"Creative resilience is a willingness to stand in the ambiguity of “process” without knowing the end result" is one of the truest art statements I've ever heard. You are the Fire. Thank you!
Hi Sara, As a “new” American, I look at my neighbors and wonder about the “pursuit of happiness” and how the entire culture is geared towards feeling comfortable all the time. I think we can see how not being able to sit with uncomfortable makes American kids weak.
Ah, so interesting to get your take as a "new" American--thank you for sharing that. And yes, perhaps it says a lot about the political situation we find ourselves in right now...
It’s would be wonderful to see our entire educational system overhauled. It’s currently stifling for the kids, and outright soul sucking for the educators.
I enjoy the short tale of the Japanese students working on.
I love your point about the term "overachiever" and the mixed messages it sends about achievement and hard work. It seems we're caught in a paradox: we admire success but are suspicious of those who work hard to achieve it. It's time we redefine success to include the journey, the struggle, and the growth that comes from embracing the hard. By celebrating effort and resilience alongside achievement, we might just create a culture that values depth and meaning over shallow, fleeting victories.
In addition, when someone calls someone else an 'overachiever' I feel like they're admitting that they had a low estimation of what that person was capable of and yet, were proven wrong--and even after they are proven wrong, they have found a way to still feel right...that the "overachiever" somehow succeeded more than they were "supposed" to...
Thanks for this exceptionally insightful post -- especially the exploration of talent vs effort. Very telling re: today's society. I hope you are right about "creative resilience" -- much needed now.
Thank you Judy. The talent bs effort issue is a big one to me. And I think human creativity and imagination are our superpowers, so let’s make the most of them!
i really like how you have broken down this issue of what creativity is, how to support it, and how "hard" plays into it.
Teaching kids in a classroom in a school that is funded and managed by the state is really a set up itself. The child is expected to at least graduate high school or else their life will surely be a disaster -- primarily because they themselves will take on that failure and believe they can then never achieve anything meaningful at all.
It depends on what each person wants out of life though and i believe the best way to achieve it is to seek and align with one's soul's purpose. It will not give them an exact answer such as that they would be best suited to be an accountant, but once connected to their Higher Self it will lead them through every choice that comes up. It is wrong to believe that succeeding in school is always necessary in every choice for your future, but society has been engineered to make you believe that, and if you fall for it you're doomed if you don't get your high school diploma at least.
i have a friend who lived and raised her kids in an alternative community that started in the 60s but sent her kids to a local public school. One of them figured out what it was really about since he had the background of the community that supported a different type of social structure. He did just what was necessary in school to get through and then started working for others, but always with an eye to show them new and more effective ways to make their business work. The owners appreciated that and he started to be rewarded with higher wages and benefits. Then he set out to succeed in a global framework -- what is called a citizen of the world but not of any country in particular. He's made millions and is highly respected by those who also work this way.
He's always working on his businesses; he's driven but it is fulfilling to him. The main thing that lets him succeed is that he's not tied to money and if people can't pay him and he sees that they aren't scamming him, he will write off what they owe him and not keep it against them or fret about it himself. Even if he's robbed, he won't fret about it, but move on to another of his many ventures he has on the go. This enables him to be very dynamic even though he does sometimes lose a lot, but always seems to come out on top financially and be happy with the family and the houses in exotic places he has.
The other thing with the social experiment of giving students a problem that can't be solved -- the ones in the US certainly got to the root of the issue, by seeing that their current learning couldn't be used to solve it and weren't afraid to respond with this answer. However, if someone was really smart -- smart in the way of seeing from above everything going on, they would have figured out that this was some kind of test of something else which was not about whether they got the right answer. And the ones who got that, would be on their way to hack the system. But the system is not dumb to this either and if too many see through it, it will adapt -- just by the nature of what it is, and also deliberately by those sitting in it at the highest places.
But regards "hard" i would also like to comment. i've been very inspired by John Nash's story -- not the movie The Beautiful Mind (since it was propaganda) but the beautifully written book by Sylvia Nasar of the same name: https://www.amazon.com/Beautiful-Mind-Sylvia-Nasar/dp/1451628420/ John Nass was socially eccentric to the extreme, but his mathematical abilities were unequalled. He was institutionalised as mentally ill for decades, but then came out of his ghostly-existence to win the Nobel Prize in economics !
What i want to focus on is the idea of "hard". Something of mathematics (and many other pursuits too) is usually considered "hard" only when the effort that has been made to solve it so far, has not resulted in any progress -- so the question comes up "is it really even solvable and when do we throw in the towel, if it seems it is?" But take someone who is Bipolar -- who believes there is nothing they can't do (while in their "manic" phase) -- we see that as an inherent problem in their personality makeup and ascribe it to "mental illness". But what if it is actually an unacknowledged attribute of human potential. Nash worked on math problems sometimes for years, under this very conviction that he, and only he, could come up with the answer. And he did, so where is the problem or error in functioning -- in those who come to an early conclusion that it is unsolvable, or someone like Nash who believes in himself and his abilities so much, that that possibility never distracts him ? "Hard" then could be considered a personality fault of the general population. This is more proof about how the system has been engineered -- to regard some aspects of human potential as "mental illness".
It's certainly very complicated as you say. I do find it interesting about being bi-polar and perhaps actually tapping into a huge reserve of potential most of us don't know is there. I wonder that a lot about different types of mental illness, each in their own way perhaps being a window into something that most of us can't access. Thanks for your thoughts Petra.
Wonderful essay, Sarah. I also really like your comment about the backhanded compliment of calling someone an “overachiever.” We need to embrace hard work over natural talent.
Lovely, very well put together. Connecting with our work through doing all the things to put something together landed here. It’s not just sitting at a desk and typing out words. There’s so much more to it. Thank you for this, as you know I love your art.
"Creative resilience is a willingness to stand in the ambiguity of “process” without knowing the end result" is one of the truest art statements I've ever heard. You are the Fire. Thank you!
Thank you back Paula! <3
Hi Sara, As a “new” American, I look at my neighbors and wonder about the “pursuit of happiness” and how the entire culture is geared towards feeling comfortable all the time. I think we can see how not being able to sit with uncomfortable makes American kids weak.
Ah, so interesting to get your take as a "new" American--thank you for sharing that. And yes, perhaps it says a lot about the political situation we find ourselves in right now...
It’s would be wonderful to see our entire educational system overhauled. It’s currently stifling for the kids, and outright soul sucking for the educators.
I enjoy the short tale of the Japanese students working on.
Creative resilience is a marvelous thing.
I love your point about the term "overachiever" and the mixed messages it sends about achievement and hard work. It seems we're caught in a paradox: we admire success but are suspicious of those who work hard to achieve it. It's time we redefine success to include the journey, the struggle, and the growth that comes from embracing the hard. By celebrating effort and resilience alongside achievement, we might just create a culture that values depth and meaning over shallow, fleeting victories.
Amen amen amen!
In addition, when someone calls someone else an 'overachiever' I feel like they're admitting that they had a low estimation of what that person was capable of and yet, were proven wrong--and even after they are proven wrong, they have found a way to still feel right...that the "overachiever" somehow succeeded more than they were "supposed" to...
Thanks for this exceptionally insightful post -- especially the exploration of talent vs effort. Very telling re: today's society. I hope you are right about "creative resilience" -- much needed now.
Thank you Judy. The talent bs effort issue is a big one to me. And I think human creativity and imagination are our superpowers, so let’s make the most of them!
Love these words and "But I Am the Fire" art <3
Thank you Rena!
i really like how you have broken down this issue of what creativity is, how to support it, and how "hard" plays into it.
Teaching kids in a classroom in a school that is funded and managed by the state is really a set up itself. The child is expected to at least graduate high school or else their life will surely be a disaster -- primarily because they themselves will take on that failure and believe they can then never achieve anything meaningful at all.
It depends on what each person wants out of life though and i believe the best way to achieve it is to seek and align with one's soul's purpose. It will not give them an exact answer such as that they would be best suited to be an accountant, but once connected to their Higher Self it will lead them through every choice that comes up. It is wrong to believe that succeeding in school is always necessary in every choice for your future, but society has been engineered to make you believe that, and if you fall for it you're doomed if you don't get your high school diploma at least.
i have a friend who lived and raised her kids in an alternative community that started in the 60s but sent her kids to a local public school. One of them figured out what it was really about since he had the background of the community that supported a different type of social structure. He did just what was necessary in school to get through and then started working for others, but always with an eye to show them new and more effective ways to make their business work. The owners appreciated that and he started to be rewarded with higher wages and benefits. Then he set out to succeed in a global framework -- what is called a citizen of the world but not of any country in particular. He's made millions and is highly respected by those who also work this way.
He's always working on his businesses; he's driven but it is fulfilling to him. The main thing that lets him succeed is that he's not tied to money and if people can't pay him and he sees that they aren't scamming him, he will write off what they owe him and not keep it against them or fret about it himself. Even if he's robbed, he won't fret about it, but move on to another of his many ventures he has on the go. This enables him to be very dynamic even though he does sometimes lose a lot, but always seems to come out on top financially and be happy with the family and the houses in exotic places he has.
i'd say he hacked the system and made it work for him -- for his continued happiness, not his net worth, because there is so much propaganda and booby traps built into our financial/social system -- many are deliberate and engineered by the ones who started it, see: https://www.amazon.com/Light-Darkness-Warriors-Tale-Time-ebook/dp/B08B5JCVB5/ , others are just part of what the system is, and are there in plain sight for those who have eyes to see them. See for a soul-inspired work situation: https://www.amazon.com/Take-Your-Soul-Work-Transform/dp/1580622895/
The other thing with the social experiment of giving students a problem that can't be solved -- the ones in the US certainly got to the root of the issue, by seeing that their current learning couldn't be used to solve it and weren't afraid to respond with this answer. However, if someone was really smart -- smart in the way of seeing from above everything going on, they would have figured out that this was some kind of test of something else which was not about whether they got the right answer. And the ones who got that, would be on their way to hack the system. But the system is not dumb to this either and if too many see through it, it will adapt -- just by the nature of what it is, and also deliberately by those sitting in it at the highest places.
But regards "hard" i would also like to comment. i've been very inspired by John Nash's story -- not the movie The Beautiful Mind (since it was propaganda) but the beautifully written book by Sylvia Nasar of the same name: https://www.amazon.com/Beautiful-Mind-Sylvia-Nasar/dp/1451628420/ John Nass was socially eccentric to the extreme, but his mathematical abilities were unequalled. He was institutionalised as mentally ill for decades, but then came out of his ghostly-existence to win the Nobel Prize in economics !
What i want to focus on is the idea of "hard". Something of mathematics (and many other pursuits too) is usually considered "hard" only when the effort that has been made to solve it so far, has not resulted in any progress -- so the question comes up "is it really even solvable and when do we throw in the towel, if it seems it is?" But take someone who is Bipolar -- who believes there is nothing they can't do (while in their "manic" phase) -- we see that as an inherent problem in their personality makeup and ascribe it to "mental illness". But what if it is actually an unacknowledged attribute of human potential. Nash worked on math problems sometimes for years, under this very conviction that he, and only he, could come up with the answer. And he did, so where is the problem or error in functioning -- in those who come to an early conclusion that it is unsolvable, or someone like Nash who believes in himself and his abilities so much, that that possibility never distracts him ? "Hard" then could be considered a personality fault of the general population. This is more proof about how the system has been engineered -- to regard some aspects of human potential as "mental illness".
It's certainly very complicated as you say. I do find it interesting about being bi-polar and perhaps actually tapping into a huge reserve of potential most of us don't know is there. I wonder that a lot about different types of mental illness, each in their own way perhaps being a window into something that most of us can't access. Thanks for your thoughts Petra.
Wonderful essay, Sarah. I also really like your comment about the backhanded compliment of calling someone an “overachiever.” We need to embrace hard work over natural talent.
Lovely, very well put together. Connecting with our work through doing all the things to put something together landed here. It’s not just sitting at a desk and typing out words. There’s so much more to it. Thank you for this, as you know I love your art.
Thank you Prajna. I'm really glad it resonated! (And thanks about my art as well.) :)