Life is Making

J.R.R. Tolkien wrote a poem called Mythopoeia. That's pronounced myth-o-pee-a. In that poem he builds on the Nordic idea of the storyteller as "maker." He refers to poets and storytellers as "legend-makers," "little makers" who participate with their craft in the Divine Making of creation.

Looking at the world as it is, it's hard to think of humanity as participants in the act of divine creation. But yesterday I helped out with a creative writing workshop for kids, run by the Spells Writing Center in Philadelphia. As always, I was struck by the quiet, undeniable energy of children bent on creation. There's nothing quite like a child rapt by the vastness of possibility. That clear-eyed face, frowning with concentration, peering into imagination, oblivious for a time of the pen and paper, assures me that it's the kids, not the adults, who stand the best chance of saving the world.

We grown ups are great for making changes in how things work. We make a difference in that we choose which messes to clean up. We do this in the world and in our inner condition. That's important, but it's not what I mean. Kids with access to creative time and space, who have guidance and encouragement are changing the very fabric of human consciousness. They're not doing repair work, they're laying foundations that are healthy to begin with. An army of kids who create will fashion an army of adults who can really lead. They are, literally, creating a brand new world.

But kids don't think about that. They just create for the sake of creating. A kid will write a two page story complete with an illustration just because she wants to. That's the most powerful form of creation there is. The kind that needs no reason, has no purpose. A vision forms in the child's mind and he follows it. That energy is raw and enough of it will shake the ground. This is the missing ingredient in adult society: pure creativity for its own sake.

But we adults can do it, too, if we want to. We just have to work at it. We have to let go of the need to make money at it, or to be good at it. We have to become at ease with the sense of exposure that goes along with any act of creation. I'm certain it's just a simple lack of practice. You can get good at expressing yourself. You can become fearless in developing your talents. You can reap the benefits of daily acts of creation. But it takes practice.

It's important to look at society as the sum total of the personalities it comprises. If we keep encouraging kids -- all the way to adulthood -- to spend time creating, exploring ideas, discovering their talents and abilities, we will change the world. We will stop the wars. We'll figure out poverty and pollution, because we'll have raised a breed of decision makers who can see. At long last we'll have a generation of true human beings, a tribe of people who know who they are because all along the way they've been doing what it takes to find out.

Ever forward.

Posted via email from Ever Forward