Roots: The Art of Becoming | Michael Johnson | TEDxChattanooga

Core Message - The speech emphasizes the importance of creation, connection, and community engagement, urging individuals to embrace their creative potential and contribute to the world around them [4][11][24] - It highlights the cyclical nature of growth and creativity, emphasizing the significance of the "in-between" phases of rest, reflection, and preparation [14][18][19] - The speech encourages individuals to find where they are needed and to lend their skills and talents in service to others, emphasizing the art of belonging through collaboration and contribution [12][13] Creative Process - The creative process begins in stillness, with a spark or impulse responding to the world [2] - Art is born from reaction, whether it be light, sound, pain, or joy, and it serves as a reminder of our aliveness [5][6] - Real creativity is born in the unseen, before the bloom, and it requires daily discipline, tending, weeding, watering, pruning, and learning from failure [14][15] Community & Environment - Individuals are part of a vast living root system, their communities, and must plant themselves in the heart of those communities to foster growth and stability [12] - The world needs care, and planting oneself in risky soil might be where one is needed most [22][23] - Growth feeds others, roots stabilize the soil, shade gives rest, and oxygen gives life, highlighting the interconnectedness of individuals and their environment [21]