Can You Learn Creativity?

Whenever a conversation about creativity comes up, words such as gifted, special, supernatural get thrown around. Creative people have always been looked at with an eye of envy and an invisible mystical halo placed on their heads. It’s as if their talent was handed to them straight from God.

The mystery behind highly creative people was partly uncovered by K. Anders Ericsson the Swedish Psychologist.

Photo by Alicia Christin Gerald on Unsplash

He spent decades studying expert performance in medicine, music, chess, and sports. The famous 10 000 hour rule which was coined by Malcom Gladwell originates from the painstaking research done by Ericsson who was able to lift the veil of Mastery with his Deliberate Practice Hypothesis. Which stated that high concentration practice beyond one's comfort zone is what brought out superior performance.

I will look closely at the life of John Coltrane one of the greatest Jazz pioneers, who revolutionised the sound of jazz. There is a lot of mystery which surrounds his life. However Coltrane’s life, like many other Masters in their craft follows a common theme towards the story of Mastery.

The Early Years

One of the clues to uncovering creative brilliance of masters is to go back to their early years. It is during this period whereby you will find all the answers to their brilliance. None of this stuff just fell from the sky, as most people are led to believe.

In the case of John Coltrane, “He started with the alto horn, moved to the clarinet, and finally settled on the alto saxophone. He played for his school band, and to those who heard him play back then he was a completely insignificant member of the group.

Then in 1943 his family moved to Philadelphia. One evening shortly after the move Coltrane happened to catch a performance of the great bebop saxophonist Charlie Parker, and he was instantly transfixed.”

This snapshot of a young Coltrane shows a completely different picture from the musical genius we know, anybody could have made the simple prediction that he wouldn’t amount to anything special in life.

But a serendipitous event happened which transformed his whole life. The live performance of Charlie Parker instilled a self-belief which transformed his very essence and led him onto the path of Mastery.

“Coltrane was not sure how he could reach such heights, but he knew that Parker was an intense student of all types of music and practiced the instrument harder than anyone.

This would fit in nicely with Coltrane’s own inclinations—always being somewhat of a loner, he loved nothing more than to study and expand his knowledge.

He started taking theory lessons at a local music school. And he began to practice night and day, with such assiduity that his reeds would become red from blood.

In the time in between practicing, he went to the public library and listened to classical music, hungry to absorb every conceivable harmonic possibility.”

Relentless Rigor

The long years of study, practicing technique and absorbing different styles of music was the foundation which turned Coltrane into a musical genius. The restless rigour in pursuing his vision of self expression until the music simply flowed out of him was a heroic act.

Mastery is one of the greatest sacrifices a human can make. The long years of dedication, struggle, pain while the world moves on without you. It goes against our natural inclinations of seeking comfort.

Nietzsche eloquently said, “Creation, that is the redemption from suffering and lives growing light.”

A true artist must create, no matter the circumstances, whether they are starving, sick or death is staring at them in the eyes. They are able to bring light to our civilisation when we are surrounded by darkness. Coltrane showed us a different way of looking at the world with his unique musical ability.

Drugs are not the answer to creativity

A common myth which I want to debunk is that drugs or hallucinogens are the secret to creative work. John Coltrane is the perfect example of how drugs can actually cause great damage to the creative process.

Coltrane who became addicted to heroine considers this period as his least productive and uncreative. Contrary to the mythology of the mad genius who comes up with a masterpiece after taking drugs, this is not entirely true.

However, I’m not completely ruling out the influence of psychedelics, what they simply provide is a heightened state of relaxation which enables a person to express what they already have in them. Usually thousands of hours of practice and studies had been already accumulated.

An example of this is when you forget a certain word during a conversation and try to remember it with no success. But while taking a shower or a walk the word suddenly pops up in your head.

This heightened state of relaxation is responsible for many scientific discoveries such as Newtons theory of Gravity inspired by the fall of an apple while he was lying under a tree. My point is that the brain is more than capable of facilitating these states whereby waves of creativity are able to enter without the use of drugs.

In Conclusion

Creativity is something which comes natural to human beings, if you watch kids play you can get a glimpse of this gift in its natural habitat.

However long years of a rigid school system and social duties within society squeeze out every drop of this precious superpower.

I believe that creativity is like a muscle if you spend enough time in an environment which is conducive to creative expression then this superpower will flourish.

The key is to start when you are young, the brains plasticity is like rich, fertile soil ready for seeds to be planted. All you need is time and practice, and that small seed will transform into an enormous Oak tree reaching the heights of heaven.

Can You Learn Creativity?

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