You Are the Art
“Sunflower Dreams I” Aiken, SC, July 2026
Hello Friend,
Being asked to do a talk at the Aiken UU Church was a little bit of cosmic karma.
During my lunch hour a few weeks ago, I was at one of my favorite places to photograph, the Carolina Bay. As I was heading back to my car, I wanted to stop at the observation deck to see if I could get a better angle on some birds I was photographing. I was reluctant to go up at first, because I saw two young men who looked to be LDS (Mormon) missionaries, and I only had a few minutes before I needed to back at work. I decided to go up anyway. And, instead of photographing, I had a little conversation with the, yes, two Mormon missionaries. I did explain to them that I had lived in Utah and knew a fair amount about their religion and had no interest in it. In fact, I spent much of the time talking about being a Unitarian Universalist and what that was, because, like most people, they didn’t know about it.
For the next couple of days, I kept thinking about that interaction and the years my family spent as part of the Aiken UU Church. So, the universe decided to place a call to me in the form of Naomi Frost-Hewitt – one of the founding members of the church – to ask me to do a talk. And of course, when a universal force such as Naomi calls, one listens and one agrees.
Naomi was kind enough to say she has been enjoying my blog and thought some of the themes on creativity I have been writing about might make an interesting service. Over the past few years, I have been putting a lot of thought into the idea of creativity. And I am starting to see that my mission, goal, purpose – whatever – is to look past just photography, and even now writing, and try to understand and advocate for more creativity in our lives.
“Mississippi Kit in the Carolina Bay” Aiken, SC, June 2026
I know a lot people think they aren’t creative for countless reasons. I’ve heard many people say “I’m not creative. I can barely draw a stick figure.” Though, what if I was to ask you to draw your favorite thing in the world. What would that be? Would you be willing to do it? What if I was to ask you to tell me a story about a recent day you had with your best friend? What if I was to ask if you wanted to sing their favorite song? And what if I was to say, this was the end of my blog, nothing more to see her, and you can all go out and play now, what would you do? Did you maybe, start to think about possibly of doing any one of these?
Now, think about if I was in a kindergarten or first-grade class and asked those same questions? Or better yet, think about when you were that age, what would your reaction have been then? And if I was to tell a group of first-graders to go out and play, how long would it take to empty the room? (I did grow up in a different time, so reaction times to this one may vary… But I hope you see my point.)
This is where creativity starts for us. Though not long after, it gets pushed aside by school, society, media and the adults in our lives. How many times have we heard in movies or read in books “You need to stop having your head in the clouds and think about the real world.”? Or “You need to be more practical.” Have we had something like that said to us from the people around us? Have we said something similar to someone in our lives? As children we are told being creative is a good and healthy thing. Then there starts to be a time where we are told it’s not as good of a thing and it needs to be put aside, and we need to grow up and be a productive member of society. Though, as humans, we are creative by nature and it is a driving force in us.
“Another Mississippi Kit in the Carolina Bay” Aiken, SC, June 2026
There was a reason I chose different types of actions: drawing, storytelling and singing. Because most of us think of “making art” as the only form of creativity. Yes, drawing, painting, sculping, singing, writing are all forms of creativity, but they are not the only ones. I’d like you to think about art – and particularly fine art – as a very small little area, because the vast majority of people don’t participate in making it or even experiencing it. But, we are all part of a larger human world of being creative.
Much of my ideas about this broader look at creativity comes from the book “Creative Calling” by photographer and entrepreneur Chase Jarvis. He did a great job expanding my definition of creativity. He put it this way: “If you are putting things together in a new way that didn’t perversely exist, and by putting them together in a way that is new and useful, you are creating.” This can be how you approach doing your job, how you made your dinner last night, how you built your family, how every religion and spiritual practice came about, how every group and organization is put together and is held together are all creative acts.
So, a few very important things to consider here: All people are creative. It’s in our DNA as humans. Our level of creativity is what separates us from all other animals. Creativity is a muscle. The more we use it, the stronger and more varied it can get. Like so much in our lives, the more we do anything, the easter it becomes, and the better we get at it. It’s a skill you can learn to be better at, so creativity is more about it being a habit than it is about a specific talent you are or are not born with. Jarvis continues by making the point that the more we do even small creative acts on a daily bases, “with intention and a certain level of awareness”, the more we are able to use these same skills to create our overall lives.
“Oasis in the Desert” Poinsett State Park, SC, May 2026
This is one of the ideas where I hope I can help you expand your own ideas of creativity and what it means to live a more creative and intentional life. Because, as Jarvis said, it’s not just about the creative acts themselves, both bigger and smaller, it’s also about the intention and awareness you bring to your everyday life. You might not have realized this, but you all have created your own lives with all the acts you have done every day – even if you haven’t had it in your head to think about it that way.
There is an often-used quote by Ansel Adams where he’s talking about photography, but his words ring true for any creative endeavor: “You don't make a photograph just with a camera. You bring to the act of photography all the pictures you have seen, the books you have read, the music you have heard, the people you have loved.” What he is saying is, no one thing is more important than another if it can all be part of the creative intention you have towards your life and your experiences. When asked about what were important influences in his life or any life, Adams said: “I don’t think influences are always very obvious. I think you never know what’s going to influence you.”
If anything in our lives can be an influence towards our creativity, what are some everyday activities that might be outlets for our creativity. In my life, the bigger and more obvious outlets are my photography and my blog writing. But maybe you all don’t have a hobby that you are into or started, yet. For my day job, I’m a pricing analyst for Hubbell Power Systems here in Aiken, and my job – like many others – doesn’t seem like it has a lot of potential to be creative. So, are there areas in my job or daily life where I try to be more creative? Yes.
Thank you and keep creating what you do.
Patrick Krohn
July 2026
“Summer at the Bay” Aiken, SC, June 2026
As I am writing my emails, are there certain words I can use that will get my point across more clearly. That’s a creative act. When one of the departments I work with asks me to give them some pricing advice. I decide what data I am pulling and how to analyze it and present it. Those are creative acts. When I am faced with a brand-new product, the information I use to help me finally land on price is a creative act. When my wife and I come up with a new dish to try for our weekly date night, that’s a creative act. Even having come up with the idea of a weekly date night is a creative act. And what makes these creative acts and not just random things that I did? Back to part of Jarvis’s definition: Since they are done with intention and a level of awareness, they are not just random or thoughtless actions.
I’ve recently been watching some YouTube videos of Brandon Sanderson in his creative writing class as well as on speaking tours for his books. Sanderson is one of the most prolific and popular science fiction and fantasy authors out there. In one video with another of my favorite authors Joe Abercrombie, Sanderson was asked about developing a creative practice. He was mostly talking to aspiring writers, though, his words can be about anyone who is trying to be more creative. Part of it is that you can’t just be sitting around thinking about being more creative, you need to be “doing the thing.” As in making the effort to be more creative – whatever that creativity might be for you. Then he also suggested this change in mindset – and also where the title of this talk came from.
He said: “You are the art: If you do want to do an artistic pursuit” (or I would say more broadly, anything creative), “think of yourself as the piece of art rather than the thing you are creating. The goal right now is to make you a better artist.” (I would interject, make you a better person). He continued, “You will never be able to fail if that is your goal. Everything you try, every experiment you make, every flat note you play, every word you throw away, every chapter you fail at, is actually succeeding, because it’s making you a better artist (person). Because you are the art, so do the things that will make you a better artist. Do the thing, but do the thing consciously in ways that will help you grow.”
“Saturday Night Fever Dream” Aiken, SC, July 2026
Two things I would like to reiterate here. First, “You will never be able to fail”. Creativity is not about success or failure; it’s about the act of creating. So, I hope you can remove one of the struggles people have with creativity: the worry they will fail at it because it won’t be right. Though, if you look at creativity in the light Sanderson shines on it, failure really isn’t an option, because there really is no failure, only experiences to have along the way. The second point to “do the thing consciously in ways that will help you grow” echoes what Javis said as well. Creativity is being more conscious of what you are doing – in whatever part of your life.
I hope these ideas help give you a better understanding that the key to any type of creativity is that it’s done with intention and awareness. And that your own creativity – whatever it may be – is not something anyone else needs to give you permission to do. Whatever you pursue – on a small scale or large – is up to you, and you alone. This is one of the main reasons I sign off my emails and these blog posts with “Keep creating what you do”. I’m not giving you permission, though I am trying to remind all of us to just keep at it. Your creativity doesn’t need to be something you have ever tried before. You don’t even need to be “good at it”. It doesn’t need to be only one thing. It just needs to be yours.
If we ourselves are the piece of art, and we want to be more intentional in our lives, our creativity helps inform our lives and shapes our experiences. And in the same way, our lives and our experiences help inform and shape our creativity.