“Rational thoughts never drive people’s creativity the way emotions do.”—Neil deGrasse Tyson
MULTI-BILLIONAIRE EMOTIONAL TYCOON
Saying Oprah Winfrey changed the broadcasting industry would be a gross understatement. Oprah stands in a creative league of her own. She created and humanized a new genre of TV, tabloid talk shows. Oprah’s philanthropic efforts gave a voice to marginalized communities. She broke racial and financial barriers, becoming the first African American multi-billionaire. Her sociopolitical acumen, a deep awareness and appreciation of her emotions, and how she told emotive stories fueled her success.
For decades, she connected emotionally with the people she interviewed on The Oprah Winfrey Show. Oprah and her guests opened up and bravely shared their pain. She single-handedly created the confessional format that’s commonly used in talk shows today.
At the cusp of her meteoric rise, TIME wrote, “Guests with sad stories to tell are apt to rouse a tear in Oprah’s eye or get a comforting arm around the shoulder. They, in turn, often find themselves revealing things they would not imagine telling anyone, much less a national TV audience. It is a talk show as a group-therapy session.”
Her empathetic stance shattered stereotypes and continually broke new ground. The Oprah Winfrey Show was simultaneously praised and criticized. For instance, when she interviewed Ellen Degeneres, Ellen came out as gay. Over 40 million people watched the episode. It sent ripples of both affirmation and indignation. When Oprah asked Ellen why it was important to come out as gay herself, she responded, “I realized that as long as I had this secret, that I worried about all the time, that it made it look like something was wrong.” This episode paved the way for many other people to feel safe enough in themselves to come out. Over the years, they’re both praised by the LGBTQ+ community, Ellen for her bravery and Oprah for guiding Ellen in using her emotions as a vehicle for truth.
RESONATING EMOTIONALLY
Stories, music, paintings, and other creations that pluck at our heartstrings are in our DNA. Whether good, bad, funny, sad, inspiring, or gut-wrenching, emotive art forms reach deep within our consciousness and stir up something ancient and powerful. This energy is why creatives who enhance their emotional awareness create things that resonate with a large audience.
When speaking to the Grapevine, Oprah said, “As a storyteller, I think the ability to create a narrative that people can relate to, feel a part of, and feel connected to is the dream of everybody who uses words to allow people to see and feel their own humanity.” Emotional art lowers people’s defenses and gives them permission and validation to feel their inner truth.
CRAFTING LOVE
Bowerbirds are considered artists in the animal kingdom. Male bowerbirds build complex sculptures that rival the craftiness of most humans. They intricately decorate it with colorful feathers, sticks, stones, berries, plastic, and glass. The choice and arrangement of these decorations are extremely intentional; different species have different preferences for design and medium. The bird spends weeks (about 10 months in human-years) gracefully creating their masterpiece. Once they’re done, the sculpture serves as a stage for the male’s courtship dance, a series of movements, poses, and sound effects, to attract his female counterpart.
I’ve always opted to express my deepest emotions through art. Especially love. While I was writing this book, I was also working on a top secret art show that has since become the pinnacle of my creative output thus far. Like a bowerbird dedicating his time to crafting a romantic body of art, I spent a year discreetly ducking off to my art studio working on ten large-scale paintings to present to my lover to ask her for her hand in marriage.
When she walked into the art show, each piece was covered in black sheets. The entire show was a journey back in time through our love story, back to the moment I knew she was the one for me. So we started along the journey unmasking each piece one by one. Each artwork embodied a significant moment in their relationship, a cherished memory, or a pivotal epiphany. Each piece was also paired with one of our favorite love songs, creating an immersive and sensual experience. At each step of the way we reminisced on our relationship, admired the art, and vibed out to the music. This multi-sensory exhibition not only allowed us to reflect on our past but also set the stage for a future together. In the end, when I popped the question, she didn’t just say, “Yes,” she said, “Yes, duh!”. That’s the power love has on creativity and the power creativity has on love. You can find a link to a video of our proposal in the footnotes.