How do you study creativity at a University that is devoted to producing minions for a desensitized industrialized, extractive resource dependent country that is devoted to diminishing beauty wherever it is found? In her attempt to get the qualification she needs to teach music to kids Sam is currently doing some kind of art unit at Uni. The idea of studying art in this way seems to almost stifle the very spirit required to create in the first place. I remember when my sister first went to Uni and she loved reading so she studied English Literature and was put of reading for years! Being force fed other peoples opinions about how a creation should be interpreted seems to completely contradict or eliminate the very force that creates!
Here are some questions recently posted on Learn Line that Sam submitted her answer to a week late and so will not receive a mark for! I liked her response to the questions and thought the irony of her not receiving a grade for this work qualified it as a free work of creativity in it's own right!
Q: What is creativity?
Q: Who is creative?
Q: When and where are you creative?
Q: Why are you creative?
Q: Why are you creative?
Kids impression of their Dad riding home from the volcano
Creativity is a whole brain /body /being process. I say process rather than skill as it happens when skills and a certain way of being are in alignment. The way of being could be thought of as immersion, or, as Cskisenmiyalhi calls it 'flow'. There is a sense of timelessness, of forgetting normal body processes such as hunger, a sense of deep connection with the unconscious and the mystery of life - like being on an exciting new frontier where you aren't really sure what's going to happen but stuffs coming out of you and there is a cathartic expression of deep person hood while at the same time loss of separateness from the space beyond our own bodies. As if we are all time and space and all time and space is us. This is not to be confused with playing video games, as, even though some of these things happen when we play video games, we are essentially riding someone else's creativity - not our own.
All people who have the capacity to lose themselves in their own quest or need to either produce or express themselves in a unique way are creative. Watching Bob Dylan write songs is an example of creative genius. Einstein on his quest for the theory of relativity was creative. Gandhi leading the revolt against English occupation of India was creative. Parents who explore new ways of relating to their children are creative. Mozart was amazingly creative.
I am most likely to be creative in unstructured time - also known as recreation - for a reason I think! I like to have a lot of unstructured time in my life to give myself the space to let any creative energy be released. I actually get pretty narky if my life gets too full of appointments etc. I don't do well in routine! There needs to be space in my head for something unexpected to come up from the unconscious, so getting the balance right between external stimulus and internal quiet is the key for me. I need to be led by my intuition - it's not a controlling thing. In fact, the more I try and exercise control, the more this seems to be counterproductive. I just have to let go and trust. In the meantime, any building of skills is always useful as well. Still need to practice that piano! So discipline does play a part too. I'm mostly creative at home, I think this is because it is my sanctuary and I am free to let go on a deep level. When I lived at home with my parents, it was restricted to my own room.
I'm creative because...I'm not quite sure. Maybe it is just a deep seated need of the subconscious to express itself, maybe it is a need to contribute to community in some personal way and be acknowledged? I'm not quite sure what drives my creativity...it's an interesting question to sit on and ponder.
(By Samantha F)
