Last Saturday I attended a Creative Day, an online event organized by one of my favorite organizations. The day was designed to be a container, a space for people to work alone on their own individual projects, with the leader providing an opening meditation and closing discussion.
As often happens when creative people gather, someone asked for book recommendations. One person wanted the best book on understanding the creative process for writers.
My ears perked up when I heard the names of two authors, Cameron and Goldberg. These are writers I’ve liked so much that when reading their books I have become as-if-one-with. I was briefly happy but suddenly dismayed when the leader strongly advised us to stay away from these two, implying that one of them had mal intent towards writers.
Mal intent? Now how was I going to handle this difference of opinion? This lack of agreement. If you’ve read my memoir or been a follower here for very long, you know how I crave agreement.
I started thinking about the decade I spent in psychoanalysis. The purpose of psychoanalytic treatment is self-knowledge, self-mastery, and freedom. Because of my work in analysis, I was more comfortable accepting differences and felt confident that I could think this through on my own. But first, I wanted to understand, as much as possible, where the other opinion came from.
I had learned in analysis that there is always more than one way of thinking about a subject since we are each affected by different causes and conditions that make us who we are.
But I still didn’t understand this badmouthing of two of my favorite authors. How could this be?
All of this disagreement and uncertainty was very uncomfortable and led me to investigate my own relationship to creative processes more deeply.
Is creativity primarily a thinking endeavor where the artist employs brainstorming for ideas? Or is it more akin to Dreamstorming, where one sits back and dips into the unconscious as if daydreaming?
Personally, I like the freedom of being able to use both styles, so that’s what I do.
Looking at those two very different ways of thinking about the creative process, I could understand a bit more why a person could have a different opinion if they felt strongly about one of the two styles.
Do you have a preferred creative mode? Is it different from these? I try not to ask more than one question but today I am going to ask another: How do you handle disagreements?
2 comments
Mal intent towards writers? Me-thinks that leader has something else going on–not necessarily having all that much to do with writing! I wonder what has led us to the place where disagreement on style or process or even (especially) what’s good for our country has resulted in the dismissal of others (not just their opinions on particular issues). I try to handle disagreement with an open mind, but I, like many others–and like this leader–have a ways to go.
Hi Diane, Thanks for your comment – I think your question of what has led us to this place where we dismiss others is an important one.
Keeping an open mind is a difficult proposition these days – which makes it even more important for us to try. Good luck as you continue
to think about these issues.
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