| In
the first lines of this section, Solomon seems to be describing the elation
that accompanies the climax of the sexual union that was the subject of
the previous section, as the lovers cry out with joy, a moment when each
sees the other’s beauty enhanced beyond normal. In the parallel
moment of creative inspiration, the mind likewise perceives a beauty that
is not the norm, an ephemeral glory that soon fades away -- leaving behind
an embryonic new creation that must then grow and be brought to birth.
Such moments were familiar to the poet Shelley, who said: "The mind
in creation is as a fading coal, which some invisible influence, like
an inconstant wind, awakes to transitory brightness; this power arises
from within".
The
Importance of Beautiful Surroundings
Here, Solomon has the lover telling the girl that the most ideal environment,
or bed, for this creative love making is one of natural beauty, of green
grass, shrubs and trees.
The physicist Hermann von Helmholtz said: “Happy ideas come unexpectedly
without effort . . . they come particularly well during the slow ascent
of wooded hills on a sunny day."
Beethoven contrasted the inspiration of nature and dis-inspiration of
mundane worries as follows: ‘Every tree said to me Holy! Holy! .
. . I feel uplifted when in happy moments I find myself raised to my artistic
atmosphere . . . You yourself know that man’s spirit, the active
creative spirit, must not be tied down to the wretched necessities of
life.’
The
artist Matisse commented: "When I look at a fig tree, every leaf
has a different design. They all have their own manner of moving in space;
yet in their own separate ways, they all cry ‘Fig tree’."
Worshipping
God
The timber of the cedar and pine trees mentioned in these verses was extensively
used for the beams, planks and paneling that lined Solomon’s opulent
Temple, so that a further inference here may be that by taking creative
action we actually worship God, thereby fulfilling the creative injunction
given to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 1:28) by using our
abilities to make the world a more interesting and exciting place to live.
Create
Your Own Garden of Eden
The main message, however, seems to be that our creativity can
be greatly enhanced by surrounding ourselves with beautiful things, be
they natural or man-made -- and I was interested to hear recently that
a journalist friend of mine finds that sitting working in historical church
buildings enhances his creativity.
The
Logosphere
The late creative consultant Edward Matchett found success in raising
designers and managers to a level of genius by immersing them in what
he called a “logosphere”, or sphere of knowledge, a rich sensory
audio-visual environment stocked with beautiful things, both man-made
and natural.
Focus
on Beauty
The great poet and artist William Blake, who apparently understood this
principle, made a habit of simply gazing at beautiful objects —
such as the grain in a piece of timber or the crystalline structure of
a stone.
Shakespeare’s
Genius
Perhaps Shakespeare reveals an insight into his own massive genius when,
in "As You Like It", he has a character saying: "I find
tongues in trees, books in running brooks, sermons in stones, and good
in everything."
Moments
of Truth
In "Creativity in Business", Michelle Ray and Rochelle Myers
describe how Minor White, who taught photography at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, would assign students to spend half an hour simply
gazing at one photograph. For the first ten to fifteen minutes, they were
instructed to try to hold their gaze steady without moving the eyes at
all, then turn away and try to visualize every detail. This simple exercise,
he found, could lead to magical insights, moments of Truth, ecstasy, and
visionary new understanding — if only people would take the time
to do it.
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