Ancient people in the frigid north of Scotland, from 300 AD to 500 AD, carved designs into rock and fashioned jewelry from molten metal. They tattooed their bodies with blue pigment from plants. The Roman invaders labeled them The Picts, the painted people.

I’m fascinated by their art. I respect them. They were ancient people “coloring” outside the lines.

Their beautiful curving designs reminded me of Modern Art and Art Nouveau in the early 20th century,

Two lovely unrelated explosions of art. What causes bursts of creativity to appear over and over again throughout history?

During my studies to become a teacher, I was introduced to the psychology of

Abraham Maslow

( 1908-1970).

He believed that motivation toward creativity and human expression could only come about through self-actualization by satisfying human needs.

He presented this in his Hierarchy of Human Needs.

We technologically advanced people of the 21st century tend to look down on ancient people. We find their ways crude, but if we look closer, we see that the Picts had all the elements to support their creative endeavors.

Northern Scottland in those early times provided the PIcts with an abundance of food from both the sea and the forest. Skills as farmers added to their healthy diet.

They were experts in building brochs and fortifications for safety, security, and shelter against adversity.

Artist drawing of a broch from Archaeology Hebrides

Because of numerous invasions by the Romans and Vikings, they had a strong sense of social networking, banding together to protect themselves from harm.

These solid rungs on The Hierarchy of Needs allowed them to be confident enough to explore art and ornamentation. It allowed many of them to be artists as they decorated their bodies and fashioned designs from stone and metal and educated others in these skills.

I wonder about our place in history and the possibility of self-actualization in today’s world. We have the problem of homelessness and poverty. People live paycheck to paycheck, and acquiring affordable food and shelter is becoming more challenging. Global conflict seems to be increasing along with domestic crime. And with it, a sense of safety decreases. Plus, access to health care services is more difficult and its costs are increasing. People have acquired certain addictive behaviors to reduce anxiety and feelings of hopelessness. Our country is politically divided, and name-calling and disparagement diminish self-esteem and confidence. Social networking is getting more complicated as tribal-like disagreements abound. This social critiquing suppresses creativity and self-actualization. Added to all this is the fact we live in a world where money is the top motivation, the gap between haves and have-nots is growing, and the value of individuals is based on their place on a wealth hierarchy. And we can only imagine what artificial intelligence will do to the importance of feelings, intuition, and purely human ideas.

I have traveled the world and the United States and seen beautiful architecture brought forth by the human souls of the past. In our present culture, we disregard the value of the individual as we sell our souls for fast money. And I wonder, is our creativity doomed?

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