Vai on Van Halen: Three Lessons About Creative Intuition
Following the passing of guitar legend Eddie Van Halen, another guitar legend—Steve Vai—penned a thoughtful tribute to Eddie’s “genius.” It is a rare opportunity to read one creative genius’s insights about the creativity of another. The result is a short essay of key life lessons and truths that apply to anyone and everyone, not just guitar enthusiasts or musicians. Here are three key takeaways:
1. Everyone Has the Potential to be a Creative Genius. Vai describes genius as “the ability of an individual to seamlessly connect to their uniquely inspired creative intuitions.” This is an ability that everyone possesses, only “geniuses” like Eddie are “capable of manifesting these intuitions into the world effortlessly.” The notion of “uniquely inspired creative intuition” is a fascinating one, and it is central to what we do at Spotlight. Creativity is not something you consciously choose—we are compelled to create. Without knowing why or how, we intuit ideas. There is a sort of magic to it all. As Vai suggests, your “creative intuition” is unique to you. Only you are capable of expressing your ideas, thoughts, feelings, etc. Some might call this your “truth.” At Spotlight, we think there is nothing more important or valuable to the world than our “uniquely inspired creative intuitions.” This is what defines humanity, sets us apart from other species, unites us, and fuels human progress.
2. The Only Thing Holding Back Your Creative Genius is You. Your creative intuition lives somewhere inside of you. It is not something you can find outside of yourself. Therefore, nothing and nobody can prevent your creative intuition from coming into being except for you. We hold back our unique ideas. We hold back our feelings and vision for the world. Most of the time it is because of fear, insecurity or some other negative thought about how our creative intuition will be received. As Vai puts it:
“Any obstacles a person might encounter in expressing their creative inspirations are only ever the negative thoughts they have about reaching their goal. Those obstructions aren’t in the outside world, as commonly believed. It’s an inside job. They are the insecure and fearful thoughts that cut at the root of a person’s ability to discover and express their own simple, creative brilliance that’s already there.
3. Passion, Joy and Happiness. “When a person is passionate about what they are doing, the sense of enthusiasm and joy are in the forefront and acts as their guidance.” Following your passion is key to success. When you are passionate about what you are doing you want to keep working at it. You want to keep pushing yourself and exploring the depths of the matter. It triggers your creative intuition. There is no doubt that you can master nothing in life as well as that which you are passionate about. More importantly, however, is that nothing in life will make you happier.
In positive psychology there is the concept of being in a state of “flow,” a sort of euphoric state where an individual is fully immersed in what they are doing to the point where action and awareness merge and conscious thought ceases. In other words, flow is like a state of intuition. Vai remarks that “perhaps the most engaging aspect of Edward was that smile,” which “represented the joy he felt while playing.” Anyone who ever saw Edward Van Halen play guitar knows exactly what he is talking about. Like everyone, Eddie had his demons. But when if you saw him with a guitar in his hand, he was an enlightened being. When he played, he was living his creative intuition, bringing it to life right before your eyes in real time. Every time he played, even though it was the same notes and songs, it was new. It was alive. It was magic. If only we were all brave or naïve enough to follow our creative intuition and share our true genius.
