The Creative Dad

My father told stories to us as children. Many, many stories. He would make many up to appeal to our immaturity but, most had some moralistic component that provided some lesson or imparted some greater wisdom learned than that of the words alone. This is a skill that was driven by many factors but, it is a skill. The most likely reason for his creative ability was the driver of all innovation, necessity.

When he grew up in occupied, Malacca (you can read some of the stories being written by my brother @galenkp), he faced many challenges, as did many of the people of the time. Life was disrupted and for many, the source of escape was their ability to create. This has been lost as for the most part, creative pursuits have been replaced by consumption of engineered content.

Necessity is an amazing driver of behaviour and our innate survival instincts are very strong but, even they are hackable through the attention pull of entertainment. Instead of facing our problems and working toward a solution, many turn to a screen to avoid the confrontation. But, are they really in need?

For many these days, there is a safety net that holds us from the rocks of the bottom and even as it begins to sag under the weight of the supported, many do not want to act until they feel the coldness of stone touch their skin. Why wait, why avoid, why not act earlier? In my opinion, escapism runs deep in our cultural behaviours and if there is a hole in which to hide and close our eyes, we will take it until dug out and consumed.

But, there is often one factor that rips us from the self-indulgence of avoidance, responsibility. Namely, responsibility of our children. My father worked his entire life from small child until this day at 82. He has never stopped, never rested, never said that is enough. He has taken responsibility and although we grew up in financial hardship, we never went without food. For him, this was a victory and compared to his own childhood, a luxury.

I hear people talk about what they would do to protect their family from harm, what they would do if their children were threatened. Most will steal, con and kill if the situation required it. But, many seem unwilling to work for their children, unwilling to work for the communities they will inhabit, unwilling to work to improve the environment in which they will exist. I think it is a timing problem, the future seems far away.

To increase chances of success, the solutions to solve the problems of tomorrow must be in the pipeline now. But, it is necessity that is the driver and tomorrow's challenges do not impress on the mechanisms to act now, do not inspire the creativity immediacy of need delivers.

I feel that from the point I found out I would be a father, the requirement to act kicked in, necessity took hold of my mind and I looked for ways to increase our savings. From day one of her birth the drain started as complications arose, work was missed, replenishment of savings gone. By five months, we were living hand to mouth. We survived.

But, up until that point I had never really explored what was inside me, what creativity lay hidden even though I thought I had done my due dilligence. It was only until I was faced with not only my rock-bottom but that of my family that I was driven to find out the truth or admit failure.

Here I am, finding out and as uncomfortable as it was to begin, once running, the well was full and, there seems to be a lot left in the tank. It is no longer necessity for the moment, it is necessity for the future. A slow drive toward solutions for problems not yet described.

I know that there are some people who struggle for content, I know there are many who struggle for reward but, I don't think that they really need it yet, for if they did, necessity would drive them into action, it would force their mind to search for solutions, it would make them creative once again. They would avoid no more and work incessantly until survival was theirs.

My hope would be that once they found their creativity, once they were able to get out of whatever hole they find themselves in right now, they would never become complacent again, never let their creative skill slide. They would always look to discover the spring inside of them, the pool of innovation that refills and the more it is used, the faster it returns.

I want to protect my daughter and if I must, I will drop my life for hers in an instant but, I do not want her to avoid whatever issues she may face, I do not want to wrap her in cotton wool, protect her from psychological discomfort, limit her drive of creativity. It is a fine line, a line easily blurred, easily withdrawn until the boundaries of the comfort zone is small, the world large and threatening.

I do not know yet how but, I am exploring each day and willing enough to do the work so her future is maximised for growth, not ease. There are hardships we all face now and many more to come, to wait til later leaves her unprepared, I am not that parent, I am a creative father - many of the stories she will read are yet to be written but in these words, some already lay.

The needs have changed, the necessity remains.

Taraz
[ a Steemit original ]