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The uncannily close parallel
between creativity and sex has been noted since ancient times –
and here Solomon draws a particular parallel between inspiration and intercourse.
Creative
Intercourse
Inspiration is the consequence of relaxed play with our creative love,
as depicted here by the girl and the king lying together in his chambers,
where the creative action has already begun. The message is that in order
to be inspired we have to achieve union, intimate contact, with our creative
mind, as typified by the king being in his hole
The phrase my nard gave forth its fragrance, is a metaphor for the arousal
the girl’s arousal, and Michael Goulder suggests that although nard
was an expensive aphrodisiac ointment, the term here signifies her personal
scent — what we now call pheromones, given off in arousal and intercourse.
He comments, "she goes forward flowing with passion". Likewise,
we have to be interested and responsive to the inspirational input of
our creative mind.
The henna flowers mentioned were strongly scented blossoms in the form
of long and somewhat tapering clusters similar in shape to the English
Buddleia. Goulder offers the translation that the lover is a spike of
henna, graphically describing his response to the girl’s stimulation,
adding that: "Her nard has sent forth its fragrance to good effect".
Our availability and interest arouses the creative mechanism of the unconscious
mind that is normally dormant and passive.
Nourish
the Creative Embryo
If the resultant embryonic creation is nurtured with constant attention,
it will grow and develop in amazing and unexpected ways, bit by bit, insight
by insight, just as a baby in the womb slowly assimilates available nutrients,
molecule by molecule from the mother’s bloodstream — all the
time directed by the "genetic" content imparted at the moment
of inspiration.
This is precisely how Beethoven worked on his compositions, walking the
countryside, gently humming and developing new inspirations, then rushing
home to play them out on the piano, before recording them on paper.
Lubricating
the Mind
In love making, a woman allows herself to relax and become receptive to
the advances of a man, leading to intercourse and possibly conception.
Just as the woman’s excitement prepares her body for penetration
and intercourse that would otherwise be painful or impossible, so our
creative excitement lubricates the mind for the entry of inspirations
we could not otherwise receive.
Unexpected
Issue
As with a baby, however, we can never be sure how our new creation will
turn out. Although some writers try to plan their books in precise detail,
some of the most successful, such as Charles Dickens and John Fowles,
find that their novels often begin with just a single image that pops
into their mind when lying relaxed in bed, perhaps, then magically grows
and develops in quite unexpected ways — with the visualized characters
often even taking the story off in unexpected and perhaps unwanted directions
by the spontaneous actions and the dialogue they generate.
Creation
versus Construction
Charles Dickens described mechanical attempts at forced un-inspired writing
as "construction", saying: "The whole difference between
construction and creation is exactly this: that a thing constructed can
only be loved after it is constructed; but a thing created is loved before
it exists".
The
Inspiration of a Musician
The great The following foibles of great creators may have something to
offer: "Shelly found that munching bread was helpful in composing,
just as Addison and Sheridan liked to have a bottle of wine handy, and
Schiller a flask of Old Rhenish — also rotten apples in his desk
. . . Dr Johnson needed a purring cat, and orange peel and tea within
reach. Jokai could not write unless he had violet ink . . . Thomas Hardy,
prior to beginning work, always removed his boots or slippers . . . some
require motor excitation; they work only when walking or else prepared
for work by physical exercise. And yet there are others, who, like Milton,
Descartes, Leibnitz, and Rossini, find the horizontal position more advantageous
. . . Immediate surroundings have a great deal to do with mental processes"
(T. Sharper Knowlson — Originality).
Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney likewise once described how he would sit strumming
his guitar, in the studio on a daily basis, letting his feelings lead
him, humming and muttering whatever gibberish comes to the tip of his
tongue, until somehow a striking phrase or pleasing fragment of melody
emerged. That initial embryonic creation was then repeated over and over,
allowing it to slowly grow and develop.
John
Lennon
In “Living on Borrowed Time”, John Lennon’s
personal assistant, Frederic Seaman describes how John demonstrated a
discipline and tenacity that was “nothing short of astounding”
-- sitting for hours at a stretch, trying to complete a song, strumming
his guitar in his bedroom, or sitting at the piano, playing the same chords
over and over, repeatedly singing the same snatches of lyrics until he
was able to “fill in the blanks”.
The
Inspiration of a Writer
According to Agatha Christie, there has to be “one delicious moment
when you have thought of something". The delicious moment for her
first novel, "Snow Upon the Desert", resulted from a chance
remark made by a friend one evening when they observed a mysterious woman
dining with two army officers. Her friend said: "She will have to
make up her mind between them sometime." That simple comment, Agatha
recalled, "was enough for my imagination. I was able to make up an
excellent story."
A newspaper interview described how J.K. Rowling found inspiration for
her “Harry Potter” books on a train journey. She said: “I
have never felt such a huge rush of excitement. I knew immediately this
was going to be such fun to write. I didn’t know then it was going
to be a book for children. I just knew that I had this boy, Harry. During
that journey I also discovered Ron, Nearly-Headless-Nick, Hagrid and Peeves”
. . . I was besieged by a mass of detail”.
The
Glow of Inspiration
Such precious moments and the need to capture and cultivate them were
well described as follows by Rosamund Harding, in her book “The
Anatomy of Inspiration”: "For long works, however, inspiration
usually gives only the skeleton and general hints as to how it is to be
filled in. The writing and rewriting of almost every bar of Beethoven’s
works will give an idea of the extreme labour involved . . . The mood
induces concentration, which focuses the mind on the conception and it
attracts ideas suitable to the expression of the conception . . . The
idea when it comes suddenly into the mind with the glow of inspiration
must be noted down before it fades or is lost."
Visions
Paul Brunton in "In Search of the Overself" speaks of "The
inspiration which presents a business man with a prophetic vision of what
he is to achieve”, an experience that leaves him with a lingering
influence of complete assurance that what has conceived, he will achieve.
In a newspaper interview Anita Roddick, founder of the Body Shop group,
makes a similar comment, saying: "I’ve never yet met an entrepreneur
who just wanted to make money. They have visions."
The
Mind of the Business Strategist
In "The Mind of the Strategist", consultant Kenichi Ohmae draws
a very significant parallel between a business project and a work of art,
pointing out that both are conceived or “fueled” by a thought
process which is “creative and intuitive rather than rational”
-- and although both originate in inspiration, both also “call for
technical mastery in working out”. It is this inspired or visionary
state of mind that provides the title of his outstanding book.
Inspirations
— a Dime a Dozen!
The fact that such inspirations can be either ignored or acted on, led
the great Jewish American psychologist, Abraham Maslow, to comment that
many people have woken up in the night with a flash of inspiration for
a novel or song or poem they would like to write, but most of them come
to nothing.
“Inspirations
are a dime a dozen” he adds -- but the crucial difference between
an inspiration and a wok of genius is a lot of hard work, discipline,
training, practice and the frequent revision of first drafts.
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