Creating is not only an act of faith, creating begets courage.
A lot of people talk about creativity. A lot of people talk about a lot of things. But the act of creating inspires a visceral sense of courage, a sense of ownership, and a generosity that goes way beyond what can be shared from mere curation.
Curators are great. We wouldn’t have museums without them. And many people have taken on the role of acting as curators of information on the web. But don’t confuse curation with creativity.
Curators are not brave. They are not infused with the sense of authority that comes from intimacy with the creative process. They are missing something critical: experience.
Curators can put on a nice show, however, and bring ideas and people together. Curators are often well-connected. Curators sometimes create contexts where more exciting things can happen. But perhaps curators need to explore the creative process they carefully curate.
For me, creativity is where it’s at. Creativity is where the truth of each person’s value is discovered and shared. And that’s not a curation process, it’s a self-expression process followed by a sharing process following by a wider recognition of a person’s essence.
If I can’t see your essence, then maybe you are curating, not creating. Which is fine, but let’s not confuse the two.
Curation is a compiling, gathering, organizing, streamlining, and making tidy vast amounts of information process—and although this can certainly be a part of the creative process, anyone, who has the organizational inclination can do it.
Curators rehash. Creatives say things that are fresh and brave and true.
Curation is one thing. Creativity is another. Let’s keep them straight.
