I have long been interested in creativity –
forming a broad-based definition of the term, understanding what makes
some people live their lives more creatively than others, and
discovering what conditions and traits optimize creativity and how it
relates to learning (not to mention how to spark or revive it in myself). I believe that, although the “creative personality”
is a complex one and some people have innate talent in certain fields,
everyone has the capacity to be creative, or at least to think
creatively. Furthermore, I don't limit my thinking about creativity to
the arts.
Years ago, I began a list of things that nurture creativity. I’ve
added and subtracted from it and had arguments about the validity of
some of the items...as well as arguments about things I’ve left off.
What Supports Creativity?
My list includes what we might call personality traits. These include
being comfortable breaking rules, taking risks, and dreaming big;
curiosity and willingness to explore, ask questions, and seek new
challenges; determination to create one’s own life on one’s own terms
(which includes self-care); ability to focus; willingness to do hard
work (which includes practice and routine); being comfortable with
solitude; and bravery (which includes stubbornness in the face of
criticism or failure). These are also what nurtures learning.
There are other, outward things on my list that support and enhance
the creative experience. These include surrounding yourself with
supportive people and avoiding negativity; having a “muse;” finding a
stimulating “working” environment (Virginia
Woolf’s room of one’s own, in my case); having the necessities of life;
having recognition and acceptance in one’s chosen field. But I don’t
believe these things are absolutely crucial to creativity. People who
think and live creatively are found doing all sorts of work, living in
all sorts of situations. Some have found fame in their creative
expression; others haven’t. And many don’t seek it, preferring to use
creativity as a life tool.
On my quest to understand creativity and learning, I’ve long enjoyed
and been inspired by
Julia Cameron’s bestselling Artist’s Way
books. But more recently, I discovered
Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and
Invention by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. He
studied 91 creative and influential people, including novelists,
playwrights, composers, musicians, scientists, actors, economists, and
philosophers. And he concluded that creativity in any realm involves the
same skill set: dedication, hard work, actively seeking new challenges,
persistence, and boldness. Maybe I like this book so much because
Csikszentmihalyi agrees with my thesis! “Each person has,” he says,
“...all the psychic energy he or she needs to live a creative life.”
School-Free Kids and Creativity
So what is the difference between those who use that energy and those
who don’t? And what does it have to do with learning? In my 45 or so
years of observing kids who have educated themselves without attending
school, I have noted that their lives are more conducive to nurturing
creativity than those whose days are spent passively being told what to
do, think, and learn.
They are also masters of play, which is, after all, their creative
work. Play requires presence and engagement – two features of the
self-directed learner. When one is fully and creatively engaged in a
project, one doesn’t worry about the outcome or how others might judge
it. That pleasurable experience is what Csikszentmihalyi calls
flow.
Caught up in our results-oriented world, many adults consider play
non-productive. We get so focused on getting things done and on doing
them well that we rarely enjoy ourselves. And yet, in that exploratory,
creative – playful – process, we are stretching ourselves and, as the
life coaches put it, actualizing our potential. Paradoxically, our
intense striving for perfection, to have it all, actually limits our
potential.
What’s Important About Creativity?
For adults, maintaining an attitude of play and viewing problems from
outside the box can be hard but important work. As I wrote in
this article in 2010, creative thinking is
one of the important things that leading edge employers are increasingly
looking for, along with flexibility, adaptability, networking skills,
research ability, motivation, time management, and entrepreneurial
thinking.
So perhaps we should take our unschooled children as a model for our
own lives. They live mostly free of adult-imposed structure. They are
inherently creative. They explore, question, problem solve, experiment,
focus and shift focus, make messes, take risks without fear of ridicule,
make mistakes and try again. They apply what they have learned by moving
around, talking, experimenting some more, thinking, jumping up and
down...and sometimes appearing not to be doing anything at all.
These creative school-free children will be well-prepared to function
in the new “real world.” By all accounts, the old industrial model of
working and living is becoming outmoded and is taking the industrial
model of passive, one-size-fits-all education with it. In the place of
warehouse schools, a new mode of active, participatory, community-based
learning is growing. And creativity is at the forefront of this new real
world.
Resources
Walking in This World – The Practical Art of
Creativity by Julia Cameron (2003, Jeremy P. Tarcher)
Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of
Discovery and Invention by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (1997, Perennial
Books)
The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp (Simon
& Schuster, 2003)
Wendy Priesnitz is Life Learning Magazine's editor. She is also a journalist with
over 40 years experience, a former broadcaster, the author of 13 books, and a changemaker by nature. Her two adult daughters learned without schooling
in the 1970s and '80s. You can learn more about Wendy and read some of her writing on her personal
website.
