I am annoyed at every mention of creativity, but if I would go for it in any of its guises, it would be the only remaining one nowadays: creativity at survival.

Addendum (November 1, 2019)

As I like to remind everyone who wishes to listen to my ravings, the Slavs of the Balkans are pros at survival, as it were (Addendum of August 16, 2016, to “Worth Bragging About,” May 31, 2013). Over the last millennium and a half, they have had many an opportunity to try their luck in the ancient art. And against pretty horrendous odds, too. By and by, they have started excelling in it. Even more, they have managed to grab hold of a good chunk of the peninsula in the last few centuries. Which is why I worry least of the Slavs of the Balkans in the dire years to come. Climate change and environmental degradation, as well as the wars that will inevitably come in their wake, will be manageable in the thickly wooded mountain range they now inhabit (“Balkan,” June 5, 2012). The art of survival is in their blood and bones by now. Behold, creativity at its most constructive and least pretentious at the same time.