“Life’s just much too hard today / I hear ev’ry mother say / The pursuit of happiness just seems a bore / And if you take more of those / you will get an overdose / No more running for the shelter / of a mother’s little helper” “Mother’s Little Helper” by The Rolling [...]

Is exceptional achievement a matter of inborn talent, or an encouraging life situation, and laborious intention? Writer David Dobbs explores the nature-nurture argument in his article How to be a genius.
He writes, “As the American inventor Thomas Edison said, genius is 99 per cent perspiration - or, to be truer to the data, perhaps 1 [...]

Eric Maisel, PhD, is author of The Van Gogh Blues: The Creative Person’s Path Through Depression. In our recent interview, he addresses some of the meaning and mood issues facing creators.
Q: The kinds of anxiety we call stage fright, or fear of the blank canvas (or blank page) — can these be related to meaning [...]

“In the same spirit as those earlier collectors filling their cabinets of curiosities, I feel compelled to collect quite a variety of things. I draw artistic inspiration from the treasures I find at the flea market.”
That is painter Mark Ryden - and his studio is a rich collection of objects that inspire his creative imagination. [...]

Author, artist, performer, and creativity coach Janet Riehl interviewed Eric Maisel, PhD about his book The Van Gogh Blues: A Creative Person’s Path Through Depression. [Also see it on her site riehlife.com, with additional links.]
Janet Riehl: Eric, what I hear you saying is that when creative people in particular maintain a connection to their [...]