Unmasking Pain and Creativity
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When my mother died, friends and family showered me with condolences, uttering, "I'm so sorry. I can't imagine the pain you must be feeling."
But the truth is, they could.
Often, we shy away from the menacing shadows of human existence, barricading these grim realities from consciousness.
We refuse to acknowledge just how universal, how utterly mundane our agony truly is.
If my friends and family dared to simulate the gut-wrenching loss of their own mother, it would mirror my raw grief.
I saw it in their eyes then.
I caught them, gaze fixed on me, wondering what such a loss would mean for them.
Provocation I
Understand this - your imaginative capacity is more expansive than you think. It can conjure images of splendor and intense sorrow. Neglecting to do so, you surrender a portion of your creative potential. By engaging with extremes, we unlock the realm of possibility. Within these internal explorations, we can better understand ourselves and others. This could very well be a variable that separates extraordinary from ordinary creators.
Provocation II
Do you know what rarely leads to a creativity boost? Depression, psychosis, and other psychological disorders that encourage the evasion of discomfort. Psychological research suggests that these conditions, when active, tend to obstruct creative endeavors. However, a past brush with mental illness can often amplify creativity. Why is that? It's as if you've lived multiple lives, experiencing the dazzling highs, the profound lows, and everything between. When you blend these experiences in unique ways, you add a special ingredient to your thought process that sets you apart from peers. To activate this ingredient, don't shy away from mental simulations.
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Dr. Todd B. Kashdan is an author of several books including The Upside of Your Dark Side (Penguin) and The Art of Insubordination: How to Dissent and Defy Effectively (Avery/Penguin) and Professor of Psychology and Leader of The Well-Being Laboratory at George Mason University.
Thanks Ana-Maria.
It's all an extension of Jung and his insights...
It's why we shouldn't assume people with lofty degrees no more on psychological topics IMHO.
Travelling to the extremes where everything is so much that you have to escape reality gives you powerful insights.
You see into the depth and breath of reality itself and, even more importantly, to the beyond that you have visited.
Sorry for your loss Todd, I can only imagine how painful that is...vividly.