What’s What: Genius, Beauty, Recollection, Imagination, Art & Gratitude

Definitions and theories are like eyeglasses that can be put on and taken off to clarify the world in different ways. Since the following posts will address creativity and the creative process—which has so much to do with faith in ourselves, points of view and synergy—it’s especially helpful to be attentive to what contributes to the perception of something so personal, universal and “on the move.” Whether we are conscious or unconscious of them, principles shape the depth and contours of what matters to us in ever-surprising ways.

So, I’d like every once in awhile to concentrate on definitions and principles, especially in relation to one another. These are meant to be tentative definitions that expand my understanding as I move forward so that they get subtler and subtler along with the reiteration of their investigation and becoming. Throughout these posts I'll explore how the definitions arose, seek examples and describe consequences.

I’ll also try various formats. Below is a strange one meant in its tone and style to play with the importance of courage and confidence to creativity. By pretending to be very sure of myself I believe I arrived at some extra truths, even though some of it is inspired by assertions I wouldn’t proclaim with the same confidence on reexamination.

I actually don’t mention “creativity” explicitly since this go around I want to carve it out like a sculptor does to stone. I take “genius” as a starting point and end on “gratitude” to create a cycle of thought that can’t end.

• Genius is the rippling of passion and attention.
•  Genius is revealed through the constructive interference of passion and attention through the experience of recollection.
• Recollection is like water vapor refracting and revealing a spectrum of genius (passion and attention) made visible and vivid by the constructive interference.
• Whatever calls us to this experience is beautiful.
• Beauty is the call of genius.
• Our response is the response of genius.
• a response is different to the extent that recollection is different, like a sound through a medium.
•  Art is always such a response: the constructive interference of genius through recollection engenders a call through imagination.
•  Since every recollection is an imaginative act and we are the story we tell ourselves recollection makes us all artists to ourselves. Imagination makes us artists to others.
• We experience art as the call of imaginative genius.
• The imagination's potency is enhanced by gratitude for genius.
• Anyone who responds to the call will say that it is beautiful.
• Anyone who is compelled to produce a call is an artist.
• The best art compels more art and reveals artists.
• Passion and attention emerge from gratitude.
• Thus genius emerges from gratitude.