The ever-evolving self
Ben Tallon
Illustrator, artist, hand lettering specialist // Creativity coach and founder of 'The Creative Condition' // Author/writer/speaker //
An excerpt from my forthcoming The Creative Condition book. Any thoughts welcome!
Creativity is dependent on personality and the two evolve throughout our entire lifetime. Thankfully, if time spent observing my own creativity has taught me anything, it’s that the finished article is a myth, and creativity can flourish at any time, as long as it does so with sympathy for feelings and the person we are. It’s more of a dance, the motion of one informing the other, co-dependent in every way, often more beautiful for improvisation and allowing oneself to go with the flow.
Creativity changes with our personality, and it is made up of all the good, bad, and ugly bits of us at any given time. As an illustrator and writer, my technical ability improves on a more linear timeline because that is my craft. It began with a gift from nature – a basic drawing ability and an innate love of storytelling, but countless hours of practice developed it chronologically.
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But creativity is not bound to this timeline because where we are now will always be optimum. Some of the work I made 15 years ago, full of the uncertainty and self-doubt feeding my creativity, was technically inferior, but far more soulful and alive than something I did this morning. If I were to try and recapture all that raw energy today to replicate the work, it would collapse quickly because I have changed innumerable times since and my creativity too. I haven't lost it, but I am no longer informing the work with the person I am today. Does anyone truly love seeing their favourite band playing that track in their 70s the same way they did when they saw it played at the time? They might play the chords better, or find new, interesting ways to deliver a line of the song, but it can never capture the same intangibles, no matter how imperfect they might have been.
The Creative Condition is due spring 2024. You can listen to the podcast here.
Integrated Brand & Content Marketing Strategy, Brand Management & Execution. MBA (Leadership).
1 年This is great. Looking forward to the book.
Illustrator, artist, hand lettering specialist // Creativity coach and founder of 'The Creative Condition' // Author/writer/speaker //
1 年Here's an additional bit for a giggle: 'One summer in particular, we used a filthy, stained mattress that showed up on our local field, as a wrestling ring. A hygienic parental nightmare, but on it, we were without the pressures of the adult world, and benefitted from the time to be, to laugh and bask in each other’s enriching company. This is how we slowly learned about ourselves and it was so natural, so pure that we had no idea how important it was. To be cliched, this was our canvas. We told wild stories developed through silly personas. I was ‘Justin Case’ – a wrestler who took his identity from my tendency to be a tight bastard with what little money I had, and my worrying tendencies.'