Tag: psychology
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On Nurturing
Sewing Flowers, paper collage, 2023 I do not have children. And, if I am to be honest, I think that for a long time I did not believe I had a nurturing instinct. Or, if I did, that it was somehow secondary to all of the other things I should want to do or be.…
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Play State
Run Free, paper collage, 2023 After I published my last post, On Play, there were some lingering questions I wanted to answer about the ways in which my thoughts and subjective experiences regarding play relate to current concepts in the psychology of creativity. Chief among those questions was, “What about flow state?” Specifically, how is…
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On Play
Daydreamer, paper collage, 2022 The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct acting from inner necessity. C. G. Jung It is my opinion that play is one of the most undervalued and underestimated aspects of creativity, especially in adults, and in particular with regard to its role…
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On the Art of Sensitivity
Butterfly Lounge, paper collage, 2023 The truly creative mind in any field is no more than this: A human creature born abnormally, inhumanly sensitive. To them… a touch is a blow, a sound is a noise, a misfortune is a tragedy, a joy is an ecstasy, a friend is a lover, a lover is a god,…
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Everything I Am, I Was Once Afraid Of
Times Are Changing, paper collage, 2021 Everything I am, I was once afraid of or vehemently disliked or found to be boring, uninspiring, or otherwise not worthy of my own time and attention. It’s true. When I was a child, I was terrified of water. And I mean terrified. Screaming, wailing, panic-stricken terrified. So, my…
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The Road I Know
Life of Objects No. 3, paper collage, 2022 I’ve been sprinkling food on the ground beneath my bird feeders for the past year. The squirrels very much appreciate it, of course, as do the doves and sparrows, who often show up in large numbers during cold weather. Although, the reason I do it, really, is…
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On Possibility
Going Places, paper collage, 2021 Of the various subjective experiences of creativity that I’ve attempted to describe over the years, the one that probably fascinates me most (next to the role of novelty in creativity) is the feeling, or sense, of possibility that seems inherent in creative work. An example: I flip through a 1953…
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Trust in Everyday Life
Stuck in the Middle, paper collage, 2022 The ego is not master in its own house. Sigmund Freud I made a trip to my favorite used bookstore on Saturday. They have the largest and most eclectic psychology section of any local bookstore I know, and since I began Freud’s New Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis a…
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Sensitivity Is a Virtue
Sensitivity Is a Virtue, collage on book cover, 2022 We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are. Anaïs Nin I sometimes think I’ve grown more sensitive as I’ve gotten older. Indeed, I seem to have reached that age at which a great deal of popular culture now offends my sensibilities,…
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Eye, Heart, and Mind
Simplicity, paper collage, 2022 Every human being must have a point at which he stands against the culture, where he says, this is me and the damned world can go to hell. Rollo May When I first started The Used Life in April 2017, I wanted to create a space in which to not only…
The Used Life 