Aimless Creativity vs Living a Creative Life
Thoughts on what it means to live a creative life
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Aimless Creativity
Lately, I've been wrestling with a familiar foe: creativity. Not the act itself — I'm still writing music, and don't seem to be slowing down. But something is still niggling at the back of my mind and it's this question that I keep returning to over and over again.
What is all of this for? What distant shore am I sailing towards? Another album launch? Working on a soundtrack for a video game? Sharing my musical insights here on Substack? Or perhaps putting a release out on cassette tape?
These thoughts were already swirling around in my brain when the YouTube algorithm miraculously served up this video on aimless creativity:
The video describes aimless creativity as creating without having a goal in mind. In the video Struthless extolls the virtues of taming the wild stallion that is aimless creativity by giving yourself a guide or structure to follow. Limitation, he argues, is the key to creativity.
Could this be the answer to my recent struggles I wondered. It seems that crafting without purpose can leave a void where fulfilment should reside.
Back when I was writing Soundscapes Radio and adhered to that rhythm of posting new music online every month, I had something to work towards and my goal was crystal clear. 30 minutes of new music every month. When I had spare time there was no second guessing what I should be doing. I should be working on new music.
But when I don't have anything tangible to work towards then I can feel myself slipping into a routine of creating with little purpose. So back to goal setting and structures then huh? But then again, something has always felt wrong about getting too deep into setting goals and creating to-do lists, having Trello boards and Notion templates. It always felt like all of it was just a productivity buzz-word. Just part of the Productivity Bros® lexicon. Found near the top of those Top 10 lists that will make you a better creator. Right underneath torturing yourself with cold showers and waking up at 4am.
Living a creative life without some big over-arching goal it is then, I guess. But what if that isn't so bad really? What if I could instead re-frame my thoughts so that I found more contentment in creating for the sake of living a creative life.
Living a Creative Life
At what point does "aimless creativity" start being called simply "living a creative life"? What is the difference? Is it just how we think about it?
Amidst the uncertainty of this question, I find solace in the simplicity of Takahiro's life. Takahiro san is a Japanese gardener-turned-artist who recently moved to the UK. His Instagram snapshots paint a picture of tranquil contentment. A life unfettered by the pursuit of fame or fortune, but enriched by the simple joy of creation. Whether he's creating ikebana, painting watercolour, finding beauty in London, or making traditional green tea.
And so, I wonder: Is a life spent in pursuit of creation, however aimless, truly wasted? To compose music, tend to gardens, renovate a narrowboat and share my thoughts here on Substack — could these humble acts not be the essence of a life well-lived?
Would it be a good enough answer to satisfy Mary Oliver's question that she so eloquently asks in her poem The Summer Day:
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
With your one wild and precious life?
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