Alan Watts And The Profound Importance Of Human Creativity
Alan Watts was an English philosopher, writer, and speaker, focusing on popularizing Japanese, Chinese and Indian traditions of Buddhist, Taoist, and Hindu philosophies for a Western audience. I stumbled upon his lectures years ago while killing time on YouTube and was blown away. I highly recommend any of his lectures. But one point he made in at least one has always stuck with me and just recently I realized why: it helps explain the profound importance of human creativity.
First, here are two quotes from Watts on a theme:
“You yourself are the eternal energy which appears as this universe. You didn’t come into this world. You came out of it, like a wave from the ocean.”
And this one:
“You’re not something that’s a result of the Big Bang. You’re not something that is a sort of puppet on the end of the process. You are still the process. You are the Big Bang, the original force of the universe.”
At first I was struck by the simple idea that we are not thrown into the world, we ARE the universe unfolding. That alone is mind blowing and gives us all a sense of purpose and intention. We’re not random acts of creation, in other words, we are creation itself.
But here’s where it gets interesting.
If human beings ARE the the process of creation, then our creations are the universe unfolding. In that sense, every idea we have—big or small—is the Big Bang process continuing to unfold.
Think about that.
There’s another quote along this line of thinking. I once heard paranormal researcher, John E.L. Tenney, say on a podcast:
“I look at our seemingly shared reality as kind of like a game. Like there's this galactic or cosmic or universal game that's being played. And the universe loves to play. And all it really wants anyone to do is play back.”
I remember writing that down because I loved the idea that it’s not about being right or perfect or anything like that. It’s just about playing the game (at all, in any way you see fit). Idle hands are the devil’s playground, right?
Putting this all together, I believe the universe does, in fact, want us to play. And to “play” is to do things, to think of things, to create things, to be god-like. In that way, Watts would say we are the original force of the universe in action.
So, next time you have a “eureka moment” know that in some small or large way you’re moving the universe forward and playing the game it wants you to play.
Every idea is the Big Bang at play.
Will Burns is the Founder & CEO of the revolutionary virtual-idea-generating company, Ideasicle X. He’s an advertising veteran from such agencies as Wieden & Kennedy, Goodby Silverstein, Arnold Worldwide, and Mullen. He was a Forbes Contributor for nine years writing about creativity in modern branding. Sign up for the Ideasicle Newsletter and never miss a post.