Mike's Theory of Creativity

A Theory of Creativity

            Developing a theory of creativity may seem like a daunting task, but in reality, it is not so difficult.   People tend to contextualize creativity with great discoveries, artistic works and powerful forms of self-expression.  However, this is not entirely accurate.  Creativity is a system of thought reflective of our inner nature.  Creativity is the force that forms meaning and relationships, it embraces the vast resources of the human mind, it is infused by imagination, and most importantly, it is fully authentic.

            Creativity forms meaning through the processes of recognition and interpretation.  R.W. Gerard would use the terms gestalts and closure (240-243).  People tend to view the world with incomplete information.  There is what we can perceive, the known, and that which is hidden, or the unknown.  There is usually enough information that one can fill in the blanks with assumptions based on past experiences and memories.  This is called closure and the process forms gestalts, or completed ideas of things (Gerard 241).  Rollo May supports this notion, “Incomplete gestalts form whenever we encounter something we do not understand” (131).  A foundational base for a theory suggests creative acts occur during the formation of meaning, as well as the expression of ideas.  I theorize that highly creative people tend to slow down the processes of closure and infuse their imagination during the formation of meaning and expression.  I surmise that many of their memories are infused with creative metaphors that tend to fuel future creative expressions. 

The creative mind can draw from the vast resources of the human mind.  May writes that the forming and reforming of our world uses the totality of our person (133).  If the totality of the individual can be used, then one can identify reason, emotion, dream, myth, intuition and faith as cognitive tools of creation.  In addition, Einstein wrote that he thought in symbols and images (32).  This speaks to sensory memories as systems of thought rather than language.  I believe that thinking, through the use of sensory memory, is part of our everyday experience, but it is over shadowed by language and conscious thought.  This might explain why people have to be distracted, or achieve subdued states of mind, in order to receive communication from their deeper selves. I also theorize that communicating to this level could describe the notions of the collective unconscious.  It is not so much we are sharing residual memories, but we are sharing and accessing more primal modes of communication.  I add to my theory that highly creative people have more access to forms of communication that include sensory memory and more interpretative tools outside the realms of reason and conscious thought. 

 The forces of imagination and choice seem to determine creative ability and expression.  May wrote, “Imagination is the key function that participates in the formation of reality” (133).   Gerard summarizes that the imagination is the premise, or the question, and reason forms the conclusion, or the answer (238).   The idea is that how far one is willing to stretch the imagination, during closure, determines the level of creative interpretation and expression.  Highly creative people are freer and more willing to stretch their imagination in their efforts to interpret and describe their world.  

            The use of the term choice requires some context.  Choice is the central theme of The Courage to Create (May).  May argues that one should choose to act on life, rather than passively accept one’s circumstances (11).  It is reasonable to infer that our attitudes toward encounters impact the storage of our memories.  Again, we find notions speaking to creativity during observation and interpretation.  May writes to the creative encounter as the start of the creative process (41).  Gerard speaks to observation as being the tool to reveal understanding (236).  Paul Valery writes that questions spark the creative mind (105).   May, Gerard, and Valery speak to an inquisitive mind seeking the unknown.  They speak to a mind that uses discovery as a way to generate deeper questions of exploration.  In this context, choice becomes reflective of attitude and outlook towards one’s world.  The more one openly and honestly engages with their world seems to influence their level of creative potential.

            Perhaps the most powerful aspect of any creative theory is the notion of authenticity.  Conviction and validation are companions of deep insight.  The subconscious realm is not inhabited by shades of doubt or abstract negatives.  When the unconscious speaks, it speaks to what it believes to be true.  It speaks to its experiences and its inner nature.  Unconscious expression by its nature is reflective only of itself, and therefore it is completely authentic.  Maya Angelou once said, “A bird doesn’t sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.”  Maslow enhances this poetic insight by writing to the inner nature.  He notes that everyone has an intrinsic nature that seems to be unchanging (3).  He writes, “It is weak and delicate and subtle and easily overcome by habit, cultural pressure, and wrong attitudes toward it” (4).  Unfortunately, cultural pressures and wrong attitudes towards the individual accurately and uncomfortably describe our consumer culture.  However, everyone wants to be heard, to be valued and to have a sense of contribution to something larger.  Creativity is more than the flash of revelation; it is our intrinsic curiosity that relishes in discovery and thrives in the unknown.  Creative expression is our unique story, and it is our song that wants to be sung.

            The best way to describe my creative theory is to apply it to my process.  Most of my better photographs tend to be from found scenes, rather than constructed images.   I tend to search for encounters and I rely heavily on visual stimulus, faith and intuition.  Upon finding a scene, I explore it, and it usually takes a while for a scene to reveal itself.  When I am in the creative mode, the initial scene becomes an incomplete gestalt.  The experience of the encounter is felt through sensory memory as language dissipates through observation.  The process of closure is slowed through questions.  This is the opportunity to stretch the imagination around the ideas of new perspectives and alternate points of view.  Metaphors, myth and cultural ideas are explored during the encounter.  Sometimes deeper meaning is captured, and sometimes it is not.

            The difficult part of creativity is conveying what was experienced into something the viewer can share.   My creative toolbox uses the conscious and the unconscious.  It uses the culmination of my experience inline with dream, myth, reason and faith.  It has technical knowledge and craft along with poetic expression to will visions into existence.  All of these tools work together in the attempt to create an image capable of speaking to the sensory memories and emotive feelings in others.  I have maintained that I attempt to include mystery and secrets within my imagery.  This allows a connection in which the viewer can interpret works through the infusion of their own experiences and imaginations.  Mystery speaks to things unknown, and secrets are things revealed, but not shared.   The unknown fuels creativity, and my nature speaks to creating images through curiosity and exploration.  When successful, my imagery sparks the creative drive in others.   

            Creativity is not an isolated function of the psyche solely possessed by artists.  Creativity is the forge of human understanding and expression.  It is the system of thought reflective of our inner nature, and it is limited only by how far one is willing to learn and express their authentic selves.  Angelou was right that everyone has a song to sing, and creativity is the flicker of life that composes our uniqueness and lets our songs be sung.

Works Cited

Angelou, Maya.  Maya Angelou Quotes. N.d. Web. 5 Aug 2013. http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/737-a-bird-doesn-t-sing-because-it-has-an-answer-it

Einstein, Albert. “Letter to Jacques Hadamard.” The Creative Process: A Symposium. Ed. Brewster Ghislen. Berkeley: University of California Press. 1985. 32-33. Print.

Gerard, R.W. “The Biological Basis of Imagination.” The Creative Process: A Symposium. Ed. Brewster Ghislen. Berkeley: University of California Press. 1985. 236-259. Print.

Maslow, Abraham.  Toward a Psychology of Being. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold. 1968. Print.

May, Rollo. The Courage to Create. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. 1975. 11-54. Print.

Spender, Stephen. “The Making of a Poem.” The Creative Process: A Symposium. Ed. Brewster Ghislen.  Berkeley: University of California Press. 1985. 113-126. Print.
Valery, Paul. “The Course in Poetics: First Lesson.” The Creative Process: A Symposium. Ed. Brewster Ghislen. Berkeley: University of California Press. 1985. 92-105. Print.