A writing teacher once told my class about receiving an essay that began, “Cows is just like people.” Although she saw it as a great example of subject-verb non-agreement, I had been raised with cattle and saw nothing unusual or bizarre in the statement. Grounded in a common-sense comparison, the sentence seemed marked with a recognizable truth.
Each morning, I walk on a path near our Highland cows, a place where I find a peace in their calm “quietude.” Recently, on a walk through our herd, I noticed the reactions of a Highland cow and was reminded of that statement I heard so many years ago, “Cows is just like people.”
The moment triggered random thoughts about the creative “zone.”
Believing that an important marker of our humanness is our drive to create, I couldn’t help considering if a cow creates and how it may give me a clue of why that space can be so widely misunderstood.
Artists yearn for the “creative zone” and search for it as a nirvana when in fact, it courses through their veins and hearts, pushing, pushing, pushing. And the larger society seems filled by those who may never have allowed themselves to taste or experience the drive and either devalue it or consider it a magical force that can’t be understood.
So here is what the cow showed me about the creative zone:
- The individual is filled with an ever-present curiosity. Just as the cow shows interest in the new two-legged creature walking through the herd, the creative mind studies the surrounding environment, whether physical or cultural, drawing connections and interpreting the perspective.
- It takes courage to stay in “the zone.” The first natural reaction may be to flee that which is not understandable. It could be either the human walking through the herd…or the new creative idea. However, the artists with whom I work all exhibit the courage to push on, even though the situation may carry what some might consider to be dangers.
- The outside world may consider the artist’s movements as aimless. Grazing cattle also may appear to be aimless. They move from plant to plant with no seemingly apparent pattern. However, bovine behavior specialists have proven that browsing is part of the natural order not just to feed the herd, but to preserve the grass. So, too, the artist in the creative zone may appear to be non-directed. Those actions, the casting about, the testing, all are necessary to feed the creative spirit.
- Success comes from following a direction. A cow seeking lush grass on the other side of the fence will follow an inner drive to find forage, pressuring the fence in the process, even bending and popping wires and posts. So, too, successful artists find a rhythm not only to making their art, but also to their efforts to build a successful business in the arts. Both actions take sustained effort and concentrated pressure…perhaps to bring down a whole fence!
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