Contents
- 1. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi “Creativity. Flow and psychology of discoveries and inventions”
- 2. Julia Cameron “The way of the artist. Your creative workshop
- 3. Michael Michalko “Rice Storm and 21 More Ways to Think Outside the Box”
- 4. Alexey Ivanov “Magic kick, or How to advertise for free”
- 5. Yana Frank “Muse, where are your wings?”
- 6. Hugh MacLeod “Ignore Everyone, or How to Get Creative”
- 7. Alexander Lowen “Pleasure. Creative approach to life»
- 8. James Hollis, Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life: How to Finally Become a True Adult
- 9. Elena Makarova “How to fashion a snort”
- 10. Elena Nikolaeva “Psychology of children’s creativity”
A creative person is open to the possibilities of life. He is free, knows how to be surprised and enjoys creating something new. It is not necessary to make scientific discoveries: everyone is capable of incorporating creativity into their daily lives. To help us – a selection of books about creativity.
1. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi “Creativity. Flow and psychology of discoveries and inventions”
American psychologist, director of the Center for Quality of Life Research at Claremont University (USA) Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi has been researching creativity for several decades and devoted his bestsellers Flow and In Search of Flow to this topic. In “Creativity” he reflects on creativity at different levels – as the ability to build one’s private, everyday life and as the ability to create new meanings, invent, change the conditions of human life.
How do people improvise and come up with something new? What is going on in their brain? What are the personal properties of creative natures? What will finally help us to be more creative? Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi gives simple and actionable advice. He writes wonderfully clearly, accessible, and consistently inspiring.
Career Press, 2015
2. Julia Cameron “The way of the artist. Your creative workshop
A hymn to creativity and at the same time a real practical course of creativity, designed for 12 weeks of daily classes. Its author, American playwright and screenwriter Julia Cameron, created a technique that allows anyone to find their own creative voice. Each chapter contains articles, exercises, assignments and a weekly test.
Don’t be intimidated by the amount of work you have to do. The main part of it is just a game, and tasks will take you no more than an hour a day.
Livebook, 2014
3. Michael Michalko “Rice Storm and 21 More Ways to Think Outside the Box”
NATO officer Michael Michalko organized a group of scientists to classify and study the methods of creative thinking. The results of this work are reflected in several of his books, including “Mind Games”, “Creative Explosion”.
In “Rice Storm” the author has collected dozens of techniques for generating ideas, games and exercises for the development of intelligence. The book will help at least for a while to break away from reality, which narrows the boundaries, and feel the creative power in yourself.
Mann, Ivanov & Ferber, 2015
4. Alexey Ivanov “Magic kick, or How to advertise for free”
A physicist by education, Alexei Ivanov has been working in the advertising business for many years and heads a creative agency. He talks about the ways of free advertising: as it turns out, this activity opens up the richest opportunities for creativity. So the publication will be useful not only to sellers and buyers, but also to those who seek to develop creativity in themselves. The author writes about his business in such a fascinating way that after reading just a few pages, you find yourself in a gambling desire to compose some kind of advertisement, come up with a non-standard move, and practice searching for witty solutions.
Byblos, 2012
5. Yana Frank “Muse, where are your wings?”
As the artist and designer Yana Frank assures, any creative hobby can be turned into a profession and turned into a source of income. She tells how to find like-minded people, set creative goals and ways to achieve them, correctly accept criticism and praise, and most importantly, not be afraid to act.
After all, creativity is not the lot of geniuses, but the natural state of each of us. And you can start doing what you want at any age.
Mann, Ivanov & Ferber, 2015
6. Hugh MacLeod “Ignore Everyone, or How to Get Creative”
There are no special techniques in this book, but it is full of advice. Some are sad, some are funny, some are very obvious yet useful. Even the shocking name here is not for a red word, it is a recipe for how to survive disappointment if you joyfully shared your insight with your loved ones and … did not meet with either understanding or support: “A grand idea changes you. Your friends love you, but do they want you to change? They love you the way you are now, not the way you can become.” The phrase “caricaturist-philosopher” may seem strange, but it seems to be the best characterization that can be given to the author. Well, he is also a famous blogger and Internet consultant.
Career Press, 2011
7. Alexander Lowen “Pleasure. Creative approach to life»
Alexander Lowen is an American psychoanalyst, one of the founders of bioenergetics. In this book, he explores the psychology and biology of pleasure, the deep, intense experience that each of us yearns for.
A person who enjoys life is easy to recognize: he looks at others with interest, listens with attention, his movements are meaningful. “Next to him, you always feel the inner vital energy, which manifests itself in healthy skin color and good muscle tone. Being with such a person is a pleasure!”
The psychoanalyst claims that the true experience of joy (or happiness) is always based on the bodily sensation of pleasure. Describing its mechanism in the book, he simultaneously teaches us to hear and understand our own body, helping it to find natural freedom and spontaneity.
Psychotherapy, 2011
8. James Hollis, Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life: How to Finally Become a True Adult
The book by Jungian analyst James Hollis is about a creative attitude towards one’s own life. This is not about a midlife crisis, but about what, in theory, should follow it – about gaining new meanings.
It is in the second half of life that we get a chance to re-create our life – taking into account the experience gained and the lessons learned, after the mistakes made and the traumas suffered. By the way, this topic is also devoted to the book of James Hollis “Create your life. Finding your way.”
Cogito Center, 2013
9. Elena Makarova “How to fashion a snort”
Artist and teacher Elena Makarova reflects on the role of creativity in the lives of children. Preschool age is a time when it is important to develop the child’s abilities, and not to provide him with knowledge that he will have time to acquire later.
And the development of abilities is achieved through drawing, modeling, construction from blocks, children’s games, writing – in general, those “frivolous” activities to which this book is dedicated. Elena Makarova talks about trust in children’s ideas, about the ability of adults to open the world of art to a child, without imposing any specific, “correct” way of depicting.
Scooter, 2014, in three volumes.
10. Elena Nikolaeva “Psychology of children’s creativity”
How is a child’s creativity developed? What determines the intensity of creativity and can parents influence this process? What psychophysiological features allow us to express ourselves in music, word, painting, play? Psychophysiologist Elena Nikolaeva answers these questions and talks about the joint creativity of children and adults, which is especially effective because it combines the possibilities of each age. Don’t let the textbook format intimidate you: the book is written simply and interestingly.
Peter, 2010