The Gift

Are you mulling over your creative powers and your contributions to the world? I recommend Lewis Hyde’s The Gift: Creativity and the Artist in the Modern World. Hyde wrote the book and intended it for “thinking humans,” but when prompted by his editor to articulate his targeted audience, Hyde settled for “poets” because the book’s topic came to him while he was struggling as a poet and translator, a sort of “scholar without institution.”

In The Gift, Hyde examined the role of creativity and its value throughout history and in different cultural settings. He saw works of art as gifts; in the modern world, they exist paradoxically in a gift economy and market economy. According to Hyde, “a gift is a thing we do not get by our own efforts. We cannot buy it; we cannot acquire it through an act of will. It is bestowed upon us. Thus, we rightly speak of talent as a gift.”

At the individual level, we must give our talents away to make space for new inspiration and creations. The forward motion of the gift is what I would call a karmic boomerang; our gifts must move, for that is how they will return to enrich us. If we don’t share our gifts, we experience not just a creative but a spiritual drought.

Equally important: when a gift passes from hand to hand, the act engenders a spiritual exchange between both the giver and the receiver. This notion resonates deeply with me.

My practice reflects my belief that each of us is blessed with unique gifts that we need to pass on. When we decide we are ready to uncover our gifts and share them with the world, we embark on what is bound to be an enriching experience for all involved. A rising tide lifts all boats.

I hope that you’ll find Hyde’s book thought provoking and inspiring!

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