Create!

At the beginning of the 20th century, a Japanese poet named Miyazawa Kenji　(1869-1933) argued against leaving the creation of art to specialists. He saw every human being as inherently creative, and thought that even the poorest peasants could and should find satisfaction and joy in surrounding themselves with the fruit of their own artistic endeavors. A geologist and agriculture expert by training, he offered agronomy classes and even formulated custom fertilizer for the peasants of his native Iwate Prefecture, but at the same time he organized musical performances, plays, and taught a form of peasant art that he had himself developed. Surrounded by poverty, he still exhorted those around him not just to live, but to create. Ever since a great teacher comforted me in a hard time by introducing me to his incredible poem Ame ni mo Makezu, I've felt inspired by his life. I think that he would be thrilled by the Internet and the ability it grants us to share our creativity without limits and without borders. I can hear him calling to us over the hundred years that separate our lives. Nombiri suru wake nee zo! Nanka tsukure! What are you doing just sitting there? Make something!