295. Creative Difficulties

When we’re given the option of doing something difficult, we usually don’t take it. Unless there is the possibility of a valuable reward, we would rather do something else that is easy and pleasurable. We would prefer to leave the more challenging work for others, for those who we think are more able or talented than we are.

If we do this repeatedly, we might become entirely passive, doing as little as possible and living as mere consumers of the world, observing but never acting. Without challenging ourselves we cannot discover the enormous value of creativity. We will instead see creation as outside our wheelhouse, thus limiting the scope of our lives and cutting ourselves off from the possibility of joy.

Joy comes from creative action and what is most creative is also necessarily challenging. Genuine creativity is always difficult because it means doing what has never been done before. To engage with the world creatively is to willingly take on this formidable task. It means pushing yourself into new territory you have not yet explored and allowing yourself to play there.

Play doesn’t always result in anything of value being produced, which is often a source of anxiety. We worry that we’ll try something difficult only to discover that we’ve achieved nothing except wasting time. But it is precisely by letting go of our judgments about productivity that we allow ourselves to experience the world more fully, to see new possibilities, and to bring our most inspired ideas into creation.

These acts of seeing and creating are also acts of compassion. It is through the very realization of possibility that we meet our unrelenting need for purpose, meaning, and truth, and as such, creative action is always compassionate and always joyful. To allow ourselves access to this incredible joy, we must also allow ourselves to do what is most difficult. We must embrace the challenge as a sign we are on the path to the creation of new beauty and truth.