and so it is....

I like how both Hughes and Pearce touch on the idea of suspending normal thought processes. Hughes states, “Creativity involves an adjustment of an individual’s subjectivity.” This seems very apparent in the work of creative’s and shamans, where in they suspend rational thinking in order to reach new understandings and interpretations. Pearce notes “the most important aspect of autistic thinking… is that it has no value judgment. It has no criteria for what shall and shall not be synthesized.” This relates to the idea, very much so, that creative’s aren’t always conscious of their work and that often times it is very “other” to them. Pearce talks about hypnotic states and the ability of people to enter into them. Much of it seems rooted in childhood experiences and makes you think about how important a child’s emotional and spiritual development is in allowing them to tap into altered states as an adult.

Many times when I am trying to think of something creative, I draw a total blank. Not in the sense that I clear my mind, but in the sense that I can only think of obvious, subjective things that I am used to. Then I will go and start cooking dinner and “BAM!” there’s my idea. I sat at my desk for a half hour last night trying to come up with a story idea, and the minute I went outside for a cig, there it was. I do think we have “domesticated our minds” in such a way where we get stuck on a track. In order to jump it, we must be willing to suspend reality, which is not always feasible when we are in a certain frame of mind. The distractions and reactions of the world around us often help to propagate such changes.

Hughes touches on the idea of the dichotomy between the “creative person” and the “vision-seeker.” It does seem relevant that creativity lends itself to more than just “ends in themselves, or as means to a personal rather than social end.” As much as certain disciplines accelerate our normal state of consciousness, they do not always produce something new. I do think they are very important to mental growth and actually allow us to play off the balance between creativity and logic/reason.