CREATIVITY - What's it all about, Alfie?

 

"When you walk let your heart lead the way
And you'll find love any day, Alfie, Alfie."

In my daily wondering ( mind wanderings?!) I ponder about what makes our creativity flow.

I came upon a very interesting article/blog post called 10 Reasons Creative Folks Make Us Crazy  from Liz Strauss of Successful and Outstanding Blog(gers), written back in 2006.  I know, I know,  it's sounds like one of Letterman's list that might have been written by a bunch of haters, but NO, it is really a great article.


In her writing she discusses the views of Dr. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi  who wrote the book, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. Specifically she talks about his 10 Dimensions of Complexity of the Highly Creative Personality and how, as she states it, "Each item is a paradox, a complexity, a contradiction that’s frustrating to others when they exist together at odds in one human being". 


The 10 Dimensions of Complexity of the Higher Creative Personality:

1. Creative individuals have great physical energy, but they become extremely quiet when they are at rest. This restful period can lead others to think that they are not feeling well or that they are unhappy, when the truth is they are fine.

2. Creative folks tend to be both highly intelligent and naive at the same time.

3. Creative people are disciplined and playful simultaneously. In some creative people, this can mean that they are responsible and irresponsible at the same time as well.

4. Creative minds move between a spectrum of fantasy and imagination and a firm grounding in reality. They understand the present and need to keep in touch with the past.

5. Creative individuals seem to be both introverted and extroverted, expressing both traits at once. An image to explain this might be that they are shy showoffs, if you can picture that.

6. Creative people are sincerely humble and extremely proud in a childlike way. It requires ego to have a risky, fresh idea. It takes self-doubt to hammer it out to a workable form.

7. Creative folks don’t feel as tied to gender roles. They feel distinctly individual. They don’t feel the barriers of authority or the rules of what they are “supposed to do.”

8. Creative individuals are thought to be rebellious. Yet, in order to be creative one has to understand and have internalized the traditional culture. Therefore creativity comes from deep roots in tradition. Creative people are traditional and cutting edge.

9. Creative people are deeply passionate about their work, yet can be extremely detached and objective when discussing it.

10. Creative people are highly open and sensitive, which exposes them to pain and suffering, but also allows them to feel higher values of joy and happiness.

I found the traits listed to be pretty true, at least of myself, and from reading it I can understand why I tend to sometimes frustrate and confuse those around me.  I AM a contradiction, and dang proud of it.  I like that! Keep 'em on their toes I always say! Yes, I'm complex, but NEVER BORING! :)p

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According to the Arts Institute of Vancouver, "being creative or artistic doesn’t mean you know how to draw or play an instrument. Being creative is a way of thinking, a way of viewing the world."  

Take their online quiz, Right Brain vs Left Brain Creativity Test. 

So...what did it say about you, right or left-brained?
My results said that I was pretty much neither right or left brain dominant. I already knew this as I enjoy the creative process as much as I do being logical. Family and friends often comment that I am rather a "crafty" person (I am assuming they mean crafty in the creative sense, but one never knows does one?!) but then, I absolutely love math, and am known to be great with computers and the like too. I always believed my non-dominance had something to do with me being forced by my grandmother to write with my right hand, instead of my left. (Remember back in the day, people assumed it was a bad thing to be left-handed!?!).  After she did that I wrote very neat but I always held my pen or pencil in the most awkward way  - sort of looking deformed. I still played sport left-handed, which gave me a wicked two-handed backhand in tennis...but I am doing that "artist, creative thing" again - I'm wandering!!!




And as an added bonus, I'd like to share A BLAST FROM THE PAST -  "Alfie" sung by Cilla Black