One Apple A Day #203
“Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That’s how the light gets in.”
— Leonard Cohen
A friend reminded me of this song by Leonard Cohen.
We were talking about the relationship between creativity and resistance, innovation and discomfort.
I like to think of creativity as a light.
A bright, warm light that is continuously shining upon us.
But because of the walls we build around us, we can’t see this light. We keep standing in the dark, staring at walls we can’t even see.
The bricks on these walls are made of fear, shame, guilt. But also of knowledge, beliefs and biases. Some we made ourselves and other we inherited from the systems we live in like schools and working places. We keep stacking bricks over bricks. We learn new things, make new assumptions, create a new structure, fit into a new system. Until we cut out all the light and we are left in the dark.
Luckily for us, nothing is perfect in this world. Everything has a crack, somewhere. Through that crack, we can let the light gets in. We can allow creativity to enlighten our lives. To do so, we must seek those cracks, and when we find them avoid the temptation to fix them and, instead, expand them.
Until we tear down the wall.
Resistance is our alliance.
The thickest the wall, the more we need to find a crack.
I used to be ashamed of my cracks.
I now realise that they are my opportunities to unleash my creativity and be free.