Day 3: Everything in the World is Exactly the Same

Kanye West said that not too long ago. He was sitting down with comedian turned late night talk show host Seth Meyers. He was answering a question about his recent, albeit frustrating, foray into fashion and how it differed, if at all, to making music.

"Everything in the world is exactly the same."

Which on first listen sounds kind of ludicrous but made a certain amount of sense when it came to the subject of creative expression, which I supposed was what he was talking about. But then everything? Like everything Kanye? I wasn't all too sure about that one.

And then I started to think about it. Meditate upon it. For some reason I just couldn't let it go. Something about it just had the ring of truth to it. Kanye West may be a lot of things but a fool is not one of them. Days passed. And then I came across a book entitled "The Element" by Ken Robinson. One that I highly recommend. It's about finding your "Element" which according to Ken Robinson is "The place where the things that you love to do and the things that you are good at come together."

There is a chapter pretty early on in the book where Ken Robinson talks about how most people have a misconception of what creativity really is. How we tend to relegate it to a particular caste of individuals; the writers, singers, dancers, painters of this world. The artists. Something that he strongly contends is incorrect because it then makes creativity an exclusive attribute which he believes is just not the case. He defines creativity as "the process of having original ideas that have value." And so if you take that to heart then it makes just about everything that we often take for granted a product of creativity. From the Club Sandwich to the Eiffel Tower. From the toothpaste I use when I wake up in the morning to Kanye West's "College Dropout". It therefore makes everyone, regardless of their field of expertise, capable of creativity. In fact, Ken Robinson's supposition is that an essential part of attaining expertise is in fact the skill of exercising creativity.

In the interview with Seth Meyers Kanye West implies that there is really no difference between Philip Seymour Hoffman, Kanye West, Christopher Nolan, Miuccia Prada, Frank Gehry or a person's favorite high school teacher when they were growing up. Although all are wildly diverse individuals they all have one thing in common, they all do what they are meant to be doing. Ken Robinson would say that they all found their element.

Which means that the Big Mac, ceiling fan, Lord of the Rings, iPhone, wheelbarrow, Sgt. Pepper's, fried chicken, Grand Theft Auto, Ray Bans, pillow cases, chainsaws, surround sound and Batman all came from the same place.

"Everything in the world is exactly the same."

Make any sense?


And oh, just in case you're interested I've added the Kanye West interview below.