Developing creativity: Preparation, Performing, Perfectionism
With something like twenty percent of us being highly sensitive, that means there are many performers with the trait – musicians, actors, public speakers.
In her book The Highly Sensitive Person, Elaine Aron, PhD writes, “This is a natural for HSPs – yes, it is.
“(I leave you to think about all the reasons why it is harder for us.) First, we often feel we have something important to say that others have missed. When others are grateful for our contribution, we feel rewarded, and the next time is easier.
“Second, we prepare. In some situations… we can seem ‘compulsive’ to people not as determined as ourselves to prevent all unnecessary surprises. But anyone would be a fool not to ‘overprepare’ for the extra arousal due to an audience. Having prepared best, we succeed most.”
I appreciate what she is saying. I used to associate high sensitivity only with introversion (my type), but Dr. Aron notes on her site hsperson.com “30% of HSPs are extraverts, although the trait is often mislabeled as introversion.”
Video: Brief comments by Russell Crowe on preparation as an actor, Cher on striving for excellence, and Dr. Aron on why public speaking and performing are natural for highly sensitive people.
Aron and others note that perfectionistic preparation – of a speech, an art project, an acting scene, or whatever sort of performance that demands care and craft – may be a way that sensitive people work to avoid potential “upsetting” consequences such as social reactions if a performance is not “just right.”
But, of course, no matter how well-prepared it may be, a performance can’t be “perfect” in any absolute sense.
That’s one reason I like Cher’s comments I used in the video: “I never feel that I am getting it right. I just keep trying. It’s kind of a work in progress all the time for me. Everything, all of it — life, career, whatever.”
Hilary Swank also expressed a healthy attitude: “The great thing about my Oscar [for Boys Don't Cry] was when I received it, they put the nameplate on with my name crooked, and I went home and I was like, ‘I am going to have to take that back and have them fix it.’
“Then I said to myself, ‘This reminds me that I’m not perfect, my performance wasn’t really perfect, and that I still have a lot to learn.’ To a lot of people, this represents perfection and it’s not.” [Gotham, May 2002]
Sometimes we may be overly critical about meticulousness.
Jennifer Connelly once commented, “I am an obsessive-compulsive and a perfectionist. I don’t say it with pride.” [in Vogue, quoted in The Week, Nov 5 2004]
But we can also celebrate it, like James Cameron, responding to being called a perfectionist: “No, I’m a greatist. I only want to do it until it’s great.”
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