There are many things that make me mad about the educational system, but one is the consistent view of art and creative programs as being seen as secondary to mathematics, science, or language, when in fact they require a similar level of creativity to truly understand them. We are taught to see the world as a collection of cold calculations and that our lives should embrace this mechanical and insignificant existence, but the machinations of the institutions that be fail to see the greater truth: humans need creativity to understand and be a part of this world.
Our teachers like to fill our heads with equations, dates, and names, but pay little heed to the emotional implications of this information. It is hard to see numbers as any thing other than abstract characters on a piece of paper, but the story of those numbers is so infinitely more rich than that. They do not teach us the lives of the men and women who dedicated their lives to provide us these insights, and help us realize the formulas are products of passion and hold as much beauty as any painting.
Take one of the most famous equations ever, E=MC2, in this five character combination lays the explanation of how matter, energy, and the speed of light govern our universe. For thousands of years, humanity gazed upon the stars and been awestruck by the complexities of the heavens and relegated its truths only to the gods, but now we can gaze upon the same stars and be awestruck by the governing elegance of the chaos. We need to teach the beauty of our knowledge, in addition to the application of it, because then people will see creative passion and logical pursuit as mutually exclusive; and at this crossroads is happiness.
There is a misconception that only an artist holds creative abilities, but that could be no further from the truth. An artist, as we have defined for the so many centuries, is someone who has a particular skill set from which they attempt to render reality and express the human condition. Often this means a formal education is required to learn the tools and methods of their medium including many years of dedication to master their craft, but this form of creativity is the least enriching those of different pursuits because they lack the ownership of these products.
I do not speak of ownership in the material sense, rather in the emotional investment and the joy involved with bringing something new into existence. It is very important to have this ownership of something that is personally crafted because it gives a sense of control in our life. Every day, we have dozens of things and people governing over our decisions with little concern for our input. It starts to eat away at our confidence, our self-respect and our happiness, thus bringing something new into the world forged from our own hands and minds enables us to regain that which is lost.
Being creative does not require paints or pictures; it just requires the spirit to create. Whatever your field of study/occupation is, find something that you can call your own, but most importantly do not let anyone tell you it is bad, a waste of time, or you are doing it wrong. You are not making art of art’s sake (for the lack of better terms). This is your passion, fear, worries, and goals you are pouring out, if it happens to be art then so be it. There are no creative and non-creative types of people we are simply human beings who need the same things. We all need love, connection and fulfillment; otherwise, we are husks that manage to survive another day.
In my search to find my own creative voice and analytical knowledge, I came to see one of the most profoundly beautiful things something that bridges the gap between the subjective and objective to reveal a great truth about humanity.
Our particles are made from the last fires of dying stars flung across the void of space for billions of years and for the briefest moment of our human existence, they can once again have the ability to create new things; thus explaining why we feel so fulfilled when being creative: our star light finding a new way to shine. Go forth and illuminate the world, children of the stars.
Grant Vargas
Senior Viewpoints Editor