Why creative people are so complex
I’m fascinated by creativity. How it happens. Why it happens. When it happens. Moments of inspiration. Practices of creative people. The whole thing. So when I saw this article a few weeks back in the HuffPo, I saved it for a later post on GITS. Here is a choice excerpt:
As creativity researcher Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi notes in his 1996 article for Psychology Today entitled “The Creative Personality,” creative people “show tendencies of thought and action that in most people are segregated. They contain contradictory extremes; instead of being an “individual,” each of them is a “multitude.”
To me, some of the most fascinating contrasts are those found in creative performers — those who are constantly on stage and in the public eye. Out of Csikszentmihaly’s list of 10 complex personality traits of creative people, which were based on interviews with a wide variety of creative people, I think these three are the most relevant to creative performers:
Creative people have a great deal of physical energy, but they’re also often quiet and at rest. They work long hours, with great concentration, while projecting an aura of freshness and enthusiasm…This does not mean that creative people are hyperactive, always “on.” In fact, they rest often and sleep a lot. The important thing is that they control their energy; it’s not ruled by the calendar, the dock, an external schedule. When necessary, they can focus it like a laser beam; when not, creative types immediately recharge their batteries. They consider the rhythm of activity followed by idleness or reflection very important for the success of their work.
Creative people tend to be both extroverted and introverted. We’re usually one or the other, either preferring to be in the thick of crowds or sitting on the sidelines and observing the passing show. In fact, in psychological research, extroversion and introversion are considered the most stable personality traits that differentiate people from each other and that can be reliability measured. Creative individuals, on the other hand, seem to exhibit both traits simultaneously.
Creative people’s openness and sensitivity often exposes them to suffering and pain, yet also to a great deal of enjoyment… Being alone at the forefront of a discipline also leaves you exposed and vulnerable.
These three seeming contradictions — energy/rest, extroversion/introversion, and openness/sensitivity — are not separate phenomena but are intimately related to one another and along with other traits form the core of the creative performer’s personality.
So which of these describes you:
* Energy/Rest
* Extroversion/Introversion
* Openness/Sensitivity
I’ll fess up. That’s me. Especially the latter two. I am fundamentally an introvert. I like to joke that I prefer the concept of people to actual people. I can sit in my office for hours and hours, perfectly happy not to see anybody, just working away. And yet…
…I was a professional musician who played up to 300 gigs a year for 7 years.
…I did over 400 gigs as a stand-up comic.
…I have taught over 500 writers since taking up teaching as an avocation in 2002.
…And there’s this little blog called GITS in which I’ve posted over 5,000 items for over (so far) 2 million unique visits.
How can that be: An introvert with all that social interaction? I don’t know. It just is.
How about you? As a writer, you are — at the very least — drawn toward creativity. What is that about? When did that manifest itself in your own life? Are you an introvert/extrovert? Do you consider yourself to be a complex individual?
Bonus question: How important do you consider creativity to be to the success of a writer?
If you want to read “The Creative Personality” article referenced above, go here.