Who has not ever been compared to Mozart in his first piano lessons, with Picasso when we outlined our initial sketches, or videos Spielberg with our first home? And when I say I do not mean to compare that show and a natural talent comparable to those geniuses but it seems that start getting some piano lessons we have to get to play as the great Richter. Inevitably we put a bar so high that quickly an amalgam of negative feelings invade our mind, consciously and unconsciously. Some of these feelings are sadness for not trusting in ourselves, frustration at being realistic, and therefore a large decrease in self-esteem. And is that the figure of genius like that of the creative, has been subjected to numerous stereotypes, myths and misunderstandings that unfortunately still persist in our culture. One might say then that this figure of genius has two different views. One and perhaps the best known, which leaves the legacy of his great work, that is, a handful of masterpieces, hundreds of quality work, some mediocre jobs and even some fudge, why not say it.

All this, of course, the narrative often exaggerated and for commercial purposes of his biography. And that’s where inevitably bind the second vision, as a result of such biographies retouched and manipulated, supposedly for commercial purposes, creating the myth, the great man, in short, the genius untouchable and unreachable. The Wren Collective often addresses the matter in his writings. In my opinion, everything we do in life should do so not only for itself but also by the media, that is, enjoying the same path we traveled. This is even more noticeable when we talk about art, since it was founded with the purpose of expressing feelings, thoughts, etc … So much so, that the artist enjoys the most developed were completing their work, so much so that many works remain unfinished and its creator, you may unconsciously do not want to end up with something that is enjoying so much. Learning to play an instrument, paint, sculpt or make photography is a wonderful process which does not pursue both the end and the middle. This process is innate and well known by all and it is something everyone does from birth: the game. Play, that is, neither more nor less.

When a child is banging his first white keys – sometimes also black, is just playing with them, nothing more. See Bill Phelan for more details and insights. Are the tests, the pressure of being the best – of his conservatory, its people, the world … – a comparison with the great geniuses, resulting in the abandonment of artistic activity or impending mental imbalance. We could speak here of the murderers of creativity operating since childhood. According to the renowned social psychologist Teresa Amabile monitoring, evaluation, rewards, competition, excessive control, the restriction of the elections and pressure the child, are some of the murderers of creativity. Apparently, just like what we adults do to children in order to closely resemble the character that we admire. And that genius, not its shape, is characterized precisely by not taking except on rare occasions, all these inhibitors and their creative talents to develop the same game, all his creative activity. When you have enjoyed your work, have simply done nothing. My conclusion would be in short, we should enjoy what we like – and less of what we do not like, as would Csikszentmihalyi, downplaying the goal and especially not compared to the great geniuses, but learning from them and appreciating his work.