Giving What You Have
Giving blood is such a fascinating experience. I have given blood over the past 4 years and each time I walk away thinking about what I have just done. We cherish our blood, subconsciously doing our best to keep it safe behind taut skin. Yet here, I freely let some stranger remove this precious substance from me, in hopes that more strangers would benefit from my life substance. To think that there are people out there are carrying around my blood in them is a crazy thought. In fact I secretly hope everyone of them inherited part of my luster for life and hopefully a tad bit of ridiculousness.
I started thinking about how giving blood is a beautiful metaphor of creativity. To give blood is to give of ourselves, in orders that others may benefit. A transfer of life. My life - to their life.
Creativity is no different. Creativity is like blood; it regulates and fights for the health of our souls, like blood in the body. It ensures that every member of the body functions, just as creativity ensures every facet of our lives are in touch with our soul and heart.
We cannot live without creativity, just like we can not live without blood. It moves in us through invisible currents inevitably part of us.
Creative people do not create by mere external resources. We create out of ourselves, giving the world an internal piece of who we are when we choose to share our expression. Like giving blood, we freely give an intimately personal aspect of our human existence, our life, to strangers we have never met, in hopes that they will to be deposited with life.
Creativity is a transfer of life, to life. This is crucial for the health of a creative, because when you are hired by someone to create, you are not giving them a product. You are giving them a piece of who you are. You are donating blood. Yes there is a product at the end, but the only reason there is product, is because you gave of yourself. Understanding this is vital for preserving our identity as creatives. To be hired by someone does not mean they are paying you for what you can do. In reality the greatest gift you have to offer is not what you make, but who you are. That can never be paid for. No amount of money can buy experience. Experience is paid for in blood, by the very soles of your feet. Your story is yours, your perspective is yours, you are you and that defines the way in which you see and feel the world. That is your blood, blood you choose to give. Not because it is demanded, but out of free will.
No matter who or what you do, you must understand that the greatest gift you have to offer is who you are. That can never be bought. As you approach each opportunity to work, know that at the end of the day creativity is about donating the life you have to offer to those around you.
You may never meet those faces who carries your blood, but I take great heart in knowing that what I have created, has touched others, and they in turn find life through what I gave. I give not out of duty, but out of generosity that others may find life as I have found life.