Prior to this little research of mine, I had wondered whatever happened to the universal concept of education. The approach previously adopted by generations of great thinkers, where they saw learning as a "universe"of ideas to be studied. Philosophy, art, mathematics, all these came to exist because the minds of these great thinkers came together to understand the why and the how of the basics of the human experience. Then, somewhere in the twentieth century, education came to be a more technical matter. It diminished the universal ideas to a couple of mandatory classes on our schedule, becoming an annoyance in the list of subject needed to complete before graduation.
The creative mind needs to go back to the roots: it needs to focus on the universal ideas that brought us to be in the first place. Truth, beauty, goodness, these are the most crucial of them all. To be able to transcend our daily life into grander things, one must direct one's own vision towards these basic concepts. To acknowledge the beauty of everything that surrounds us; to search for the truth on our own; to liberate the goodness within us: this is the kind of art that moves others and transforms lives.
The TIME magazine published an article a couple of years ago titled "The Hidden Secrets of the Creative Mind". In it, the authors explain that creative ideas do not come from one brilliant spark of sudden insight bur from " a chain reaction of many tiny sparks while executing an idea". We must fill our minds with different thoughts, different concepts. These would eventually turn into the new kind of thinking that could ultimately reveal something completely new and authentic. In it they also explained how writers lie J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis both engaged on heated intellectual battles with a group of non-traditional Christians professors called the Inklings. We all know how these discussions ended: they gave both the ground wrk in which they created these fantastic literary works filled with rich characters and a unique spiritual undertone.
So, regardless of your field of expertise or your own creative affair, you need to give sometime to yourself to explore what's out there. Read new authors, write on new subjects, photograph different angles, and design something completely different from your own style. Dare your mind to reach its full potential, and in the process let it absorb the newness of it all. You'll see how new ideas will eventually pop up and how you'll become a better artist in the end.
Resources:
Thinking with Somebody else's head Podcast
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