Uberman

Want to live more creatively and create in ways which are truly connected to your passion?  Get in touch with what hinders you, and let that be what maximizes your art.  Beethoven was one of the many well known creative minds who battled with changes in sensory perception due to deafness.  However it was due to this deafness, and the challenges he faced when grappling with this change, that we was able to focus his energies on composition.  Were his hearing left intact it may very well be that none of his famous compositions would have been created for lack of focus, having the competing creative outlet of the piano to interfere with the sole purpose of composition in his creative life after his hearing faded.  One can only imagine how painful it was to face his loss of hearing.  In the Heiligenstadt Testament Beethoven communicated, “...what a humiliation for me when someone standing next to me heard a flute in the distance and I heard nothing, or someone heard a shepherd singing and again I heard nothing.  Such incidents drove me almost to despair; a little more of that and I would have ended my life—it was only my art that held me back.”

Notice Beethoven says “almost to despair” and that his art held him back from ending his own life.  Beethoven was able to experiment and create something new with his new circumstances.  His art gave him the continued motivation and life to actively create and alter his way of creating while maintaining hope that of this creation something new would flourish and become magnificent.  Free from intrusion, one may suggest that Beethoven’s mastery of composition was heightened to such a degree as to have his name become commonly spoken and understood even today, as one of the greatest musical masters of all time.  It is believed that Beethoven faced deafness at the tender age of 26 and that once he accepted the loss of his hearing and released attachment to it, moving in new ways and altering the forms and structures which encapsulated his former creative pursuits took over.  It is with this kind of flexibility that great art is made, despite hindrance. 

One of the most amazing things about this story is that Beethoven’s particular hindrance could have been anything.  It could have been his own fear, challenges with substance abuse, reckless behavior, some other illness, damaging relationships, or any number of other challenges which often interfere with the creative genius of the mind.  Having said this, if we were to all face the challenges interfering with our highest creative Self, and focus our energies in creating despite those challenges while becoming determined to master our craft even still more than previously committed to, would we not see an upsurge of even more creatively attuned individuals with a firm focus on their truest Self?  The solitude which Beethoven embraced whilst without the sense of sound was at first devastating to him, and rightly so of course, yet his passion and love, even fascination, with the language of music allowed him to push forward.  How wonderful is that?  Beyond words.  What a courageous character.  Hats off to you Beethoven. 

Image Here

Tagged: composers, love, challenges, beethoven, life, attachment, release, holly lewis, passion, creativity