Web

The creative individual has the capacity to free himself from the web of social pressures in which the rest of us are caught.  He is capable of questioning the assumptions that the rest of us accept.

John W. Gardner

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I wonder how much of creativity is thinking differently and how much is expressing differently.  Can you be creative inside and never show it and be considered creative?  Or is it like a tree falling in the woods no one sees?  Except the thinking - the person who is thinking creatively "sees" it, right?  Does being creative require outward expression?  

I think probably not.  I think that there are lots of creative people who do not have a chance or take a chance or get the chance to express their creative selves.  Maybe all of us have something creative we don't express.  And each of us has our own reasons for not expressing that piece of our creative selves.

I think the "web of social pressures" is a good way of capturing this.  Webs are very strong, but can be almost invisible at times.  They connect and trap simultaneously.  And a web lends itself to something creepy or startling (if you've ever walked through the woods or a doorway in an old building and gotten your face in a web you know that is true).  There is a tension in webs.

There is also a beauty in webs.  Each spider creates his or her own web.  Each web is unique based on the circumstances under which and the location where it is built.  So, is it ironic that the creative spider may be creative while simultaneously being bound by his or her web?  Maybe.  And is Charlotte the most creative of all spiders because she could spell words in her web?  No.  Charlotte is made up.