Thinking, Doing, and Being: Discovering Everyday Creativity

1. August 4, 2018 Southern Oregon College Creativity Conference Ashland, Oregon Paul Nolan, M.C.A.T., MT-BC, LPC Adjunct Associate Professor Retired Director, Music Therapy Education Department of Creative Arts Therapies Drexel University Stephanie Nolan, B.A. Early Childhood Music Teacher and Trainer Thinking, Doing, and Being: Discovering Everyday Creativity

2. The Goals of this Presentation and Workshop are for You to: • understand the differences between eminent creativity, everyday creativity and personal creativity • develop a personal perspective that recognizes and appreciates the value of creative thinking and behaviors

3. Goals (con’t.) • be able to recognize, through the experiential, the importance of: • modeling creativity (generative) • openness to new experiences • divergent thinking

4. Even More Goals! • flexibility and imagination as components of creative activity and the creative attitude • introduction to personal creativity • recognize one’s blocks in accessing personal creative and enhancement techniques for self and in working with others • .

5. Definitions of Creativitydeveloped from eminent creativity leading to innovations • A conglomeration of mental processes that: • 1) is novel, or original, and has a function, or is meaningful, such as an idea, product, a way of thinking, or a solution that is appropriate to the context • 2) an idea or a product that is original, valued and implemented (Csikszentmihalyi)

6. Blocks to CreativityZinker • fear of failure • reluctance to play • resource myopia • over-certainty • frustration avoidance • custom bound • impoverished fantasy life

7. fear of the unknown • need for balance • reluctance to exert influence • reluctance to let go • impoverished emotional life • unintegrated Yin-Yang • sensory dullness • “Because of well learned habits, an unsupportive or repressive environment, or our fears and insecurities, most people do not use their creative imaginations and abilities.” W.A, Davis

8. Runco’s Creativity Squelchers • What would your mother think? • That’s not my job • Don’t rock the boat • We’ve always done it the other way • We’ve always done it that way • Don’t make waves • You can’t fight city hall • You’ve got to be serious

9. Squelchers (con’t.) • That’s a waste of time • Too risky • It will never work • It will never fly • It will cost too much • Be practical • Can’t be done • Too expensive

10. What is Everyday Creativity? • originality - something new, a product, behavior or an idea • meaningful - not random, and communicates to others (Barron) • demonstrates creativity – relevant skills: • tolerance for ambiguity, self - discipline, ability to take risks, driven more by intrinsic motivation, passion and enjoyment than money (extrinsic), praise, grades, or external reward.

11. Characteristics of Everyday Creativity • fundamental component of life and broad based • can have survival capability via problem finding and problem solving • problem solving that allows for inventiveness and adaptation to one’s ever changing immediate environment • a healthy activity, a positive emotional experience

12. Characteristics (con’t.) • ubiquitous across all populations given a fundamental level of intelligence • creative visualization, as an example of Everyday Creativity, has health benefits • less modality/domain specific • contributes toward holistic thinking,

13. Personal Rewards from Everyday Creativity • creative coping connects us to our “bravery” • finding purpose, alternatives, feeling empowered • discovering satisfaction and meaning (Richards) Improved confidence and attitude toward one’s potential

14. Basic Roles of Creativity(Moran) • 1) Improvement or furthering of something, such as a product or concept, within a domain, such as eminent creativity • 2) Expression/Personal Creativity: what is important to the self; • Releasing one’s creative capacity • Creativity – as – Expression • Distinct from problem solving (Runco)

15. Theory of Personal Creativity - Definition • “Original and effective thinking and behavior that may have no social expression and may not lead to manifest product.” (Runco) • original only to us • interpretations of our experiences and creating new understandings

16. Personal Creativity (con’t.) • discretion, when to be more conventional • proactive innovations to broaden our status quo • doesn’t need a resulting product or solution • evaluation (if it is done) is subjective

17. Value and Functions of Personal Creativity ( Moran) • one is more self-directed which helps to elicit hope and one is willing to try it again • one is active rather than passive in addressing a situation • functions to manifest latent (hidden) aspects of the self

18. Values of Personal Creativity (con’t.) • as an expression it is a way of coping with life’s challenges • those without power have a say in society • The genesis of all forms of creation (Runco)

19. Enhancing Your Creativity • stress that creativity is a good thing • encourage flexibility, especially in your specialty • allow for open ended, divergent thinking • transformational thinking (“imagine that I am…”) using alternatives, metaphors, similes, and analogies...

20. More Personal Enhancements • positive emotional states help, sometimes depressed mood as well • seek modeling from others • openness to new experiences and perspectives • perceptual: creative individuals use ambiguity to stimulate imagination, • Construction of meaning based upon very little material • unearthing of intrinsic interests • resist interpretations

21. Enhancements (con’t) • mindfulness allows for flexibility, openness to experience, a break from routine, as well as prior assumptions and conformity • “…our best ideas often come to us while in bed, in a bath, or on a bus… recording these ideas but ‘evaluating them’* later is important.” Who’s statement is this? * or develop them further

22. Enhancing Everyday/Personal Creativity for Others via Modeling Both Creative Thinking and Actions • demonstrate different possibilities of using tools or props; uses of the body; art, music, dramatic materials; variations in perception... • encourage and reward creative attempts whether successful or not • show spontaneity, removal of barriers (encourage a playful or improvisatory use of your materials) and deliberate creativity by using divergent thinking

23. Enhancing Creativity Thru Modeling (con’t) • modeling: move with them towards beauty and aesthetic experiences • modeling stimulates mirror neuron activity and opens up possibilities for empathy and cross - modality interactions

24. Mental Health Benefits from Everyday/Personal Creative Activity/ Thinking • increased awareness of the matter at hand • improved perception of reality • improved self confidence • mood elevation • expressive (disclosure) and daily events writing can provide psychobiological benefits (Koschwanez)

25. Mental Health Benefits from Everyday/Personal Creativity • increased creativeness • increased tendency toward self-actualization • increased resilience - More creative children show less aggression versus less creative children (Richards) • Dopamine and Endorphin production (reward system)

26. Contact Paul and Stephanie Nolan • Email: info@creativityrenewandevolve.com • Website (under construction): • creativityrenewandevolve.com (215) 849-7783

27. References Davis, W.A. (2011). Barriers to creativity and creative attitudes. In: Runco, M.A. & Pritzker, S.R. (eds.) Encyclopedia of Creativity, 2ed., p. 118. NY, NY: Academic Press • Koschwanez, H.; Robinson, H.; Beban, G.; (2017). Randomized clinical trial of expressive writing on wound healing following bariatric surgery. Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association, 07/2017, Volume 36, Issue.No. 7, 630–640 http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/hea0000494.supp Moran, S. (2010). The roles of creativity in society. In J .C. Kaufmann & R. J. Sternberg (Ed.), The Cambridge handbook of creativity (pp. 74-90). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. Richards, R. (2007). Everyday creativity: Our hidden potential. In R. Richards (Ed.), Everyday creativity and new views of human nature: psychological, social and spiritual perspectives (pp 25-53). Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association,

28. References (Con’t) Runco, M. (2011). Personal Creativity. In: Runco, M.A. & Pritzker, S.R. (eds.) Encyclopedia of Creativity, 2ed., p. 220. NY, NY: Academic Press Runco, M. (2014). Cognition and creativity., Creativity theories and themes: research, development and practice (2nd Ed., pp. 1-38), London, UK: Academic Press. Zinker, J.(1977). Creative process in Gestalt Therapy. New York, NY: Brunner/Mazel

29. Additional Titles • Barron, F., Montuouri, A.& Barron, A. (Eds.), (1997). Creators on Creating: Awakening and Cultivating the Imaginative Mind. New York, NY: Penguin Putnam Inc. • Csikszentmihaly, M. (2014) The Systems Model of Creativity: The Collected Works of Mihaly Csilsezentmihalyi. New York, NY: Springer • Damasio, A.R. (2001). Some notes on brain, imagination, and creativity. In K.H. Penninger & V.R. Shubik (Eds.), The origins of creativity, 59-68. Oxford: Oxford University Press • DellapiellaPietra, L. (Ed), Perspectives on Creativity. • Kaufman, J.C., and Sternberg, R.J. (Eds.). (2010). The Cambridge Handbook of Creativity .New York, NY: Springer • Silvia, P. J., Beaty, R. E., Nusbaum, E. C., Eddington, K. M., Levin-Aspenson, H., & Kwapil, T. R. (2014). Everyday creativity in daily life: An experience-sampling study of “little c” creativity. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 8, 183–188. http://dx.doi.org/ • 10.1037/a0035722 • Tamlin, C.S. & Silva, P.J. (2015) Creative days: A daily diary study of emotion, and everyday creativity. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 9, .463–470.Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association, http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/aca0000022

30. Quotes for Experiential • “If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is, infinite. For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things through narrow chinks of his cavern.” • From: The Marriage of Heaven and Hell – • William Blake

31. Einstein Quote on Play • “Play it the highest form of research.”