To be a creative person means you must expose your ego and deliver it on a plate served with hatred, suffering, and all the uncertainties life can spew at your complex misunderstood brain. It’s a process that involves stripping away what you think you are, and trying to create what you strive to be. Influenced by everything from life to death, creativity allows us to channel thoughts and emotions that oftentimes words just cannot give meaning to on their own. It’s one of the few things in this life that fuel and motivate us as a species. Not politics, money, or notoriety. It’s what we create that gives us insight into a future we never knew existed, and reminds us of a past that once gave solace to our aging hearts. Creativity is, and always will be, the genesis of progression.
This all sounds good in writing, but what happens when the landscape is oversaturated with creativity? When the field of view becomes blurry and unrecognizable due to the rapidly expanding pool of talent that blossoms all at once. This is where we stand now as a society, with creativity at its most furious peak. We have the most luscious collection of mental stimulus available at our beck and call. Anything our hearts desire, we can access in some form or another with just a few clicks. Music, television, film, books. It’s all there for us, with no subject off the table, no shortage of content creators, and no end in sight for this inevitable growth. So is that a good thing? Should we embrace this current renaissance of creativity? Well, unfortunately it’s not something we have control of. Which is a funny thought, given that we are the ones contributing to it.
Despite our best efforts to convince us that time is in our control, as is life, it’s not. We are but fragile leaves falling from a tree and blowing in the wind. Floating by in what we assume is a lengthy journey, but in the grand scheme of things, nothing more than a short trip to the ground where we will inevitably shrivel back into the earth. How’s that for a grim outlook? That doesn’t mean our journey should solely be focused on the ground beneath us. Rather, all the beauty that surrounds us on our trip down into inevitability. After all, there are only two things we all share in common with no subtle differences. We are all born, and we all die. What we do in between is what makes us unique. So that is where I choose to find my identity, and feed it what it needs. Whether that means more of the same, or something completely off the beaten path, whatever we choose will never be the wrong answer. Even in failure we feed our future with experiences that teach and nurture our collective approach to life.
So what is the point of this article? Why am I, a small town musician with a handful of fans, writing a blog about all this existential bullshit? Well, I do it for the same reason I create music. It brings peace to my soul knowing that I can pour myself into something as simple as words, and hope that they will live well beyond my years. Perhaps some day my son, or another family member, or even a complete stranger will stumble on these words, and find the same peace that they brought me. Maybe not? They might just find their way into nothingness with no connections made along the way, but the release of these thoughts does give me peace. It’s why I make music, why anyone makes music, or any type of art. Whether it’s a piece of furniture or a piece of advanced medical technology used to save lives. It all stems from a place of peace. The funny part is all the torture we creatives put ourselves through to achieve that peace. Second guessing, constantly correcting, overthinking, doubting. It’s all part of the process. We achieve peace through pain. So, back to my question earlier about the creative landscape being oversaturated. Is that a bad thing? Considering how I believe it all stems from a place of peace, with such passionate intentions that release these ideas into the world. That can only be a good thing in my mind. Hence why I don’t stress after so many people ask me if it’s a bad thing that so many metal musicians are doing what I do and over saturating the market. Absolutely not. The more creativity this world sees, the more it will flourish.
