The poet William Blake proposed that two types of people exist: the “energetic creators” and the “rational organizers”, or, as he calls them in The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, the “devils” and “angels”.
According to Blake, both are necessary to life. Often both can be found in a single person.
He said we should go to heaven for form and to hell for energy—and marry the two.
When we can face our inner heaven and our inner hell, this is the highest form of creativity.
方 (kata) is the Japanese character for “form” or “way of doing something”. In this Medium article, Alvin T. argues that an obsession with form, rather than essence, is a significant hallmark of Japanese culture. After reading it, I’m inclined to agree.
気 (ki) is the Japanese character for energy. It can mean physical energy, mental energy, or even something like “life-force”. It is found in the Japanese words for breath, atmosphere, energy, weather and spirit. It is the “ki” in “genki”, “reiki”, and aikido”. You can find out more about all the ways in which 気 (ki) is used in the Japanese language in this article from the Japan times.
Calligraphy by Vicky 