We have built up an entire mythos about creativity where a muse or divinity comes and sits on our shoulder and whispers in our ears and we are suddenly struck by creative inspiration. It’s no wonder that this idea is so prevalent. It’s been embedded in our common consciousness since at least the ancient Greeks who believed that a number of goddesses, the Muses, were directly responsible for providing inspiration for the arts and sciences, and they even built temples to some of them. So, this idea goes back a long time,.
Even today, you often hear modern day creatives talk of divine inspiration and even some even specifically use the word muse. They paint a picture that creativity is ethereal and mystical. In her book Big Magic, author Elizabeth Gilbert describes it this way, “… the truth is, I believe that creativity is a force of enchantment—not entirely human in its origins.” On a recent podcast episode of Design Matters, host Debbie Millman interviewed legendary music producer Rick Rubin, and he had this to say about creativity, “…the ideas come through the artist, not from the artist. The artist may make connections between things, but the grand vision doesn’t come from us.”
I’m not saying this way of thinking about creativity is wrong or incorrect, but rather problematic. It is often embraced by folks who don’t believe that they are creative at all, and they simply shrug off their lack of creativity and believe that divinity and the muses simply don’t speak to them. They don’t see the practical side of creativity, and how showing up everyday and doing the work allows us to tap into our creativity. Even Rubin goes on to talk about how the artist needs to show up consistently later in the Millman interview.