“Struggle” is not a word I naturally embrace. I recently posted this:

My housekeeping style can be summed up in 7 words:

“There appears to have been a struggle.”

Okay, I stole that from a dish towel in a gift shop somewhere. 

I like order around me, but housekeeping is, indeed, a struggle. The effort involved in making order happen seems like a waste of time. Why make the beds when we’re just going to get in them in a few hours? Why clean the floor we are constantly walking on? 

Cleaning the house is a process on a spectrum. If you are too far on one end, you can eat off the floor, but you are a neurotic mess or a zombie. Too far on the other end, and the mice are eating off the floor. But the more interesting question is, why do we need order?

“Studies” say that an ordered environment brings a sense of control, reducing stress and distraction, and makes you “feel more grounded in your own environment.” I like that word, “grounded.” Makes me think of being connected to Mother Earth —the source of life (at least on this planet) —a place where I have a sense of belonging, where I can relax. 

It seems like a contradiction, but an ordered environment somehow “allows” me to be creative. That process itself is often messy, be it paint (often as much on me as the canvas), strewn garden implements (it is a mystery why I always need the tool that I did not get out), or words running about on their own (as they appear to be doing for this post).

Sorry, I will try to rein the words into order. 

Back to “struggle,” defined as to try very hard to do, achieve, or deal with something that is difficult or that causes problems.

 I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about that word. I’m reading a book with a group (To Be A Jew Today by Noah Feldman) in which the word has taken on a new meaning for me. The word “Israel” means “one who struggles with God.” Jews are defined by that word (Israel) in the Bible, based on Jacob’s literal or metaphoric wrestling with God or with an angel. Some religions are about accepting (faith) or obedience, but Judaism is about struggling. And that includes questioning, discussing, even arguing—with each other and with (or about) God. You might recall the story of Abraham challenging and negotiating with God about God’s intentions to destroy everyone in the city of Sodom, including Abraham’s uncle, Lot. (Book plug: Angels at the Gate is my award-winning story of Lot’s wife.)

Where am I going with this? Back to the future . . . I mean, back to creativity. A thought-provoking article in The Atlantic postulated that AI is threatening to take the humanness out of our creativity. 

Have you noticed all the incredible, seemingly realistic or surreal video reels suddenly appearing on social media? AI-generated art programs can now make your imagination come to life in a realistic video with solely the input of your description. No cameras, no people involved—art on demand. It’s given rise to endless reels.

I am struggling with the concept of art without struggle, without craft. No hours and hours of learning. What does it mean? It is simultaneously wonderful and frightening. Is it comparable to the introduction of the photograph that some feared would make painting extinct? (What artist could rival the light captured in a photograph?) Or will the effect be more dire? 

We writers have been watching AI get better and better…very fast. I now regularly receive emails from marketers gushing about my books (with AI-generated descriptions that would make me cry if they were from actual readers) and offering to represent my unappreciated, outstanding books. The emails are so good, I’m saving them in a file! 

What is going to happen? Is this just an iteration of new technology shaking things up, or something on an entirely different level? Are we looking at the end of art that requires struggling to master the medium, or just a new set of tools to express our basic human drive to create? 

I don’t know. I’m struggling with that.

Personal Note:

Speaking of art, thought I’d share my most recent piece made with real, messy watercolor paint. I love the intersection of reality and fantasy. AI might do it better (as could many more experienced artists, I’m sure), but it can’t take the process away from me. I loved getting there.

 I write about what moves me, following a flight path of curiosity, reflection, and imagination. 

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