"By whatever name one calls it, genuine creativity is characterized by an intensity of awareness, a heightened consciousness."

[Green Dot]

 

[Green Dot]

 

[Ignoramus]

Yeah. People who say they are 'not creative' always just seem unhealthy to me.

 

[Ignoramus]

I've noticed that highly creative people (myself included) often oscillate wildly in their emotions (I'm basically bipolar). There are a lot of suicides among creative people. My way of understanding this is that one has to use the creative 'side' of their brain to synthesize the idea, and then switch to the other side to employ harsh judgment in evaluating the work.

 

[HealthisWealth]

Thank you for this now I will check who is rollo may

 

[CiggyTardust]

I've noticed that highly creative people (myself included) often oscillate wildly in their emotions (I'm basically bipolar). There are a lot of suicides among creative people. My way of understanding this is that one has to use the creative 'side' of their brain to synthesize the idea, and then switch to the other side to employ harsh judgment in evaluating the work.

I think it is related to the personality trait of 'Openness' studied extensively by psychologists. I rank very high in this trait but have learned to practice equanimity as I've gotten older... emotions may come and go but I resolve not to be moved by them. When I was younger, I leaned into these emotions and suffered greatly for it.

I've also gone through various phases of life where I lean more into the intuitive, sensitive and open-hearted states of consciousness however I find that this can lead to being un-grounded. This leads to chaos and disorder. Life is far more manageable for me when I impose discipline, order and structure... although this can be at the expense of creativity. It's a balancing act as with most things.

 

[Ignoramus]

I think it is related to the personality trait of 'Openness' studied extensively by psychologists. I rank very high in this trait but have learned to practice equanimity as I've gotten older... emotions may come and go but I resolve not to be moved by them. When I was younger, I leaned into these emotions and suffered greatly for it.

I've also gone through various phases of life where I lean more into the intuitive, sensitive and open-hearted states of consciousness however I find that this can lead to being un-grounded. This leads to chaos and disorder. Life is far more manageable for me when I impose discipline, order and structure... although this can be at the expense of creativity. It's a balancing act as with most things.

Yeah, I can relate to this.

Sometimes it feels like I have access to too many perspectives. Like with health or 'the meaning of life' or whatever, I just kind of ping-pong back and forth between different positions; I almost feel it's arrogant to have a firm belief in anything, because what do we really know? This is an aspect about myself that I find frustrating at times; it would be so much easier to just be firm in my beliefs and to stop thinking about things endlessly.

Do you have any advice for dealing with emotions? I'm a lot better now (age 26) than I was in the past, but I can still get bowled over and end up wallowing or pining for a life that isn't mine. I have been doing well recently by just attempting to be aware at all times, and making a habit out of consciously 'steering the ship' instead of just following my intuition all the time. I run my business from home; most days I am able to work away all day happily in quite a focused state, but other days I just feel so sad an unable to do what I know I need to do. It's frustrating because I don't understand what the difference is between these days.

I think it's also important to 'acknowledge the emotions', and a lot of people I look up to talk about that. This is something I struggle with though. I've been doing a mental exercise lately, where if I get really low then I will go for a walk and imagine myself also walking next to me. I'll talk with him and show him that things aren't so bad, and that the only thing to do is to focus on the things that can be controlled. This is a very different approach from what I used to do, which was to brutally self-flagellate with all the "I'm worthless" talk. I still feel I have a lot to learn regarding emotions and self-esteem.

Would appreciate any insight!

 

[AncestralJoy]

I've noticed that highly creative people (myself included) often oscillate wildly in their emotions (I'm basically bipolar). There are a lot of suicides among creative people. My way of understanding this is that one has to use the creative 'side' of their brain to synthesize the idea, and then switch to the other side to employ harsh judgment in evaluating the work.

what a burden to have such keen awareness hey? Can totally relate re the harsh judgment when one not only see a lot of everything but also a lot of ones own flaws.
And its funny you say that about uncreative people. I completely agree, those who consider themselves uncreative often don't seem very alive at all.

I love the walk alongside method you shared. I imagine that would help a great deal to disperse the pointedness of ones observations when it comes to self criticisms. Like it becomes a bit less personal by sharing the perspective of one walking alongside you as a friend. I must give that one a go!