The Creative Genesis

When the blue print is done, it’s time for the groundbreaking, bulldozers and concrete, whining saws, banging hammers and nails. We have further solidified our progress from dealing with symbols to dealing with objects.

So up goes the frame of our house, the walls, the roof. And per our plan, on goes the paint, the landscaping with sod and trees. What we have is a house, but not a home.

So with further progress, now on our way back up, we again encounter the step of creativity. But at this level, ornamentation takes the form of furniture, draperies and paintings on the walls. Perhaps mom plants flowers. Sets out photos of grandparents. Kids bring in their toys. Dad hooks up the stereo and TV. Now we’ve got a home.  

So forth back up the curve. Next: organization and we’ve got schedules. Dad sets up the alarm and leaves for work at 7:00. Mom gets the kids up at 6:30 and fixes breakfast. Kids go to school and play soccer on Saturday morning. And what we have is a family doing all the things families do.

But what kind of family is it? What character do they have? Right wing? Left wing? Happy? Sad? Functional or dysfunctional? Is this a tragedy or triumph that takes place within the walls we built? What are the unifying themes or common denominators that belong to this particular family in this particular home? For they aren’t just “a family” they are “The Jones’s” or the “Van Pelts” or the “Abrams.” And as such, their lives are woven with a common thread.  

And depending on who they are, this family reaches out and affects their friends and neighbors and to a greater or lesser degree, they ultimately have an impact on life itself. They leave their mark. You may not know what mark  they leave, but everyone and everything leaves its mark and contributes to the greater body of existence.

And so we move up higher and higher rounding toward the top on our journey to go full circle. As we move through along the effect snowballs.

By affecting the lives of friends and family, neighbors and acquaintances, this process of creation that started with everything, moved into thought and on down, coalesced into symbols and objects and finally a house then a home, then a family, then a part of the history of the world itself.

Affecting the world around them, they in turn bring new ideas to certain people and change minds. How have families you’ve known changed the ideas you had? Perhaps the change was for the better. Perhaps the change was for the worse. The point is we are following out a cascade of creativity as it reaches ever further, in many ways touching the very ideas that make up the universe of thought in which we exist.  

And as ideas are changed, no matter in what minute amounts, nor with what subtlety, the creative flow we started so long ago, has its impact upon infinity.

Next: Creation Ends as it Begins, Chapter 10

© 2008 by Steve Hall. All Rights Reserved. This work may not be reproduced in whole or in part, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, or other without written permission from me, Steve Hall, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review. That does not mean I will not grant permission for reproduction, especially for student use; simply contact me first. I am easy to reach. Readers are invited to link to this page.