If you know me a little, you know that I often repeat that "what matters is never intellectual."
Big decisions shouldn't be built on reasoning.
Logic is the same for everyone.
It can be biased, distorted, misapplied.
It doesn't account for the entirety of who you are, or the full picture of the situation.
It depends entirely on the variables you chose to consider as inputs, with no indication whatsoever of whether those choices were the right ones.
It doesn't lean enough on emotion or feeling — things that are often too hard to put into words, yet are, in the end, the only real judges of the outcome.
Just look at how two perfectly valid lines of reasoning can lead to two completely different decisions. Which one is right?
Answer: neither.
Because big decisions should never be built on intellect.
This isn't a universally accepted idea — to say the least — and I often find myself, in conversation, having to explain or defend it. With some success, I'll admit.
But there is no area where it is more true than in creativity.
Creativity is never intellectual.
Some parts of it do require you to switch your brain on. You have to execute, apply, work within a set of constraints.
There, yes: you think. You calculate. You adjust.
But the source itself is never, ever reasoning.
It's gathering.
You catch what comes. Without choosing. Without judging.
You play hot and cold with instinct.
You build a first prototype. Every variable checks out. Every constraint is met.
But the little inner voice says "no." Without explaining. Without justification.
So you erase and start over.
That's my definition of an artist: someone who listens to their inner voice in spite of reason.
We all have that inner voice. It's present and active in each of us.
The artist is the one who chooses to obey it.
Yes, it's something you can work on, but it isn't a talent.
It's a choice.