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Go off the beaten track, see new solutions, fulfill your dreams… We all have creativity and we can develop it! Psychotherapist Jean Cotrot offers several topics for reflection and four effective exercises.
“There is significantly more creativity in a perfectly cooked soup than in bad painting!” – was convinced the founder of humanistic psychology Abraham Maslow*. To agree with him, it is enough to remember the house of our friends, in which we are especially comfortable, or the inspired ingenuity of a work colleague, who is able to turn an old dress into a stylish outfit with a few strokes of scissors …
Creative imagination distinguishes us from all other living beings, and it is to it that humanity owes its survival (be it the discovery of the properties of fire or the invention of antibiotics). Psychotherapist Jean Cotrot explains: “Creativity can be defined as the ability to find original solutions to the questions we ask ourselves and the ability to realize our personal potential in a particular case.” We show creativity when we find a new dance step or solve a difficult problem, when we demonstrate miracles of ingenuity to reconcile friends who have fallen out, or when we fight to make the world around us better.
The desire to create
“A creation can be a painting, a garden, a hairstyle, a symphony, a sculpture, or even a culinary dish,” wrote pediatrician and psychoanalyst Donald Winnicott**. Watching newborns, he noticed that the ability to be creative in the first months of life appears in everyone. And this unconscious desire for creativity, according to Winnicott, persists in any of us. The dreams and fantasies of a child are the earliest form of creative activity. Then comes the time of the game, thanks to which the child directs what happens in his soul and equips the world in accordance with his desires. It is in the game that children experience complete freedom of creativity. Winnicott was convinced that the strength of our creative abilities depends on our early relationship with our mother. And indeed, when we create, we always do it for someone else, real or symbolic. “And this other,” says Jean Cotrot, “may criticize us or treat our plans with disdain. Hence the possible complexes. When a child proudly gives his mother on March 8 a crooked vase made of plasticine, fashioned by him in the lesson, and parents take on the role of art critics, pointing out the obvious shortcomings of the gift, they can discourage the child from creativity for a long time.
Does this mean that a happy childhood is a necessary condition for the development of creativity? This is not true. “It is the lack of something and the feeling of dissatisfaction that causes the desire to change the order of things,” says Jean Cotrot. “And a certain amount of anxiety is one of the best incentives to quickly find solutions to the problems that arise before us.” To create means to divert sexual impulses from their original purpose, directing them to the service of art, Sigmund Freud explained. He called this process sublimation. Visual pleasure drives us when we photograph or paint; oral – encourages reciting poetry or inventing culinary dishes. But why does a child who is fond of modeling from plasticine, growing up, not necessarily become a brilliant sculptor? And a teenager who selflessly torments the guitar cannot be compared in his achievements with Mozart, who was already composing operas at that age? “The essence of artistic creation remains an incomprehensible mystery,” Freud lamented.
Read more:
- The dark side of creativity: why they do not like creative people
A real creator goes beyond the generally accepted, excites the minds and hearts of the public, showing her something unusual. However, often creative people have to pay for their gift. So, for example, mood swings (from depression to euphoria), experienced by 0,7% of the population, are ten times more common among creators! Some character traits of super-creative people (for example, a poorly developed sense of the forbidden) to some extent bring them closer to those who suffer from mental disorders. But why do people with mental illnesses give out only absurd reasoning, and creative people – original ideas? Scientists don’t know this. The secret of creativity remains a secret. However, Aristotle’s insight is still true: “There has never been a single great mind without an admixture of madness.”
* A. Maslow “Towards the psychology of being. Religions, values and peak experiences” (Eksmo-Press, 2002).
** D. Winnicott “Game and Reality” (Institute for General Humanitarian Studies, 2012).
*** Z. Freud “Memories of Leonardo da Vinci about early childhood” (Eksmo, 2010).
The pain of creativity
“The openness and sensitivity of creative people is often painful (it hurts an inventor to look at a poorly designed machine; it hurts a writer to read bad prose), but it is also a source of great pleasure,” writes psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi*. Having been studying the psychology of creativity and the behavior of creative people for more than 30 years, he notes their features, intertwined in a dialectical contradiction: “Those who are at the forefront in their field are lonely and vulnerable. They are open to criticism and the most violent attacks. If a sculptor has been sculpting a statue for years, or a scientist has spent years creating a theory, and then they find that no one cares about their work, they can be crushed by it. Deep interest and involvement in activities that are incomprehensible to outsiders often do not bring recognition, and may bring ridicule. The ability to see many solutions is considered unnatural by most people, so a creative person can feel isolated and misunderstood. The hardest thing for creative people to endure is the feeling of loss and emptiness that comes with being unable to work for some reason.
But when a person does what he really knows how to do well, all doubts and worries disappear and a state of bliss sets in. Perhaps the most important quality of creative people is the ability to enjoy creativity for its own sake.”
* “Creativity: The Work and Lives of 91 Eminent People” (HarperCollins Publishers, 1996). The Russian translation is being prepared for publication by the Career-Press publishing house.
10 qualities of a creative person
Creative people have characteristic psychological traits. Jean Cotro is sure: everyone can develop them in their own.
1. Perseverance
confirming the presence of motivation. “The ability to focus on one activity, perseverance despite failures are the main factors that determine the ability to be creative,” explains Jean Cotro.
2. Openness to new experience:
curiosity, emotional openness, flexibility of thought, eccentric views and beliefs – largely thanks to them we have original ideas and solutions. All gifted people have this kind of openness.
3. Self-confidence:
self-esteem (and sometimes inflated self-esteem) contributes to emotional stability. Thanks to her, it is easier to establish and maintain social contacts, which is necessary for a creative person: after all, in this way he becomes known to the public. In addition, high self-esteem allows you to maintain the desire for creativity in case of failure.
4. Thinking that does not coincide with the generally accepted.
It has three components: originality (unusual thoughts), changeability (many ideas), and flexibility (new ideas in different areas). Even a banal question, a person with this type of thinking never answers banally.
5. Thinking Janus.
This ancient Roman god is known to have had two faces facing in opposite directions. This way of thinking is characterized by the coexistence of opposing tendencies, easily allowing for a radical change of point of view. For example: “Today I will dress in black … no, it’s better to wear all white!”
6. Androgynous Thinking:
it allows the creative person to free himself from stereotypical ideas about masculine and feminine (“Madame Bovary – it’s me!” – so they say, Flaubert once exclaimed).
7. Speed of information processing:
resourcefulness in answers, quickness of thought, love of complexity – the creative spirit juggles ideas without any self-censorship.
8. The ability to imagine alternative worlds –
to dream of other perspectives, a different logic… Creative people often indulge in such seemingly childish pursuits.
9. Quick problem solving:
a sudden insight – and the solution seems to appear out of nowhere! Psychologists use the English word “insight” to refer to this bright flash.
10. Thinking by analogy
and the ability to access the preconscious and the unconscious. Thinking by analogy operates on the principle of free association of thoughts and images. Pre- and unconscious phenomena include night dreams, daytime daydreams, and strong emotions…
N.W.
4 exercises
1. Your script
Task: to imagine yourself and your life anew, changing the angle of view. Imagine different perspectives, deviating from the usual. Freely and independently evaluate all the advantages of possible changes.
Sit comfortably on your balcony or at a cafe table (you can also use transport if not during rush hour). Choose some stranger and imagine the life of this person: his feelings, thoughts, actions. Ask yourself: “And if I were him, what would my life be like?” Having mentally reincarnated, review all areas of your life: what brave actions would you be capable of now? What changes would you make in your daily life? How would your loved ones behave with you, and you, accordingly, with them? Think of the many ways to change your life based on other perspectives your character has provided.
2. Game of thoughts
Objective: to get rid of internal inhibitions (shyness, fear of being ridiculous, excessive seriousness…), use analogical thinking (through free associations) and connect to your unconscious to find new solutions or perspectives.
Make a group of 5-10 people (friends, family members…). Write on separate pieces of paper a few key words-concepts (family, couple, ecology, morality, art, creativity …), then fold them up and put them in a box. Sit in a circle and each in turn quickly offer your definition of the word that you pull out of the box. After two or three full circles have passed, you will find that you become more relaxed, your imagination is released, and the inner shackles fall off.
Another possible variation of the exercise helps solve a specific problem.
3. You are a writer
Objective: to develop flexibility of thought, imagination and the ability to find solutions that are different from what first comes to mind.
The best way to awaken your imagination is to play writer. All you need is a pen and a notebook or a computer – and you immediately set off on a journey through fascinating places that have just been born of your imagination, controlling the fate of your characters … To begin, compose the continuation and finale of two stories.
4. Free monologue
Task: stop controlling your thoughts, learn to think more freely.
It is advisable to do this exercise alone. In a quiet and peaceful place, close your eyes and let your body relax. Take a moment to focus on your thoughts and spontaneous images. Then answer (out loud if possible) the following six questions: