THE TWO SIDES OF CREATIVITY

What is the dark side of creativity? It is destructiveness. The back side of creating is destroying. The back side of constructing is de-constructing.

And if we all have the power to be creative both positively in creativity and negatively in destruction (Meta Reflection #21 and 22), then creating good and/or evil is inherent in our nature and our potentiality. We have the potentiality for creating good and destroying evil; and we also have the potentiality for creating evil and destroying good.

And from where do these powers arise? Yes they arise from our nature, our human nature—yet they do not arise because we are evil. They arise because we are free. We are free to choose our thoughts, our emotions, our speech, and our behaviors and, in fact, choose we must. We are free to think, feel, speak, and do and these responses as actions has consequences.

Yet choosing is not all that easy. We often choose what we think is a good, but it ends up being hurtful and destructive to us and others. Often this involves choosing a short-term value that we think will bring good and contribution, but then it has some unintended and unexpected long- term negative consequences. And this creates the moral and ethical dilemma that each of us face everyday. For in choosing our thoughts, ideas, beliefs, understandings we so choose our feelings which lead to our conversations and actions.

In choosing the choices we choose—there are many factors and variables that play into whether we are choosing to create goodness or evil.

What criteria are we using in making our choices? In making our choices are we considering just ourselves or others as well? In making our choices are we thinking just about the immediate moment or about future moments? In making our choices, are we thinking about the context and layers of contexts within which we operate? In making our choices, are we asking ecological questions to quality control our decisions? In making our choices, how well informed are we about the nature of things? Are you taking the views and opinions of others into account, especially those who may be better informed and intelligent about things outside our understandings?

How often do we do harm and “evil” to ourselves and others simply due to poor decision making skills? How often do we end up saying, “I just didn’t think about that!” What we thought about as we made decisions was too limited. If we didn’t think about others in our lives, our choices will probably be self-centered and even selfish. If we didn’t think about consequences and long- term effects, our choices could have done harm without us even realizing it. And did we even think about the criteria or values that we uses in making our choices?

So much human “evil” arises from ignorance and stupidity. And it is summarized in the statement that we have all made so many times, “I just didn’t realize.” If we had thought, if we had realized, we would not have made the choices we did. Of course, doesn’t this describe the process of learning from our mistakes? This also speaks about the maturing process of mind and emotion so that we make conscious decisions and choices rather than just reacting and over the years of our lives develop a conscious and intentional set of values that help us make up our mind about things.

The majority of the destructiveness and hurt that children to do, especially to each other, arises from ignorance, reactivity, insecurity, and stupidity. I speak from experience! The hurt, the ugliness, the nastiness, and the destructive that we create during childhood mostly arise because we were so ignorant about things. That’s why we needed guidance and direction. We needed wiser ones to help us know right from wrong, good from evil, and how to be okay enough within ourselves to think before we act.

The dark side of creativity is destructiveness and lack of thoroughly choosing which then leads to the de-construction of something good. In this, it is so much easier to destroy than to create. Creating takes more intelligence, consciousness, choice, effort, discipline, commitment, passion, etc. Destructiveness is easy. Bateson noted this in his meta-logue on meta-muddles. Muddling up something is so much easier and there’s so many more ways to muddle things than to find the proper and correct way to do something.

Here’s to your creativity! Here’s to your destructive creativity as you tear apart and de-construct things that undermine your resourcefulness, productivity, and happiness. Here’s to your positive creativity in building up and constructing wonderful frames of mind that bring out your best and unleash your highest potentials. May your creative powers be much more in your hands— much more at your disposal —and much more available when you need it!