Creative Confidence, post one

“To achieve creativity in an existing domain, there must be surplus attention available.” “And attention is a limited resource: There is just so much information we can process at any given time.” 

YES. THIS.

Praise you Csikszentmihalyiblablabla, you have done it.

This is the struggle. The root of it all. 

            

Alright Professor Canales , I know you wanted our insight and opinions, not proof we did the reading, so I apologize if starting off with a quote makes me seem like I’ve missed the mark, 

but please understand where I am coming from.

Mihaly Csikasdfjkl; you have truly done it. Admittedly, I can not say I am totally on board with everything you have said so far, but man, you are blowing  my mind with some of it.

You have granted me relief.

            So many of the jumbled thoughts I have had, or things I have observed, so much of the random mess in my mind- you have summarized and said.

In English and everything.

Relief might not be the right word, honestly. That implies a calmness, a peace. What I am experiencing as I flip through these pages, hastily underling things, is some kind of relief & excitement hybrid.

It is that feeling you get during charades, when someone finally guesses what you are acting out.

            Or like someone who has been chasing aliens for years, and finally finds someone else with a passion for extraterrestrials. See, I’m not crazy! It’s not just me! He sees it too!

 This problem is probably rooted in the fact these are not the kinds of things people talk about. In all the ways we obsess over learning styles, personal habits, and the way humans function- for some reason the idea of ‘creativity’ is more than anyone ever wants to tackle. Maybe it’s because of the ambiguity of the idea. It’s not easy to measure, so why try, when things like testing scores can be analyzed and picked apart till the cows come home. Maybe no one cares. They think of creativity as something for art teachers and elementary students. No matter the reason, information on creativity is scarce. So it’s amazing to finally have a legitimate piece of literature that treats creativity and the way we creatively operate, as fact.

The things I like most about what’s been said so far are the little human truths. The things that point out a human behavior or tendency, then give a reason for it or explain it. Those are the little gold nuggets, in my opinion. However, some of the broader, more assumptive things he’s been touching on are not totally my cup of tea. I’ll withhold judgment, since I’m still not very far into the book. I’ll give him a chance to make his case. Still, right now, I’m still a little skeptical.

But overall. This is great.

Golden. 

Keep it up Mihaly, keep it up.