Creativity Is Tennis

(Sunday Blooming Reading – May 4th)

The development of creativity is simply impossible without collision.

Ideas don’t just emerge from the clash between what we want and what we can’t—they also vanish unless they run into something.
Ideas need resistance. They need contact.
An idea gathers its energy from bumping into something else.

But today, I want to talk about a different kind of collision: the one that happens when your ideas bounce off other people.

If you were entirely alone in the world, you’d still need to generate ideas. But it’s almost certain that those solo-made ideas would be far weaker than if you had someone to bounce them off of.

Creativity, at its core, is a collective act.

Ideas never come from nowhere.
They’re always built on, inspired by, or evolved from other ideas—often from other minds. That’s where creativity gets its collective power.

Of course, many of us begin the creative process alone. You don’t need a partner to start.
But the moment you share your idea, the moment you let it collide with another mind—it multiplies.
It grows sharper.
It explodes into variation.

And what’s true for creativity is also true for intelligence itself.

Clashing with other minds—in the best sense of the word—rubbing up against other intelligences—polishes our own.
Solitude dulls the edge of intelligence.
It dims the glow of creativity.

Let your ideas collide with others.
Send them across the court like a tennis serve.
Watch how they come back to you brighter, faster, different.

To be creative is to play.
And while you can play alone,
the game truly takes off
when others join in.