When I was a teenager, I worked at a frozen yogurt store in a small town on Long Island. I was by myself one day at the counter, when in walked Billy Joel! He lived nearby when he was married to Christie Brinkley.
I grew up listening to his music, and my heart probably skipped a beat when he walked in. He asked what flavors we had, and we didn't happen to have his favorite flavor that particular day. So, after a polite and brief conversation, he turned and walked out the door.
Did I ask for his autograph, or tell him how much I enjoyed his music? No. Even celebrities deserve some element of normalcy.
It's a fond memory for me, though, and one I'll never forget. My only regret is that I didn't just tell him how much I enjoyed his music.
Billy Joel started playing the piano at the age of 4, and joined his first band when he was 14. Music was a passion for him from an early age. But it wasn't just his piano playing or his voice that stood out. He wrote his own lyrics music; and when you put it all together, it was as if he took something inside of himself and turned it inside out for us all to see. Something came from within him, something magical and mysterious. What was it?
Creative genius is what I would call it, and yet it's something that can never be quantified, defined, or even explained. Some things are not meant to be broken apart and dissected. Take nature, for example. The magic is in the mystery, isn't it? People who mess with it and try to make equations out of it aren't doing us any favors.
And so Billy is one of the lucky few to discover and share his inner genius with the world. There was no formula, but a passion that took on a life of its own, it seems.
Do we all have that inside of us? I'd like to think so. Certainly not in the same way or at the same level, but it's there. The trouble is, most of us don't ever seem to find it. Maybe our parents didn't nurture it, or maybe our life circumstances, or personalities, don't place it within our reach. The candle gets blown out before we even get started. Or, maybe we're just too busy trying to play the game of life.
I'm no expert in this area, but if you take a look at my blog posts, you'll see that I seek out authors, bloggers, products, companies, and even musicians who somehow make a mark on the world. Their work is unforgettable, and makes the world better somehow. Well, they make my world better anyway.
What's my point here? Well, doesn't creativity mean different things to different people? Some do not appreciate Billy Joel's music at all. If we all liked the same things, life would be pretty boring.
Maybe we shouldn't even attempt to define creativity. That would put the concept into a box, when the whole idea of creativity is to think outside the box, right?
And so I leave you with a Teacher Tube video of Billy Joel's We Didn't Start the Fire (the link doesn't work for some reason, so here's the url: http://www.teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=192601&title=we_didn_t_start_the_fire). When I watch and listen to it (even though it's not one of my favorites), it makes me realize that the creativity that lies within each of us is more powerful than any of us can ever imagine. If we are lucky enough to find it, it's like a fire that can be used either to keep us warm, or destroy us.
Creative people can produce all kinds of things. As children, we should be free to create almost anything we think of. But sometimes, just because we can create something unique, doesn't mean we should. For example, when money is the only motivator, our creations only add fuel to an out-of-control fire. It may warm the creators, but it burns the rest of us.
There's a quote that the company, Seventh Generation, puts on each of its product labels. It's from the Great Law of the Iroquois Confederacy:
"In our every deliberation, we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations."
And so as teenagers and adults, we must think before we create. We must ask all the right questions, and connect the dots. Just think about the difference we can make, not just in our own lives, but in the lives of those around us. Isn't that why we're all here?
Past. Present. Future. May the fire of creativity enlighten us all.
Please feel free to share your thoughts.
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