Little energy, big energy
Hand-writing embodies one of the most dangerous aspects of Western thinking. We’re so conditioned to writing that it feels ‘natural’. The tension shows more clearly when little kids shift from ‘drawing’ to learning how to write, says The Learning Connexion (TLC) managing director Jonathan Milne.
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By chance this drawing was made on top of a piece of deep-and-meaningful text. The drawing radiates energy and the text, in terms of appearance rather than content, is stiff and regimental. The text isn’t even made by a person – it was created by hitting keys on a keyboard which in turn connected with computer software and appeared as shapes on a screen.
We teach kids to see the letters as something ‘out there’. When a child writes the letter ‘A’ there is an illusion that the letter is separate from the child. This apparently trivial matter is at the heart of the sickness in our education and maybe central to a global malaise in politics and economics (to the extent that they are based on a belief in separateness). It represents a pivotal shift in perception. We condition our children to believe that the world is ‘other’.
The illusion is reinforced by everyday experience. If you fall over you hit the ground which is ‘out there’. The only problem with this perception is that it is wrong. Of course you may be hurt when you fall over but really the event is an interplay of connected energy. If you weren’t connected to the ground you couldn’t fall over and hit it.
There is a venerable tradition in Chinese calligraphy which draws attention to the connection. The writer’s energy (‘chi’ – or ‘ki’) is an inherent part of the writing. The reader should be able to ‘see’ the energy of the brush hitting the paper, and then the little flourish when it leaves. Instead of being a symbol the Chinese character is a complex combination of craft, art and meaning. The art dimension is partly the beauty of the writing and partly a kind of self portrait of the writer. The best calligraphy removes the separation between the writer and the written word. The writer IS the writing.
Toddlers do this naturally until adults ask them to explain what their pictures are ‘about’. Separation increases when children start writing – the holistic nature of early drawings is taken over by the ‘otherness’ of the alphabet. The shift of emphasis helps to disconnect them from a fundamental dimension of their creativity.
There isn’t anything intrinsically wrong with writing. It’s the disconnection illusion that causes difficulty. We learn to believe we are not creative when the real issue is that we have been taught to block our own energy.
The good news is that it is relatively easy to get un-blocked. There are endless ways to subdue the influence of our conditioning. In TLC’s beginners’ drawing classes we invite people to draw without looking at the paper, to draw using their ‘other’ hand’ and to draw so quickly that they can’t bring their sense of correctness into play. The more you practice these connecting processes the easier it is to return to the creative flow.
A great calligrapher integrates both sides of the mystery. The writing is clear and the energy flows. The result is much more complex and exciting than mere words on paper. Supreme discipline turns into that playful dance which we call ‘art’.
When we get past the illusion of separation everything changes, right through to the big ecological questions. It’s all ‘chi’, from the little energy of a child’s handwriting through to the energy of ecology. It may take some getting used to but we are not visitors to our planet – we ARE the planet.
Further information:
Jonathan Milne is Managing Director and founder of The Learning Connexion School of Art and Creativity and will be presenting some of his 'gently subversive' thoughts on creativity in a series of articles. Milne is equally interested in science and art and has always been captivated by the notion that life has meaning and heaven is within. He has led courses on art, business and creativity in businesses and universities.
In 2008 his book, 'GO! The Art of Change' , was published. He is presently working on 'Art, Meaning and Myth'. He says 'Creativity isn't a slogan - it's about real engagement with who we are. I love to see people getting a bigger sense of what they can be, both individually and collectively. It's like suddenly breaking out of a great spiderweb of entrenched expectations.'
