Divine inspiration

Lent 2020 - Day 31

True talent, talent that belongs to the ages, is rare. The precious gift to uplift, to communicate the deepest insights in whatever form - music, visual arts, drama, poetry - storytelling across the media - has been held in highest esteem across all cultures. Since the dawn of mankind, the gifted artist has had a special place in society.

I would posit that the greatest of those have been touched by something divine - a restless sixth sense of the Unrealised - of that destination to which we're heading. An essential element of a great work of art is that is has to speak to the truth of the human condition, to reach into the consciousness of the reader /listener/ viewer who says - "yes, this is how it is". It could be a new realisation, it could be an eternal truth retold in such a way that adds new insights, building on what we've hitherto understood - a flash of light through a facet of the diamond.

The ancients believed that lightning was a crack in the sky through which the glorious light of Heaven could be fleetingly seen. It is this light (in a metaphorical sense) that manifests itself in great art, in great music.

Like other divine powers, distributed across the entire population, talent is rare and weak. Mastery of the craft - musicianship or the technical side of painting is one thing. Quite another is to have one's own distinctive 'voice', having something profound to say and the wherewithal to do it originally. And to reach people's souls down the ages. It is that which separates the truly gifted from mere entertainers. The test of time is really the only test of art. Creating a great work of art is a like launching a satellite; it requires a great deal of energy to escape the clutches of gravity and enter earth's orbit; but once up there, it can stay in the firmaments for the ages.

Having willed myself to write daily throughout Lent (helped to some extent by the virus curfew), I can see the benefit of self-discipline in the creative process. It's about creating a body of work; not all of it resonates. Reading Shakespeare even, one can see a great many throw-away lines that bulk out the plays between those really memorable quotes. Most LPs will have duff tracks on them. Not every painting will be a masterpiece. But if the artist has the self-discipline and the focus to keep expanding a body of work, then the hit-rate will grow over time.

Even so, divine inspiration is called for. You don't know where it came from; 'automatic writing', consciously trying to channel, or just picking up snatches of melody that come to the mind while sleeping - and indeed, dream images. As you sleep, you may think you are lying still in a bed standing on a floor of a house or flat standing on a patch of land. But that building, that bed, is actually on a planet that's spinning (at the latitude of Warsaw or London) at 642 mph (1,033 km/h) while hurtling around the sun at a speed of 66,619 mph (107,230 km/h), and rushing through our galaxy at 515,000 mph (828,000 km/h). And as you travel in your bed at these improbable speeds, you sweep through oceans of invisible energy, particles, waves, fields... your consciousness swims through it, you are a part of an unfolding universe, on its way towards its destination.

Be open to it, open to the dreams that can form the basis of art, great or small, insights that drop into the mind unbidden. One must be receptive to that; be equipped with the means to record the significant thoughts (I'm never been without a notebook and pen since May 2010). Most of the content is work-related; one end of the notebook is to do with work, the other end (always the thinner, I must confess) is random jottings, ideas and thoughts captured after passing through my mind. Musicians and artists are rarely far from the means of getting that inspired melody or sketch idea onto paper (or electronic media). It's one thing having a phone, another to use it this way!

Talent is a genetic gift, made manifest through devoted hours of practice, the result of will. The divine spark cannot be negated. Most people have their favourite musicians, poets, novelists, film-makers, artists who have made their lives richer, bringing insights that have broadened horizons.

And as a final thought, it's worth remembering that great religious art reached its apogee in the Renaissance, which began in Italy as the Black Death abated in the middle of the 14th century. Will that happen again? 

This time last year:
SO?

This time two years ago:
A Brief History of Time reviewed

This time three years ago:
Eyes without a face

This time four years ago:
London blooms in yellow

This time five years ago:
London's Docklands: a case-study in urban regeneration

This time six years ago:
Scotland and its language 

This time seven years ago:
Death, our sister

This time nine years ago:
The iconic taste of Marmite

This time ten years ago:

My road bike, back in action

This time 11 years ago:

Spiritual highlight of Lent