On Creativity: SRK and Seth Godin!
Two personalities from two diverse nations; One is an Indian mega-star Shahrukh Khan (SRK) and the other is a relentless instigator (and my hero) Seth Godin. Both live a creative life and express themselves fully through their work. Both have a significant impact on large number of people. Recently, both expressed their views on creativity.
At his recent talk as Chubb Fellow at Yale University, SRK shared his view on creativity and said,
Creativity is your gift to the world. It was never meant to be barter for anything, not even appreciation. You have to believe, that you create only because this is the biggest gift you have to give to your world. Maybe that’s why we even say God is a creator. It’s not about the cars or houses…it never was… those are peripherals. They never come about because of your talent or your creative outpourings… they come out of a business that people around you do. Those people are in the business of barter — not you. Yours is the business of giving and learning. Your work of art may never be complete in your lifetime. Your fulfillment will always lie in your creative expression not in its products.
In his usual provocative style, Seth Godin urges us not to expect applause. He says,
But when you expect applause, when you do your work in order (and because of) applause, you have sold yourself short. That’s because your work is depending on something out of your control. You have given away part of your art. If your work is filled with the hope and longing for applause, it’s no longer your work–the dependence on approval has corrupted it, turned it into a process where you are striving for ever more approval.
These insights led me to think and following lessons emerged:
-
Don’t barter your originality and expression with external drivers, and rewards. When recognitions or rewards happen, cherish them. Treat them as by-products. But don’t let that get into your head, because once it does, logic rules. And when logic is a dominant force over emotion, creativity quickly eludes us.
-
The pre-requisite of being creative is to first be yourself. If we are not true to our authentic selves, if we are not aware about our inherent interests, it is hard to be creative.
-
Being true to your self means that you might need to break some rules, re-invent some and create a few. Non-conformance is good for creative diversity.
Also read: 5 Insights on Creativity from Osho
Interesting points Tanmay, never really thought about it that way. I think Seth’s right. If you’re not your own harshest critic and are looking for approval elsewhere it can mean you’re on the wrong track. If you’re attempting to please others it difficult to be genuinely creative as you are compromising your natural thought process.