blackbird

Monday, March 31, 2014

Difference #4 — Getting to know my creative self

This is a continuation of a blog post written by   titled 18 Things Highly Creative People Do Differently. I found it both enlightening and at times even comical in the spot on description of myself. Instead of quoting the entire post at length in a single setting, I decided I would let the world get to know me through this one excerpt at a time.

Here is a repeat of the intro to the post -
18 Things Highly Creative People Do Differently
"Creativity works in mysterious and often paradoxical ways. Creative thinking is a stable, defining characteristic in some personalities, but it may also change based on situation and context. Inspiration and ideas often arise seemingly out of nowhere and then fail to show up when we most need them, and creative thinking requires complex cognition yet is completely distinct from the thinking process.
Neuroscience paints a complicated picture of creativity. As scientists now understand it, creativity is far more complex than the right-left brain distinction would have us think (the theory being that left brain = rational and analytical, right brain = creative and emotional). In fact, creativity is thought to involve a number of cognitive processes, neural pathways and emotions, and we still don't have the full picture of how the imaginative mind works.
And psychologically speaking, creative personality types are difficult to pin down, largely because they're complex, paradoxical and tend to avoid habit or routine. And it's not just a stereotype of the "tortured artist" -- artists really may be more complicated people. Research has suggested that creativity involves the coming together of a multitude of traits, behaviors and social influences in a single person.
"It's actually hard for creative people to know themselves because the creative self is more complex than the non-creative self," Scott Barry Kaufman, a psychologist at New York University who has spent years researching creativity, told The Huffington Post. "The things that stand out the most are the paradoxes of the creative self ... Imaginative people have messier minds."
While there's no "typical" creative type, there are some tell-tale characteristics and behaviors of highly creative people."

Here is #4
They take time for solitude.  
"In order to be open to creativity, one must have the capacity for constructive use of solitude. One must overcome the fear of being alone," wrote the American existential psychologist Rollo May.
Artists and creatives are often stereotyped as being loners, and while this may not actually be the case, solitude can be the key to producing their best work. For Kaufman, this links back to daydreaming -- we need to give ourselves the time alone to simply allow our minds to wander.
"You need to get in touch with that inner monologue to be able to express it," he says. "It's hard to find that inner creative voice if you're ... not getting in touch with yourself and reflecting on yourself."

I've been called many things, both good and bad. I have been told I am a loner, antisocial, and introverted. Although technically those words might describe me and most likely the people that used them on me probably meant them in a negative way, I really don't mind. I have learned I NEED solitude, I NEED times of quiet, times that I can basically just get into my own head.  Sometimes I like to just write, maybe about life in general, maybe about an incident or maybe just to notice the beauty around me, but most times it is the writing itself, not the outcome that is cathartic. Most times I write and then simply erase all that I've written, I suppose sometimes it is just my way of letting something go, or perhaps to gain the bravery to move—forward, backward, sideways........anything but standing still.

Friday, March 28, 2014

Difference #3 — Getting to know my creative self

This is a continuation of a blog post written by   titled 18 Things Highly Creative People Do Differently. I found it both enlightening and at times even comical in the spot on description of myself. Instead of quoting the entire post at length in a single setting, I decided I would let the world get to know me through this one excerpt at a time.

Here is a repeat of the intro to the post -
18 Things Highly Creative People Do Differently
"Creativity works in mysterious and often paradoxical ways. Creative thinking is a stable, defining characteristic in some personalities, but it may also change based on situation and context. Inspiration and ideas often arise seemingly out of nowhere and then fail to show up when we most need them, and creative thinking requires complex cognition yet is completely distinct from the thinking process.
Neuroscience paints a complicated picture of creativity. As scientists now understand it, creativity is far more complex than the right-left brain distinction would have us think (the theory being that left brain = rational and analytical, right brain = creative and emotional). In fact, creativity is thought to involve a number of cognitive processes, neural pathways and emotions, and we still don't have the full picture of how the imaginative mind works.
And psychologically speaking, creative personality types are difficult to pin down, largely because they're complex, paradoxical and tend to avoid habit or routine. And it's not just a stereotype of the "tortured artist" -- artists really may be more complicated people. Research has suggested that creativity involves the coming together of a multitude of traits, behaviors and social influences in a single person.
"It's actually hard for creative people to know themselves because the creative self is more complex than the non-creative self," Scott Barry Kaufman, a psychologist at New York University who has spent years researching creativity, told The Huffington Post. "The things that stand out the most are the paradoxes of the creative self ... Imaginative people have messier minds."
While there's no "typical" creative type, there are some tell-tale characteristics and behaviors of highly creative people."

Here is #3
They work the hours that work for them.
"Many great artists have said that they do their best work either very early in the morning or late at night. Vladimir Nabokov started writing immediately after he woke up at 6 or 7 a.m., and Frank Lloyd Wright made a practice of waking up at 3 or 4 a.m. and working for several hours before heading back to bed. No matter when it is, individuals with high creative output will often figure out what time it is that their minds start firing up, and structure their days accordingly."

Not sure I have a set time that I like to work, I do know that often times I wake up in the night it seems my subconscious brain has been working without the conscious me, giving me ideas and solutions. So, you know how they say you don't get paid for sleeping? I'd have to say that sometimes I DO get paid for sleeping.
 

Thursday, March 27, 2014

Difference #2 — Getting to know my creative self

This is a continuation of a blog post written by   titled 18 Things Highly Creative People Do Differently. I found it both enlightening and at times even comical in the spot on description of myself. Instead of quoting the entire post at length in a single setting, I decided I would let the world get to know me through this one excerpt at a time.

Here is a repeat of the intro to the post -
18 Things Highly Creative People Do Differently
"Creativity works in mysterious and often paradoxical ways. Creative thinking is a stable, defining characteristic in some personalities, but it may also change based on situation and context. Inspiration and ideas often arise seemingly out of nowhere and then fail to show up when we most need them, and creative thinking requires complex cognition yet is completely distinct from the thinking process.
Neuroscience paints a complicated picture of creativity. As scientists now understand it, creativity is far more complex than the right-left brain distinction would have us think (the theory being that left brain = rational and analytical, right brain = creative and emotional). In fact, creativity is thought to involve a number of cognitive processes, neural pathways and emotions, and we still don't have the full picture of how the imaginative mind works.
And psychologically speaking, creative personality types are difficult to pin down, largely because they're complex, paradoxical and tend to avoid habit or routine. And it's not just a stereotype of the "tortured artist" -- artists really may be more complicated people. Research has suggested that creativity involves the coming together of a multitude of traits, behaviors and social influences in a single person.
"It's actually hard for creative people to know themselves because the creative self is more complex than the non-creative self," Scott Barry Kaufman, a psychologist at New York University who has spent years researching creativity, told The Huffington Post. "The things that stand out the most are the paradoxes of the creative self ... Imaginative people have messier minds."
While there's no "typical" creative type, there are some tell-tale characteristics and behaviors of highly creative people."
 

Here is #2
They observe everything.

"The world is a creative person's oyster -- they see possibilities everywhere and are constantly taking in information that becomes fodder for creative expression

[I'd like to think that I look at the world objectively and in a very non-judgmental way. I'd also like to think that viewing the world in that way allows me to see beyond the surface and perhaps make creative decisions based on what I feel, not what is typical or obvious.]

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Difference #1 — Getting to know my creative self


















I just read a blog post written by titled 18 Things Highly Creative People Do Differently. I found it both enlightening and at times even comical in the spot-on description of myself. Instead of quoting the entire post at length in a single setting, I decided I would let the world get to know me through this explanation of behaviors - one excerpt at a time.

Here is the intro to the post -
18 Things Highly Creative People Do Differently
"Creativity works in mysterious and often paradoxical ways. Creative thinking is a stable, defining characteristic in some personalities, but it may also change based on situation and context. Inspiration and ideas often arise seemingly out of nowhere and then fail to show up when we most need them, and creative thinking requires complex cognition yet is completely distinct from the thinking process.
Neuroscience paints a complicated picture of creativity. As scientists now understand it, creativity is far more complex than the right-left brain distinction would have us think (the theory being that left brain = rational and analytical, right brain = creative and emotional). In fact, creativity is thought to involve a number of cognitive processes, neural pathways and emotions, and we still don't have the full picture of how the imaginative mind works.
And psychologically speaking, creative personality types are difficult to pin down, largely because they're complex, paradoxical and tend to avoid habit or routine. And it's not just a stereotype of the "tortured artist" -- artists really may be more complicated people. Research has suggested that creativity involves the coming together of a multitude of traits, behaviors and social influences in a single person.
"It's actually hard for creative people to know themselves because the creative self is more complex than the non-creative self," Scott Barry Kaufman, a psychologist at New York University who has spent years researching creativity, told The Huffington Post. "The things that stand out the most are the paradoxes of the creative self ... Imaginative people have messier minds."
While there's no "typical" creative type, there are some tell-tale characteristics and behaviors of highly creative people."]
Here is #1
They Daydream 
"Creative types know, despite what their third-grade teachers may have said, that daydreaming is anything but a waste of time.
According to Kaufman and psychologist Rebecca L. McMillan, who co-authored a paper titled "Ode To Positive Constructive Daydreaming," mind-wandering can aid in the process of "creative incubation." And of course, many of us know from experience that our best ideas come seemingly out of the blue when our minds are elsewhere.
Although daydreaming may seem mindless, a 2012 study suggested it could actually involve a highly engaged brain state -- daydreaming can lead to sudden connections and insights because it's related to our ability to recall information in the face of distractions. Neuroscientists have also found that daydreaming involves the same brain processes associated with imagination and creativity."

I often find myself sitting in my chair at work, head tilted back looking blankly at the ceiling tiles above me. The meaning of this behavior is not always the same, sometimes it is to think through a problem, occasionally to clear my mind, and frequently to just shift my thinking. I often times marvel at how sometimes I can tuck a thought into my head and not think about it and then it just kind of manifests at a later date with an answer, solution or alternative seemingly out of nowhere. The subconscious is an amazing thing.




Excerpts taken from:Carolyn Gregoire
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/04/creativity-habits_n_4859769.html