The path to Tranquility (summer)
76. Creativity comes from the power of heart-to-heart connection
When we feel powerless and lonely in life, it is when we need creativity. We
have instinctive drives, but these are not creative in nature and only drive
us to survive and reproduce. Creativity is an innovative ability. When we
use our lives to create things that nature does not originally possess, it
is innovation. However, these are not imaginary things, but are created
based on the needs of others. This means that we feel each other need
new things, and these selfish needs connect us and fuel our creativity.
In fact, the ability to create new things cannot exist in isolation, it requires communication and interaction in order to emerge, grow and function. Even though we have the ability to think and act independently, our goals are still related to others. We hope that others will appreciate and use our work, and the minimum expectation is to gain approval from others. For example, in artistic creation, we may create it alone, but we imagine how others will feel about the work. If we lack this kind of imagination, we may not be able to complete a complete work. The driving force of creation emerges from this kind of emotional connection.
From the observation and feeling of emotional relationships, sometimes we feel lonely and stressed, and become tired of life. We also feel the need to go out for fun or adventure, otherwise the relationship will gradually regress. Perhaps at this time we still have creations, but those works tend to vent inner dissatisfaction, such as some artworks reflecting disappointment with the world or life. At other times, we are calm and energetic, full of hope for the future. At these times, we not only have artistic creation, but also invention and innovation, producing works that improve the quality of life. This means that in emotional relationships, if we can connect more closely with each other, we can not only create a simple beauty in the spiritual world, making us happy just by being together, but also stimulate our creativity in the material world.
A closer connection is the comprehensive integration and cooperation of emotion and reason. This connection is loving each other. The power generated from loving each other is the power of heart-to-heart connection, which can give us inspiration and creative impulses. When we feel heart-to-heart, we feel creative and feel the need to create a better life for each other. For example, the earliest typing machine was invented for a lover. Therefore, the power of heart-to-heart not only makes us live better, but also benefits other lives.
When we sympathize with others' feelings, we can establish an emotional connection with others. For example, when we see others in pain, we remember that we have experienced it ourselves and know that this is a difficult time. This gives us the opportunity to understand each other's needs, share each other's consciousness, and support each other. Through understanding others, we can also find common points between each other, such as the need for a healthy and happy life. Therefore, the power of heart-to-heart comes from sympathy and understanding, that is, from our true self-consciousness, not some unconscious habits. When we consciously focus on every little thing in life, we will get a joyful and peaceful state of mind, think about how to meet our own and others' needs, and create new things that can meet needs. With the power of heart-to-heart, we will create beautiful relationships and a more suitable living environment.
However, gaining the power of a heart-to-heart connection depends on a deep feeling and correct understanding of our emotional connection. Perceptually, emotional connection allows us to feel each other and truly know what others need. Rationally, emotional connection means consciously caring about each other and investing time and effort in each other's health. When we feel the beauty of emotional connection and understand its selfish goals and meaning, we will hope that the connection with each other can go further and transform an ordinary relationship into a heart-to-heart relationship. We also know that as long as our hearts are connected to each other, we can create richer wealth and a better life. This keeps us in a giving mentality. Only this kind of mentality can allow us to continue to give each other what they really need instead of asking for it, making each other more closely connected.
The traditional view of heart-to-heart is pessimistic. We look at the Confucian etiquette of "Men and women should not touch each other when giving or receiving", it means that men and women must keep a distance. It can be understood from this perspective that Confucianism believes that the physical and mental differences between men and women are greater, leading to different focuses on needs and feelings, and it is difficult to expect them to cooperate intimately. When they get too close, conflicts and dissatisfaction are inevitable. From the cases observed in modern times, the situation is basically consistent with the views of Confucianism. The truly mutual loving relationships in the world are disproportionate to the total population. Therefore, the views of Confucianism can inspire us to think further.
Originally, the differences between men and women were an opportunity for heart-to-heart, because they could give each other what they needed. But human emotions and instincts combined to create habits that go against the interests of life. We are accustomed to asking rather than giving, so we enslave others, or buy other people's productivity, or even their lives. However, life is interdependent, and we cannot tell how much we give and receive from each other in the end. Once we come together to ask and constantly care about gains and losses, we will lead to alienation rather than intimacy, and are impossible to achieve true heart-to-heart. Therefore, the relationship between people, not only can not enslave each other, even the exchange of interests can not connect closely. And the only thing that can generate the power of heart-to-heart is loving each other. We must break the habits that hinder our connection.
Being accustomed to asking is caused by pathological selfishness, so we must re-understand selfishness. Logically, the genes of life are selfish, so humans are also selfish. But selfishness is normal and necessary, and we cannot survive without it. However, precisely because of selfishness, the goal of life is to connect rather than separate, tend to cooperate rather than act in isolation, so that life is safe. Therefore, loving each other is consistent with the goal of life and gives us the greatest security. In other words, love is heart-to-heart, a healthy selfish act, but asking is not. From the act of loving each other, we satisfy our physical and mental needs and gain the greatest benefits and freedom in life. This includes extending life and reproducing offspring, and making us more fearless of death. It can be seen that the power of heart-to-heart comes from selfish genes and meets our needs. We need this power to create a stronger life.
Nature created selfish life and made us realize the benefits of the power of heart-to-heart, which means that loving each other is an advanced version of selfishness. so we should establish a mutual loving relationship with practical actions. We hope to become our true self, that is, we hope to exert the power of heart-to-heart and live out the value of life from love. When we are heart-to-heart, we can form a whole consciousness through the power given to us by nature, grow continuously and move towards eternity. Looking back at other species on the earth, due to lack of consciousness, they have not received the power of heart-to-heart given by nature.
From this, we know that the power of heart-to-heart is the most precious gift from nature. As long as we let go of desire for control, deeply understand the hearts of others, and actively meet the needs of others, we can have this gift and create miracles of love. We will also gain deep joy from loving relationships, because this kind of relationship is what our hearts have always hoped for. When we not only realize that we are being loved, but also realize that we love others, we will deeply feel that creativity comes from the power of heart-to-heart connection. Because we create the most intimate connection in life.
75. Love is the action that creates happiness
77. Living well in the present for the future