Eric Maisel: We need grandeur to survive. As everyday creative people and as artists, it is up to us to supply it for ourselves and for others.
But we tend to forget our possibilities and our responsibilities.
We forget that we are grand creatures who have it in us to create. We forget that grandeur is available [...]
“I’ve suffered enough. When does my artwork improve?”
Refrigerator magnet from stickergiant.com
“Suffering is justified as soon as it becomes the raw material of beauty.” Jean-Paul Sartre
The tortured artist mythology is an ancient and enduring notion: that art comes mainly from suffering, and artists are likely to be fraught with suffering and dark emotions, and even [...]
By guest author Matt Cardin.
After having fallen into semi-official disrepute among the mainstream Western literati and intelligentsia for a century or three, the muse/genius/daimon was resurrected and rehabilitated for a new era beginning roughly in the 1990s.
Yes, Jung and the entire field of analytical psychology had valiantly championed the idea of the objectivity of the [...]
How we think about having and developing abilities can have a strong impact on actually using our talents. If we think creative expression has to wait for inspiration from a muse, or that there are only a few “chosen” geniuses with exceptional “gifts” in computer graphics, fashion design, writing novels or whatever – and think [...]
As part of her recovery from a water-skiing accident and brain surgery, actor and singer Charlotte Gainsbourg was evaluated with MRI scans, which can involve weird mechanical noises up to the intensity of a jet plane taking off.
Her new album, developed with Beck, is titled “IRM” – derived from the French for MRI. Follow the [...]
The film Poppy Shakespeare, based on Clare Allen’s novel, takes us down a cinematic rabbit hole into north London’s fictional Dorothy Fish day hospital where the clearly ’sane’ Poppy, played by Naomi Harris, has been mysteriously committed to a compulsory day-program for the mentally ill.
In a psychiatric Catch 22, she must prove herself [...]
His films are always satisfying and exciting on multiple levels, and I’m looking forward to Tim Burton’s new project Alice in Wonderland. What are some of the aspects of his life and way of working that help him be so creative?
Costume designer Colleen Atwood also admires Burton as an artist, and explains: “He is able [...]
This is an excerpt from the audio book What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures by Malcolm Gladwell, including some of his experiences and anecdotes on finding creative inspiration and ideas.
From the Publisher’s Summary at Audible.com:
“With his #1 best sellers, The Tipping Point, Blink and Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell has reached millions of readers. [...]
Susan Ariel Rainbow Kennedy, better known as SARK to millions of fans worldwide, is a writer and visual artist who “encourages and inspires women of all ages to become “succulent.” She defines this as transcending past pains and feeling the freedom of full self-expression.” [From summary of her book Succulent Wild Woman.]
Julia Cameron, author of [...]
Much of what we do, including our creative motivation and work, comes from or is strongly influenced by subconscious aspects of our mind – our intuition and shadow self, among other concepts.
In an interview about his films including the upcoming “Alice in Wonderland” (with the powerfully emotive Mia Wasikowska from the HBO series ‘In Treatment’ [...]
Our creative motivations and projects are based in some of our most primal passions, such as joy, anger, love and lust.
In her article Creative Juice – A Dozen Key Lessons for Creative Dreamers, Suzanne Falter-Barns quotes Deepak Chopra: “Creativity is ultimately sexual – I’m sorry — but it is!”
Falter-Barns comments, “I couldn’t agree more. I’d [...]
In her article How to Tell the Difference Between Fear and Intuition, Judith Orloff, M.D. writes, “True intuitions will never put you down or support destructive attitudes or behavior. Here are some guidelines for distinguishing legitimate fears from irrational ones:
Signs of a Reliable Intuition
* Conveys information neutrally, unemotionally
* Feels right in your gut
* Has a [...]
Collecting stuff – both physically and mentally – can fuel our creative work and motivation, and also help us realize what interests we have that could be used for new job possibilities or entrepreneurial ventures.
The photo is acclaimed painter Mark Ryden, who says, “In the same spirit as those earlier collectors filling their cabinets of [...]
J.K. Rowling speaks in this brief clip from her Harvard Commencement Address about the power of our imagination in creativity and innovation, and in understanding other people’s situations. In my added commentary, I note there is a potential self-limiting aspect to imagining.
Read more and see larger size video at TalentDevelop.blip.tv
Video interview of Sark, author of Juicy Pens, Thirsty Paper: Gifting the World with Your Words and Stories, and Creating the Time and Energy to Actually Do It.
One of Sark’s pieces of advice for realizing a creative project such as writing is, “Remember, action comes before inspiration. The inspiration comes from the actual doing of [...]
“Now I spend my finest energy on imagination. I imagine a new piece until it is beaming in my heart and mind and I hold fast to that emotional conviction.”
Stephen C. Layne, artist and teacher
Continued on The Inner Artist
“I hope I’m becoming more eccentric. More room in the brain.” Tom Waits
In his post Ignore Everybody (on his gapingvoid blog), Hugh MacLeod provides a stimulating list of tips to help us “be more creative, in art, in business, whatever.”
Here are some of those tips :
1. Ignore everybody.
2. The idea doesn’t have to be big. [...]
“Creative thinking can be stimulated by two things; intensely desired goals and pressing problems. Your creative capacities need something to hone in on and your job is to provide it.
“To trigger your imagination, write out a clear description of your ideal end result or goal. Be clear about the goal, be flexible about the process.”
Continued [...]
“What would happen if…?” Curiosity fuels artistic and scientific exploration, and is a characteristic of gifted people. It is also a strength, and a trait that encourages personal growth.
Psychologist Todd Kashdan, Ph.D., declares in his new book – and a video – that being curious is an essential element in creating a fulfilling life.
So what [...]
R. Keith Sawyer on creativity, creative inspiration, psychology of creativity, developing creativity
Bathtub, bed and bus
Washington University psychologist R. Keith Sawyer says of one of the myths of creativity: “Many people believe creativity comes in a sudden moment of insight and that this ‘magical’ burst of an idea is a different mental process from our everyday [...]
R. Keith Sawyer, PhD is a leading expert on creativity. His books include Explaining Creativity: The Science of Human Innovation, and his research includes business innovation, organizational dynamics in work teams, children’s play, artistic and scientific creativity.
In a Time magazine article, he addressed some myths and other aspects:
Q. So how can the average person get [...]
Excerpts from the book Storycatcher: Making Sense of Our Lives through the Power and Practice of Story, by Christina Baldwin:
Story — the abundance of it, and the lack of it — shapes us. Story — the abundance of it, and the lack of it — gives us place, lineage, history, a sense of self.
Story — [...]
“One must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star.” Friedrich Nietzsche
That quote by Nietzsche [from the page: Dysfunction / disorder] is a perspective many artists and other gifted and talented people with intense and “chaotic” inner lives may appreciate.
But is turmoil necessary for creative expression?
[The image, by [...]
Dancer and choreographer Martha Graham (1894-1991) lived a richly creative life, and one of her often quoted perspectives is about respecting and expressing our own individual personality and talent :
“There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all [...]
In a BBC Radio interview, Stephen Fry asked ‘Harry Potter’ author J.K. Rowling about “not holding back from the difficult and the frightening and the treacherous and the unjust and all the things that most exercise children’s minds.”
Rowling (her name rhymes with bowling, rather than howling) replied, “I feel very strongly that there is [...]
“When I was younger, I could remember anything, whether it had happened or not; but my faculties are decaying now and soon I shall be so I cannot remember any but the things that never happened.” – Mark Twain
One of the most basic ways we deal with life and find meaning is to create [...]
