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Force yourself to smile and you’ll soon stop frowning.
Force yourself to laugh and you’ll soon find something to laugh about.
Wax enthusiastic and you’ll very soon feel so.
A being causes his own feelings.
The greatest joy there is in life is creating.
Splurge on it!
L. Ron Hubbard
“The greatest joy there is in life is creating. Splurge on it!” These words epitomize how L. Ron Hubbard created any work of art, whether as a photographer, music maker and above all, one of the world’s most enduring and widely read authors of popular fiction. His 252 novels and stories in a variety of genres — from adventure to mystery to science fiction, fantasy and even romance — spell creativity in abundance. And given the way he imbued life into words, it is no wonder he also loved poetry; thus the lyrics of this album.
“My own verse is usually free verse. The freer the better,” Ron once remarked. Considering the spirit in which he wrote, nothing better describes it than the phrase “free verse.” Whether he was scaling the Olympic Mountains, sailing on a China-bound schooner, or striding through New York City “canyon walls,” his poems run the gamut of human emotion up to that pinnacle of exhilaration — the joy of creating.
The title song, in fact, comes from his first-ever codification of art. His essays on the subject, drawn from some 40 years of research as the founder of Dianetics and Scientology, have inspired others in ways that are truly unmatched. “The Joy of Creating” reminds us that a being causes his own feelings, and this truth alone has revitalized many artists and professionals the world over.
As Ron once said, “A culture is only as great as its dreams, and its dreams are dreamed by artists.”
THE CREATIVITY OF L. RON HUBBARD
“Capturing my own dreams in words, paint or music and then seeing them live,” wrote L. Ron Hubbard, “is the highest kind of excitement.”
That excitement, that spirit of irrepressible creativity, is epitomized in the title poem “The Joy of Creating.” Originally written by Ron as an inspiration for artists, writers and creative people, it is this poem which provides the motif for this album, and its driving force.
“Theta, Theta, See You Later,” published anonymously in a 1953 Journal of Scientology, is a lighthearted look at the persistence of the human spirit, living life after life after life, and inevitably meeting the same person again and again!
“From Sea of Dreams,” is a lighthearted, allegorical poem about reaching a long, mysterious crater of the same name on the far side of the moon. Since then, man has walked on the moon but not with this kind of insouciance.
“The Love of a Man” is one of Ron’s first poetic works after the Second World War, a time of rebuilding interrupted lives and relationships. This poem evokes the delicate, yet often tumultuous nature of the ties between a man and a woman.
“We’re Going Up While The World Goes Down,” written by Ron in 1970, is an exuberant celebration of hope in a world rapidly sinking into a morass of drugs, crime, violence and insanity. It is an invitation to join the winning side of life on this planet and start going up — with Scientology!
“The Sum of Man,” found in one of his earliest diaries and written in his teens, marks the beginning of Ron’s legendary career as a writer, and is one of the earliest examples of his insightful free verse.
“Blue Endless Sea,” written in 1927 when Ron had already logged hundreds of thousands of miles by sea, tells of the loneliness of one man lost in a vast expanse of ocean, holding a spark of hope despite all odds.
As a writer in the 1930s and 40s Ron dominated the field of fantasy and speculative fiction. His stories, drawing imagery from the rich tradition of the “Arabian Nights,” so defined the flavor of the genre that John W. Campbell, the father of modern science fiction, created an entirely new magazine, “Unknown,” to publish Ron’s fantasy works — often filling entire issues with his stories, written under different pen names! “Stamboul” speaks of that world, evoking images of desert kingdoms, mighty nations, princes and princesses.
“Song of the Bard” celebrates those legendary poets who gave expression to the victories, hopes, and spiritual aspirations of their people. This song reflects both the ultimate victory, and the ultimate power of poetry and song — the triumph over the forces of death and darkness by the human spirit.
Ron’s creativity took many forms, as the poems and lyrics expressed in this album amply demonstrate. Yet they have one thing in common — an unbounded enthusiasm for life, an enthusiasm he wanted everyone to share.
Or, in his words: “The greatest joy there is in life is creating. Splurge on it!”
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