Love: The Only Truly Creative Thing We Can Do

Article by Dan Kent

I daydream often. Lately, in my fog of contemplation, I’ve pondered a question about creativity: Can a person truly be creative? I’ve concluded this: The only thing we truly create is how we view and treat one another. Everything else, at best, we simply discover.

Let me explain. Consider poetry. If you follow me on Instagram you know I enjoy writing haiku. Here’s one of my favorites:

writing can be hard,
especially transitions.
raccoons eat crickets.

I may be the first person to ever write this haiku. In fact, I highly doubt anyone else has ever written this haiku. Since no one else has ever written these words in this order, and with this classic structure, you might call what I’ve written “unique.” Maybe it is. But I don’t think it’s creative.

This exact combination of letters and words has always existed, floating in the ever-present realm of possibility, floating there within reach of anybody. Anyone could have discovered that haiku and written it. I was the lucky poet who actually did.

But how Dan Kent treats others, only I can bring that into existence. In at least that way, how I treat others sits before me as the purest act of creation available.

If there’s something to this line of thinking, might I propose a corollary interpretation of 1 Corinthians 13:2:

“If I paint with the genius of Van Gogh, and if I write symphonies with the brilliance of Mozart, and electrify the piano with the fingers of Chopin, but do not have love, then I am not creative at all.”

Your thoughts?