. However, even these individuals had to commit themselves for many hours, days, months, and years to perfect their skills.
Every Aspect of Creativity Should Be Equally Rewarding One fantasy that interrupts the flight of creativity is the expectation that every aspect of the creative process should be equally rewarding. Unfortunately, the reality of the creative process is that all aspects of the creative process are not equally rewarding.
I am exhilarated when engaging in the flow of words that best reflect the ideas I want to express. I thrill in my assessment that I am sharing a perspective of understanding that I believe sheds light in a unique way regarding a concept I am presenting. Certainly, these moments are significantly more gratifying than those that involve editing for grammar or entering footnote notation. And yet, all creativity involves tasks that are only minimally gratifying. All too often, however, we cease to embrace creativity when we are confronted with the aspects of the process that we label as "tedious," "boring," "uninteresting," or "wearisome." Like a child avoiding the task of taking out the garbage, our child logic responds by petulantly asking, "Do I really have to do this?" Other times we make promises such as, "I'll do it later!" For some of us, later never comes; or it arrives so late that both creative engagement and passion are diluted. Too often we adhere to the expectation that the creative process will be an uninterrupted series of distinct moments of intense emotional pleasure. However, we would be better off to acknowledge at the outset that every creative venture involves tasks that are minimally challenging or pleasurable. Painters often struggle to maitain a clean and organized workspace. Some musicians describe much of their work as being tedius compared to those moments when tney are actually composing music and lyrics. For some, cutting material and sewing the pieces of fabric together does not yield the same degree of satisfaction as designing the dress. And the gratification of obtaining a degree and being able to start a new career is the prize for having endured classes, taking tests, doing homework, and writing papers. Whether glassblowing, writing poetry, performing dance, putting together a Web site, or refurnishing a piece of furniture, the creative process offers tremendous gratification and distinct moments of intense pleasure, but also moments that are less exciting.
Bernard Golden, PhD. • 1 East Delaware Place, Suite 310 Chicago, Illinois 60611 Email: bgolden10@sbcglobal.net - Tel. 312-642-0265