Thoughts on Creativity, spurred by Rosanne Araneta (https://rosannearaneta.com/)
When I was a kid, we had a full set of art supplies at home. Perhaps because my mom was a Fine Arts graduate, or when I go to the toy store or the bookstore, I head towards the art supplies more than the other things around.
I remember drawing cityscapes, making clay dioramas of people getting married, making handmade greeting cards for every occasion possible. I remember all of these things—Idon’t remember when I stopped doing them.
Retracing my creative path
In one of our classes in Integral Human Development, we had the chance to explore our creative selves through a workshop conducted by the energetic Rosanne Araneta.
In the span of less than two hours, we were able to create over 60 things with a piece of paper, over 200 iterations of a circle, and over a dozen drawings of a 3D hand. In a group of a little over 20 people, we were able to create so many things out of mere imagination, inspiration or creative talent.
Steve Jobs said you “can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward.” This was what the activities felt like. There was undeniable energy of creativity within the class, a sense that I never felt from people I have for over two years of going through this program (and counting).
I am not certain of this, but I know that many have either lost the will to be creative or lost the creative process due to a lack of time and inspiration. One thing is for sure—we all needed to take that time away to understand and appreciate our creative dimensions.
Why we let go of creativity
Throughout the entire experience during the workshop and even days after having gone through it, I’ve been thinking about when I lost the will to express my creative side.
During my elementary schooling days, I thought that only those who can draw straight lines and clean drawings get the mark of an “artist,” but lo and behold, the most celebrated (and even the most expensive) art on the auction block were mostly abstract. Take Mark Rothko, whose painting №6 (Violet, Green, and Red) got the gavel dropping price of US$186 million. You can see a photo of this painting on this website: https://www.markrothko.org/no-6-violet-green-and-red/.
I can read what’s on your mind right now. It says, “I can do that.”
I joined the Spanish Club. I can only say, “Can I see it in red?” (Puedo ver ese rojo?) but building on my creativity was a missed chance. Once I finished my degree, I thought that that was the end of my creative pursuits.
I’m now just learning, in grad school of all places, while pursuing an MBA, that the creativity train has not left the station yet.
Passion for passion’s sake
I’m not a big fan of making a commitment, but I think that when you have a creative idea, and you’re more than halfway there, you should put it out to the rest of the world so that it can be consumed.
Halfway through a major career change, a couple of friends recommended that I should start a podcast about anything and everything that I have to say about life. They say that they want to see me (or rather, hear me) talk about what it is that I can share with the world.
Luckily, a very close friend agreed to be my co-host, and an award-winning producer agreed to edit it for us. If we’re going with anything on creativity, then let’s start with ourselves.
The podcast is called “How to be 30,” and it will be where podcasts come to live sometime in 2022. #Howtobe30
The author is an MBA student at the Ramon V. del Rosario College of Business, DLSU. He can be reached at ignatius_gan@dlsu.edu.ph.
The views expressed above are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the official position of DLSU, its faculty, and its administrators.