“An artist’s creative intelligence can truly express itself only when prompted by his intellect and when he is in a state of inspired rapture; it is then that he abundantly demonstrates his God-given powers and sublime ideas.” -Georgio Vasari
Every artist seeks those precious moments that have the power to transform simple activity and busyness into an exhilarating experience in which the heart, head, and hands are unified in action. This is flow, the holy grail of creativity. Flow gives us the ultimate artistic edge – time flies, focus intensifies, and distraction disappears.
To find and maintain it, we have to pit our deepening strengths against ever-greater challenges, taking intelligent risks that test our perceived boundaries and carry us into uncertain territory. If we don’t, if we forever indulge in our fear of failure, we will never experience the highest levels of our creativity.
Intelligent risk-taking is action that falls within the realm of our strength, but which may test our abilities beyond their proven limit. Most of our limitations are self-imposed; we generally don’t know how far we can go until we put our capacity on trial. Laura Wilkenson risked her broken foot to win the high-dive gold medal the 2000 Sydney Olympics. We often surprise ourselves with enormous achievements when we take the chance to step outside our comfort zone, engage our talents fully, and rise to a new challenge.
This not as daunting as it seems. When we’re working from our strengths, stretching them comes rather naturally. It’s when we stretch that we have a chance at excellence. It’s when we stretch that we experience the greatest growth and development in our creative talent.
Can limits be of any benefit? Absolutely. When the limit is one of finite resources. Constraints of time, money, material and space all drive creativity. The editor knows the value of a deadline. The child with but a single toy will demonstrate far more imaginative play with it than a child with a hundred others. The solo voice can be every bit as powerful as a full orchestration. A single quote can be more powerful than an entire epic novel.
Self-imposed limits of energy and effort, though, are the death knell of true artistry. Do not step away from the edge. Seek it out. Lean into discomfort.
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Matthew E. May is the author of IN PURSUIT OF ELEGANCE: Why the Best Ideas Have Something Missing. He is constantly searching for creative ideas and innovative solutions that are elegant a unique and elusive combination of unusual simplicity and surprising power.
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