Evidence suggests, not very. Creativity – the arts is generally top of the list for cutbacks in tough financial times, this is the absolute opposite of what would happen in a society that was even moderately aware of the value of creativity and the role of dynamic creative skill right across the board, in education, enterprise, politics, absolutely anywhere you observe excellence, high level competence/ productivity, fulfilment and sustainability, you are observing dynamic creative skill at work. Knowledge, intelligence, experience or academic status is only as effective, productive and successful as the dynamic creative ‘mental’ skill of the individual, team, political group or organisation. If you doubt this just look around, the chaos nationally and internationally is unfolding in the care of well educated, high status and powerful individuals. So how can Creative Awareness help? To start I would like to invite you to consider the following points.
Mental Creative Process is simply information processing. Information = the sum total of all the learning your brain has been exposed to since you were born, formal, informal, relationships, the good the bad and the ugly. Information ‘life’ comes with feelings; we have an emotional relationship with everything in and around our lives including the relationship we have with the ‘self’. The emotional component of information stored in the brain is very significant to the creative brain as if affects what we think, how we think and the quality of our thinking. Think of thinking as the activation of mental information. The thoughts that roam around our mind at any given time are not fully controlled by conscious intent, the emotional aspect acts as a selector – selecting data that concurs with how you feel at that specific time. Here is an example of a hypothetical situation where mood influences thinking and potential affects. Let’s say you are about to re-decorate your living room, the prep-work is done, desired colour chosen and you are ready to go, looking forward to your nice new living room. The post arrives, garage bill for the car, extra three hundred euro’s for something unexpected. You are furious. Then nosey neighbour calls and it takes half an hour to exit them so you can start painting. By now your mood is well shifted and an hour into the job you’re sorry you ever started and by the time you are done you hate the colour, blame your partner etc. Etc. I exaggerate a little to make the point, when factors negatively interfere and diminish your state of mind, it will likely undermine your efforts and outcome. Doing the same job in good mood, no negative triggers and the job goes great, you’re inspired choice of colour is vindicated and you’re so satisfied you’re up for doing another room. In the first example the next room can wait till next year. (Or when hell freezes over) A shift in mood is a shift in the information being processed by the brain and by the way, the bad mood (feelings) is created by chemicals produced in the brain and once they get flowing they trigger more thoughts to match, like ‘changing’ your mind and hating the colour or blaming your partner. Anxiety, fear, anger or frustrations are states of mind experienced and sustained by conscious or unconscious information processing (thoughts). This is why anxiety may undermine a student sitting an exam. In the exam we want the brain to remember and produce answers. This is undermined when the brain is multi-tasking, processing the exam and processing anxiety at the same time, producing inner conflict and a drain on resources (memory). Most people will have experienced a task or project going well and recall the feeling being positive and its opposite, a bad mood and things going wrong. This is why I suggest viewing the mental creative process as information processing. Words like Nervous, Anxious, and Depressed or fearful are names to identify a symptom of information processing (the cause is another matter and area). Happy, excited, fulfilled and confident are also symptoms of Information processing, just different brain/memory producing different results. Creative awareness is vital for the following reasons!When we get down to the nitty-gritty nuts and bolts of how the brain processes information we may then begin to address Creative Development; the development of the practises and habits that facilitate excellence, fulfilment, success and allows the brain to do what it naturally does, process information. Excellence in skill, artistry, design, management academia etc. is only realised when excellence in creative processing is realised in the brain.
Many people have achieved this 'excellence in creative processing' recognisable by their achievements, the likes of author J. K. Rowling, actor Al Pacino, comedian Robin Williams plus the likes of Steve Jobs or Richard Branson; just a tiny example.
Some have it and may or may not be aware, a great many may not be aware that it (creative excellence) is relatively easy to achieve. Fame not required, just a brain and the curiosity to explore.
“A man paints with his brain and not with his hands”...... (Michelangelo)