The germ of an idea doesn't make the sculpture that stands up... so the next stage is hard work
Mihaly CsikszentmihalyiRead
When we are involved in [creativity], we feel that we are living more fully than during the rest of life.
Interpretation
Creativity allows us to experience life more deeply and fully.
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's quote emphasizes that engaging in creative activities can enhance our sense of living more completely compared to other aspects of life. It suggests that creativity brings a unique fulfillment and a deeper connection to our existence, making it an essential part of a meaningful life.
In practice
During a workshop on creative writing, one might share this quote to inspire participants.
The germ of an idea doesn't make the sculpture that stands up... so the next stage is hard work
It is not the skills we actually have that determine how we feel but the ones we think we have.
To know oneself is the first step toward making flow a part of one's entire life. But just as there is no free lunch in the material economy, nothing comes free in the psychic one. If one is not willing to invest psychic energy in the internal reality of consciousness, and instead squanders it in chasing external rewards, one loses mastery of one's life, and ends up becoming a puppet of circumstances.
To live means to experience-through doing, feeling, thinking. Experience takes place in time, so time is the ultimate scarce resource we have. Over the years, the content of experience will determine the quality of life. Therefore one of the most essential decisions any of us can make is about how one's time is allocated or invested.
It is as if evolution has built a safety device in our nervous system that allows us to experience full happiness only when we are living at 100%-when we are fully using the physical and mental equipment we have been given.
Our jobs determine to a large extent what our lives are like. Is what you do for a living making you ill? Does it keep you from becoming a more fully realized person? Do you feel ashamed of what you have to do at work? All too often, the answer to such questions is yes. Yet it does not have to be like that. Work can be one of the most joyful, most fulfilling aspects of life. Whether it will be or not depends on the actions we collectively take.
Creativity needs a bit of untidiness. Make everything too neat and there is no room for experiment.
Creativity means to push open the heavy, groaning doorway to life.
The things we fear most in organizations - fluctuations, disturbances,_x000D_ _x000D_ imbalances - are the primary sources of creativity.
The people who invented the twenty-first century were pot-smoking, sandal-wearing hippies from the West Coast like Steve, because they saw differently,β he said. "The hierarchical systems of the East Coast, England, Germany, and Japan do not encourage this different thinking. The sixties produced an anarchic mind-set that is great for imagining a world not yet in existence.
Getting the first draft finished is like pushing a peanut with your nose across a very dirty floor.
It's hard to be fully creative without structure and constraint. Try to paint without a canvas. Creativity and freedom are two sides of the same coin. I like the best of both worlds. Want freedom? Get organized. Want to get organized? Get creative.
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