By guest author Alexis Bonari The entity of creativity and the ways in which it is successfully brought to fruition have been studied extensively over a significant time period. Even prior to the twentieth century, researchers were fascinated by the psychology of creativity and its manifestation in different individuals. While much has been learned on [...]
Creative expression involves many skills and cognitive abilities, which may be enhanced by activities such as video games. And creative performance can enhance skills outside of art. Hilda Huang, 14, is acclaimed for her piano performances of Bach. She made her debut at Carnegie Hall at age 11. This is from a recent interview: Question: [...]
The internal vision I have of my novel seems so superior to what I’ve actually written that I’m often paralyzed into inaction. I took about a year off from working on it – that sounds so much better than saying I just couldn’t face it. Now I’m back in the fray and struggling with the [...]
Many work environments seem designed to hamper our individuality and creativity. But there has to be more to our day than just keeping our noses to the grindstone…or mouse. There are ways to make small changes at work that can pay off big in inspiration and energy. Kathleen Kendall-Tackett, Ph.D. offers some ideas to increase [...]
Others have sometimes labeled my insatiable curiosity as obsession, and my energy and drive to create as mania. Being misunderstood, by ourselves and others, seems to come with the territory of giftedness. Linda Kreger Silverman of the Gifted Development Center explains: Giftedness creates a different organization of the Self. Impossible dreams are realized, unrealistic goals [...]
When I was a kid I was constantly criticized for daydreaming by my teachers and parents. Once, in kindergarten, I ‘came-to’ and found the entire playground empty – except for me, still singing and swinging, oblivious to the loud end-of-recess bell. My imagination has always been my greatest asset…and my bête noire. In his post [...]
When I was a child I was always trying to act as grown up as possible. I stifled a lot of my exuberance and creativity to fit in with my family and friends, and to be a good student. My parents’ friends called me ‘Little Old Cathy.’ Is all that innate playfulness and creativity lost [...]
Just what is ‘normal’ for a creative person? After trying clumsily to conform to what others consider normal for much of my life, I’m beginning to appreciate my own moods and personality. Are creative people like us ‘abnormal’? In his paper The Abnormal Psychology of Creativity, Steven James Bartlett writes…. Norwegian painter Edvard Munch, who [...]
As a writer in the middle of my first novel, I experience swings from enchantment to disgust with my work. Falling in love with your writing can be as inspiring, and as delusional, as falling in love with a person,. These shifting perceptions aren’t just exclusive to writers. In his post The Psychology of Creativity [...]
As I discovered over the years in my own interactions with the mental health system, when someone with a creative personality is seen through the eyes of those who have a different temperament, such as scientists and doctors, the result can be mislabeling and misdiagnosis. People who are uncomfortable with extreme states are often, unfortunately, [...]
Doing anything creative often brings up fears, anxieties, insecurities. Courage may be defined as going ahead in spite of those fears. And many creators not only live with fears, they welcome them. This photo is Chinese artist Cai Guo-Qiang, running for safety after lighting gunpowder to create one of his drawings. “Why is it important,” [...]
For years we have heard that what you believe will determine how well you will succeed in life. So every year, people diligently attempt to change their beliefs to ones that favor their success and limit their failure. There is an entire industry that supports that cause. “You are what you believe,” is advertised with [...]
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 [...]
James C. Kaufman is a creativity researcher and Associate Professor of Psychology at California State University, San Bernardino. Here are some excerpts from his Psychology Today blog post “A Creativity Researcher’s Thoughts on the Oscars.” If anyone gets discouraged about their creative progress in their careers, take heart from Mauro Fiore. The cinematographer won the [...]
By 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 [...]
In the preface to a photography book, singer–songwriter, poet and visual artist Patti Smith describes the experience of many creators. “The artist, in turn, sacrifices his leisure, the pleasure of being vague, of drifting half-present or merging unconsciously with the terrain. For the artist is driven, is one apart, estranged from all save his one [...]
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Site author: Douglas Eby, M.A./Psychology, is a writer and researcher on the psychology of creative expression and personal growth, especially for high ability adults. He is publisher of the Talent Development Resources series of sites.
