What is a protean creator?

The word "protean" (\'prō-tē-ən\) comes from the Greek word Proteus [1]. Proteus was an early shepherd god of the sea, rivers and oceanic bodies in Greek mythology. He had this reputation of being the god of "elusive sea change" because of the ever-changing nature of the sea or the liquid quality of water in general [2].

Illustration of Proteus by Andrea Alciato from The Book of Emblems (1531) from Wikipedia

According to Merriam-Webster.com, Proteus possessed the gift of prophecy but didn't like to share his knowledge. He'd escape those who want to question him by changing his shape. The only way to get an answer from him was to sneak up from behind during his mid-day nap and hold onto him until he eventually revealed what he knew.

Protean is now used to as a descriptor for anyone or anything that was as mutable and adaptable as Proteus to the point that being protean is considered synonymous to being versatile [2]. 

Now using that to describe a creator, you have yourself a very powerful term. The term "protean creator" was used by Lin-Manuel Miranda to describe Alexander Hamilton in the hip-hop styled musical, Hamilton.

Hamilton poster

Miranda's use of hip-hop and witty wordplay makes Hamilton the musical of the century. The musical portrays the life of one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, Alexander Hamilton and at the same time describes the birth of America through the eyes of Aaron Burr, originally Hamilton's friend and some time later, his political rival. The term was used in one of the songs titled "The Adams Administration", the lyrics goes:

[Aaron Burr]

How does Hamilton, the short-tempered

Protean creator of the Coast Guard

Founder of the New York Post

Ardently abuse his cab'net post

Destroy his reputation?

Welcome folks, to 

[Burr and company]

the Adams Administration!

The lyrics described Hamilton's feud with John Adams who was the successor of George Washington in presidency and another one of his political rivals. Politics back then was just as petty and messy as the present and the Founding Fathers were dissing each other like a bunch of teenage school girls.

The element of humor was very strong in the musical and Miranda was able to do it in a way that didn't compromise truth which was the involvement of human essence in these historical figures. Historical figures who we know from American history books, shaped the beginning one of the greatest nations we know today.

In our own lives, we are creators. We create our own reality and we alone have the power to shape it however we want. Yes, it sounds cliché since our globalized world has been noisy of a lot of highfalutin sayings and quotes that it becomes very easy to mistake anything as true. However, these words only gain significance in our lives when we accept it to be true, and things can only be considered true if it is true in thoughts, words and actions (this is again, another cliché). 

I call myself a protean creator as I never want to stay stagnant and adamant at any point in my life. This is my truth, and I am doing my best at the moment to make it my reality, what's yours?

[1] Protean. (n.d.) Retrieved May 10, 2018 from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/protean

[2] Proteus (2018) Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proteus