When someone--whether an artist, an engineer, or a chef--sets out to create something, his or her responsibility is to use nature to give it "life" while respecting that nature at every moment. During this process, the artisan becomes one with the object and flows with it. An ironworker would say that metal has a life of its own, just as someone making ceramics would say that the clay does. [...] not man versus nature, but rather a union of the two.
Ikigai, Hector Garcia, 2016
It talks about an artist or rather any sorts of creator, when he's fully invested in his creation, is what I would best describe that his ego has dissolved to his art or he breeds the essence of life to his creation. Sense of "lively" is just a mere language, interpreted by others that come to find their art of a "use" or sense a "liveliness" within their art that it has enabled them to feel.
His part of his life or rather, a chunk of his life is also "spent" creating arts that his emotions are poured into the creation of his art. From as simple as the motivation on creating the art to receiving happiness when he is in the process of creating his art. His ego is dissolved in his art.
I would like to elaborate more beautiful point on this phenomena as I wrote The Awe: Greatness from Relatively Rare Human State.
Recently I watched an orchestra where I was seated at the third level on the front row. I never saw an cello concert nor an organ symphony before. I never even went to a classical music concert hall as much as I love listening to classical music. Always figured the tickets are expensive but this time my friend convinced me to watch it and I tagged along.
It was one of the best time of my life. I couldn’t help but just to sit, listen, watch, mesmerized, and let tears drip from my face. Each of every person playing was extremely talented. Seeing them not only from the music but also imagining how much of their time has been spent practising to the point to the mastery that they have that I could watch them.
Being more and more talented at the instruments requires time and dedication towards the art. Now this guy is known from his skill playing the cello, his fucking art (as he is now a very famous cellist). The art and the artist are now inseparable. As much as how much time the artist spends his time towards his art. As much as Thom Yorke is inseparable from Radiohead.
It will take years, not months, not even fucking weeks to breed something of value that is of significance. And it couldn’t come out of boredom, rather out of awe. The awe is what drives them.
The state of awe or the state of immense love towards a certain thing that one really believes to the point that the artist becomes one with their art is absolutely one of the best feelings that I have ever experienced. [and it has only happened twice in my life, when I was building my startup and when I'm writing. The work that I put towards my creation gave me not only metaphorically but being known from my creation, helped me establish my identity.]
The self makes itself! As much as I make my arts, I make myself! I make myself to be something of value not only for myself but also for other people! It’s my meaning of life!
I’m in Awe!
If we were to follow the pleasure principle, as I were to quote Memory Reconsolidation, Cristina M. Alberini, 2013:
With the pleasure principle, Freud postulated that certain aspects of mental life are guided by pleasure-seeking behaviors originating from the unconscious. The principle of pleasure, which supposedly governs mental functions, was also viewed by Freud as a principle of non-displeasure.
Is essentially speaking that in a roundabout way, life is inevitably spent doing what one loves doing or finding pleasure with. In the other hand, the Drive Reduction Theory states that:
Drive Reduction Theory states that needs which are currently not satisfied constitute behavioural drives working towards their satisfaction (Hull, 1943).
Similarly, based on need-related changes in neural activation patterns, it has been argued that unfulfilled needs cause primordial emotions that dominate the stream of consciousness (Denton, McKinley, Farrell, & Egan, 2009). More generally, self-regulation researchers consider unfulfilled needs special forms of desire which—because need satisfaction has a very high reward value for the individual—are especially likely to hijack cognitive capacity, at a cost to other currently to-be-pursued goals (Hofmann & Van Dillen, 2012).
I believe that the drive reduction theory and pleasure principle theory are basically the two sides of the same coin. By avoiding unpleasant feelings, we chase and get pleasant feelings. The same way some people are "bothered" when they are not doing the things they would like doing that gives them a great sense of happiness. This could be a context of longing for a romantic partner or leaving the job that doesn't give a sense of fulfilment.
When Hofmann says "More generally, self-regulation researchers consider unfulfilled needs special forms of desire which—because need satisfaction has a very high reward value for the individual—are especially likely to hijack cognitive capacity, at a cost to other currently to-be-pursued goals." I agree with him as a mean that most of the time, we are driven by the unconscious that sort of get us into a habit that we have formed in the past that gives us a sense of pleasure, it hijacks our cognitive capacity for the sake of satisfaction/pleasure to be fulfilled, almost mechanical in nature. The unconscious is really much more stronger than the conscious.
We can only be aware of this when we pay attention to it. The same reason when we are asked about how we spent our time and regret about it is that we may think that it could be spent in much better ways but we know we didn't. Cognitive dissonance will give us reasons that "it was necessary."
This is where I propose, if we really pay attention to what we want out of our life, what really gives us a great sense of satisfaction out of imagining it happening, I think happiness is almost mechanical in nature, will follow. Activities and remedies that we enjoy doing that bring us closer to our desired self.
I would like to slice on how "happiness" or satisfaction is obtained externally and internally by Arthur Schopenhauer:
“The ordinary man places his life's happiness in things external to him, in property, rank, wife and children, friends, society, and the like, so that when he loses them or finds them disappointing, the foundation of his happiness is destroyed. In other words, his centre of gravity is not in himself; it is constantly changing its place, with every wish and whim.”
I must say, Schopenhauer was too bleak when he delivered that passage. What I somewhat would want to recalibrate is that the main compass should be within oneself, the main bearer of control. It is true that when one is not comfortable just by being with themselves, one has a tendency to seek happiness outwardly, a validation or some sorts. In which, just like a validation, it requires conditions to be met and may not always be met every time the self seeks for it. But, the only thing that will always be there is himself. His ego.
Till the self is in solitude, one can ask itself, "Why do I not commit suicide?"
Does one really justify one's life only because the other expected them to live?
Or does one can answer that one simply enjoys living and say strings of reasons why there's much more to enjoy in life and reasons to love living?
Where does The Self put its Ego?
Does The Self put its Ego towards other people or one puts its Ego towards things that are really on their control.
There's little difference on how "The Self" is perceived by the self and how the other interprets the self.
As Aristotle bravely said: "We are what we repeatedly do." Is the same as saying, you are what you make of yourself, reflected by what you do.
The "Beauty" of your Ego is what you make of it. It creates itself out of the very essence of what you do.
As through the books that we've read, the songs that we listened to, we interpret the identity of the creator based on the things that they have created. In where time was spent creating it and now the "Identity" of the person has blend to the very own things that they have created, it may not need to come because it was their meaning of life, because meaning comes through the very essence of doing, the act that was done simply out of joy that one was enjoying their time living;spending time doing the things that they enjoy doing.
Until the Ego loses sense of time when it's doing something they love, the ego commit suicide by blending itself through the artistry essence of creation and breeds the essence of "life" to one's activity.
Audio is created by 12 January 2024, 20.39