Moving Blog

I have decided to move my blog onto my website and wanted to invite you over. Transitions can be difficult (especially for someone a bit technologically challenged like myself) and I hope that if you have enjoyed my blog so far, you will consider joining me there. As a thank you for sticking around, reading, and commenting I decided to write an article about happiness just for you. You can find this article on my new blog here.

I also transferred all the posts from this blog over on the new one, in case you want to revisit any articles.

Again, thank you for all of your support and I hope to see you on the other side.

Diana

Dealing with unsupportive partners when you’re a creative

Creative people rely on their affect, talents, and techniques to engage in creative endeavors. A lot of the work you do takes places in solitude, as this is the space where creative ideas have the room to emerge and expand in an uncensored way. You reach deep within into the depths of your consciousness and take risks by plunging into the unknown without much of a guarantee of fame or success. And while creative people have been described as introverted and thinking types (not always the case) able to support themselves in the process of creativity, we’re still social beings and need people around us. We need a good supportive system in place and the people around us (partners, friends, family) to encourage us and be there for us when we need it; and in return, we do the same for them.

Vulnerability in creativity

Creating from a place of vulnerability and raw emotions gives your creative endeavor the main ingredient of connecting with yourself and the ones exposed to your work. Vulnerability is strength and courage, particularly in the creative process, because that’s where we store the hard lessons of life, our failures and mistakes from which we can learn to improve; it is the most fragile part of ourselves and yet it holds the answers to the difficulties we keep running into over and over again for which we think there is no solution.

Solitude and creativity

The concept of solitude is getting a bad name lately, in the era of social everything. We’re both connected and disconnected at the same time and creativity cannot survive or emerge in environments that do not encourage it. Solitude has come to represent something negative and anti-social, when in fact it is a very effective tool in achieving creativity, reaching that place within that needs to be explored and expressed.

 

Attitudes towards solitude

Creative people, artists, and scientists alike expressed (all throughout history) positive thoughts on the role of solitude in the creative process. Presently, other schools of thought place solitude and collaboration at opposite sides of the spectrum. The answer is not easy because as much as we’d like, things are rarely ever so black and white.

I believe that solitude is not at the opposite side of collaboration, they are rather on different panes. Solitude allows creativity to come to life, whereas collaboration increases the potential for creative endeavor. Solitude and collaboration are two different steps within the same process, they are not in competition with one another.

The role of solitude

Choosing to be alone in a somewhat disciplined manner can give you the time and space necessary to process your emotions, by looking within.

Creativity is a very personal kind of experience, one that does not look like or get manifested the same for all. It is because creativity is so personal and subjective, the reason why it requires lots of introspection, thought and access to what helps it emerge: feelings. The emotions that you can relate to so well when you read a book, look at a painting or a photograph, or listen to music.

Emotions can be hard to access, especially because we have so many walls and defenses in place to protect ourselves. Accessing emotions requires dedicated time and effort in focusing within. That means that you need to be able to pause without distraction or interruptions. The goal is to give your mind blankness or the space that you need in order to step within and connect with yourself.

For some, this might sound like a tedious process and that is fairly true; you need lots of courage, patience, empathy towards yourself, and discipline to get to that point and many times it is impossible to do it on our own; therapy can help though.

Solitude (paired with silence) is one of the main keys to creativity because it can lead you straight to the emotions that need your attention most, and with it to the inspiration you are seeking.

How fear destroys creativity

We are all born creative, to various degrees. The innovations and inventions past and present have been brought to life by people like you and me. Well, maybe not entirely like us, because our unique environment and experiences always set us apart and change our perception of the world.

So why is it that even though we are born creative and are able of creative endeavors, we can still make ourselves believe that “I’m not the creative type”? What happened to the child that used to dream and fashion tools for his discovery?

Good news!

I am so happy to let you all know that starting with this week I will be writing and blogging for PsycCentral. This is a huge leap for me considering some of my writing insecurities (being ESL) so I figured I would start out by talking about perfectionism. How perfect is that?

I wanted to share this wonderful news with you all and also let you know that I am not going anywhere and that I will continue writing and supporting you from here as well.

If you want to check out my PsychCentral page go to http://blogs.psychcentral.com/unleash-creativity/

To dare or not to dare

An inspirational video of a feeling we all, so often, feel.