On Creativity

The impulse to create begins…in a tunnel of silence – Adrienne Rich

How one longs to escape from the cacophony created by the Noise Monster! A
noisy environment is the greatest deterrent to any kind of creative pursuit. Even
a song you love may become an irritant when you are involved in some creative
activity, the frustration largely stemming from the fact that you tend to get
distracted. Or think of dissonant voices talking over each other when you want
to listen to some music, and when listening itself becomes an artistic quest. By
and large, it is reasonable to say that unless you sit down calmly, without
distractions and interruptions, and give a free rein to your imagination, you
generally can’t give excellent expression to the artist in you. Pablo Neruda, in his
poem “Keeping Quiet” has beautifully and succinctly expressed this importance
of silence with regard to looking into your innermost being, connecting with
fellow beings both human and non-human, and producing inspired creations. He
says that the cherished period of silence would be
an exotic moment
without rush, without engines;
we would all be together
in a sudden strangeness.
However, he is quick to point out that the silence and sitting still he is talking
about should not be confused with inactivity or death. He laments that the too
busy lives we lead gives us no time to pause and try to understand ourselves.
We are scared of death and are in a constant state of “rush” because we fear
that we may not be able to finish our tasks in time. To Neruda, Nature is the
best teacher in this regard, teaching us how moments of inactivity may be the
richest in terms of nourishing the thought process and enabling the best artistic
output.
Perhaps the earth can teach us

As when everything seems dead
And later proves to be alive.
At the end of the poem, Neruda leaves the scene having sparked off the thought
process and passed his message. And, isn’t that what all good poems do? Or for
that matter, any creative output? It is something that can rouse curiosity in the
reader/beholder and initiate some constructive thought process, be it about
something beyond human experience or something very much within the human
realm distinguished by the innate scent of the earth we inhabit.
Let me conclude these thoughts with a few inspiring lines by Wendell Berry:
Accept what comes from silence
Make the best you can of it
Of the little words that come
Out of the silence, like prayers
Prayed back to the one who prays,
Make a poem that does not disturb
The silence from which it came.

(Jayasree Ramakrishnan Nair works as Senior Editor at Oregon Technologies, Thiruvananthapuram. Her areas of specialization are Shakespeare studies and Translation studies. Translated four plays of Shakespeare into Malayalam, which are included in SHAKESPEARE SAMPOORNA KRITHIKAL - 4 VOLUMES published by D.C. Books, Kottayam, Kerala. The short stories she translated were published in Samakalika Bharathiya Cherukathakal - Malayalam translation of Contemporary Indian Short Stories Vols. 1 & 2 (New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi, 1995).  She worked as Senior Associate Editor, Samyukta - A Journal of Women's Studies from 2001 -- 2010.  Edited two volumes of poetry, Whisperings in the Wind (published by Kritya, Trivandrum), and ദൂരെയാണെന്നാല്‍ ഒപ്പം (Intimate Distance), published by Kerala Sahitya Akademi, Thrissur.)