Daily High Culture 12: Create from the Heart

Classical Rebellion

“If I create from the heart, nearly everything works; if from the head, almost nothing.” Marc Chagall Marc Chagall was one of the greatest artists of the 20th Century. What he has defined for us here is the concept of “feeling it” versus “thinking it.” Usually what we think is a good idea for a creative endeavor ends up falling apart or coming off as what my kids would call “a try-hard.” No one likes a “try-hard.” We like authenticity. Creations that come from the heart might not be lasting masterpieces but they are much more likely to be an authentic expression as opposed to an idea. Ideas are clever, creations of the heart tend to be true. When we create based on our feelings there is an element of truth that is often missing from a thought based project. What we think is true in the creative process often ends up being something less than true if not an outright fallacy. What we feel to be true is often more compelling and more accurate than what we think to be true. We might luck out every now and then and have a thought which lines up with our feelings but Chagall is telling us that, for him, it’s the other way around. I’ve often come across this phenomenon in my writing. When writing an article for publication I often have to cover a topic which I think is true but doesn’t feel true. At that point my writing becomes labored. Over the years I’ve learned to give up on that topic and search for another which feels true first and is then verified by my thoughts. Things that feel true do end up being false upon closer inspection. That can actually be a pretty common occurrence. However, creating based on our feelings is far more efficient than trying to think our way through a piece. Chagall isn’t saying that we never use our heads in the creative process. It’s rare to create from the heart from start to finish. I would say that the start and the finish do need to be from the heart. In between, we might need to use our heads to shape, develop, and connect the themes our heart is producing. One way to think about it is that a piece that comes from the head can often be impressive but it will almost never move our emotions. A piece that comes from the heart has the potential to both impress and move our emotions. When it comes to music and art, I would rather be moved than impressed every single time. The pIece of music for this quote is Vocalise by Sergei Rachmaninoff. This is not an impressive piece of music but it does come from the heart and it goes straight to the heart. The painting is The Fiddler by Marc Chagall. This is one of Chagall’s most famous pieces. He created a second version roughly 10 years after this one entitled Green Violinist. The Fiddler dominates the village in this painting suggesting that music was the heart of the community.