A Longing to Create

The joke that has been circulating recently has been that the corona virus might inspire a future "Baby Boom", given that people stuck in their homes might find little to do except create children. This is humorous, but behind every good joke is a dead seriousness. I believe that a lot of what's going on globally relates to a collective movement to go home and literally "incubate" a fresh beginning or a social idea. But it might also reflect, at least for me anyway, the longing to create.
  Creating is not the same as "producing", and I think that a lot of human life emphasizes more production than creation. An example might be corporate life. As a worker in a corporation, I am expected to produce as much of a service as possible, to the members who are my customers. The customers, in this case, are musicians, and the service is about music royalties. Although there are certainly elements of creativity in the work that I do and how I do it, that creativity is driven by the greater needs of the organization. Some people might compare this kind of life to being a cog in a machine, although I would probably not put it in such as stark way as this. Nonetheless, being able to work from home, I can't help but think, where is the home base upon which I shape my values and purposes? Is it naive to think that coming home might also involve trying to find a space where I can be a creator based on who I am deep inside?
   I think the longing to create, at least in the context that I am describing, also might key into a notion that we can be recognized as people with creative powers in a community with others. Artists would probably most resonate with this idea, but I believe that creative effort also extends to doing crafts or displaying some aspect of one's abilities. I have even heard one of my friends teaching flower arrangements in her spare time, as well as organizing groups related to the art. While these activities don't promise lucrative "productivity", they offer these small spaces where humans express things that are dear to them and reflect their lived present.
    To step off the constant push to production is to enter a space where we might ask, "what next?" and be met with many possibilities, all of which are bewildering. Creating is a laborious process, however, and I wouldn't be under the illusion that an epidemic might spawn a host of new artists. But I am hopeful that new ideas might arise from being self-isolated and not so driven by the distractions and entertainments of modern life.