Long Haul Creativity

Will you be joining us for our monthly Creativity Conversations this Wednesday?

We’ll be talking about the concept of ‘Long Haul Creativity’ – what that is and why we do it … based on an article I recently read. Creativity is not all calm and ease…. so why do we keep doing it? Why do we even have a need to make and create?

In the article by author and writer, Steven Kotler, he addresses the thing that many people don’t address when talking about creativity – how it takes its toll on the creator – and he offers some antidotes.

“These days, creativity is a buzz word in just about every field. It seems like everyone’s hunting for more of this skill, but no one’s really talking about the ramifications of getting what we desire.

This is a critical point. Being creative over a career involves a whole subset of nearly invisible skills, a great many of which conflict with most people’s general ideas about what it means to be creative. What’s more, being creative is different than the business of being creative, and most people who learn how to be good at the first, are often really terrible at the second. Finally, emotionally, creativity just takes a toll. Decade after decade, that toll adds up” – Steven Kotler  (Read the full article here.)

So I thought it would be a great topic to discuss in this circle of ‘creatives’ who are always living with creativity as a driving force.

It’s a force that’s in everyone, but it drives some of us more than others.

And it does have both positive and negative effects on our lives, our states of mind, our sense of self-worth and our relationships to the world outside of ourselves.