by Gary Powell
Academics are accused in the creative arts of being too “left-brained”. On the street, this term defines people who are close-minded, uptight egg-heads who kill all our natural creative impulses. These creatively repressed individuals live within the confines of the confines of the confines of the out-of-touch and intellectually disconnected. Everyone who has been educated can certainly name professors who deserve this description. There is a disappointing consequence of this widely held viewpoint: When standing at the academic well, many young, creative people decide that no water is better than drinking bad water.
Our popular music industry icons are largely spawned from the “I’m too creative to be contained” school of thought. I use the terms “school” and “thought” here facetiously. They often recite the mantra of the intellectually afflicted follow your heart, then foolishly confuse their lack of artistic discipline with “magic”. If your “magic” is continuing to deliver the same old tricks, it might be time to reassess what you have not learned. (Of course, without education, a therapist or mentor, this is impossible).
All in all, as we intellectualize our passions, I really believe it makes our artistic expressions even more powerful and connected to the whole of being human. – Gary Powell
As a person in the creative arts, there are two concerts going on in our heads. One, our observing ego which wants to learn and understand ourselves, and the other, our very creative and extroverted performer who is well willing to just wing-it so as to bask in the glow of the applause meter as soon as possible. What can be confusing is that in this dual/duel concert, both our inner audience and inner performer switch roles freely and often even play at the same time. Learning which inner voice to listen to becomes the tool by which we sculpt ourselves in powerful ways. This is where the right-brain, left-brain integration begins and where the truly spectacular individual is born.
The more you integrate the inner diversity, that we all have, the more you operate with integrity in the outer world. – Anne Sophia Dutoit
If achieved, the integration of your right and left brain can help you in a number of ways.
1. It eliminates “writer’s block”.
2. It unconsciously deepens how your audience responds
to your work by providing the “math” for the same integration within them.
3. It will help put your ego in check and your watchful perspective on duty.
4. You will be much less likely to suffer the ubiquitous plagued heartache of the artists’ life.
5. You won’t miss deadlines.
6. You will attract a more fair-minded clientele.
7. Your friends will be so happy that there is something to talk about other than YOU!
However, science’s understanding of human brain function is not as primitive as what’s in the pop lexicon of the “right brain/left brain” model.
Am I off-topic and meandering? I don’t think so!
“What good fortune for those in power that people do not think.” – Adolf Hitler, as quoted by Joachim Fest.
Freedom of the mind comes with much responsibility, which is one component making the institutionalization of humanity surprisingly easy to accomplish. The “just do as I say” model of parenting should bear much responsibility. The consequences of authoritative parenting teaching us to blindly “follow” is eloquently investigated in Alice Miller’s book, Thou Shalt Not Be Aware. Unfortunately, this teaching model is rearticulated with a numbing lack of insight within some of our educational institutions. If this has happened to you, then you probably won’t know it. However, if the world looks a little black and white or you feel like you have all the answers or every driver on the freeway is in your way, then I suggest reading Alice Miller’s book while you still have a few friends.
Here’s hoping that we as artists use our fullest integrated capacity for focusing more on the size of our ideas than the size of our audience.
For further reading on this topic, please consider these links. I do not necessarily endorse them, but did find them useful in supporting my thought processes.
Change the World…Nurture a Child
by Alice Miller
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License
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Fabulous post and applicable to everyone, inside of music and out.
Perhaps there’s such a thing as being a creative intellectual, for the working of the brain, whether right or left, demands some work and attention and notice.