The Creative Mode of Being

Abstract

Because of misperceptions about the nature of creativity, many creative children are misunderstood in and out of their classrooms. Based on a close association with creative adults and childrenn, the authors postulate that creativity is a state of being that is challenged by the socialization process in Western civilization. The authors envisage two differing states of being namely, a n essential and a conventional. These states represent end points on a continuum. Creative adults speak of their struggle to try and regain something of their original state of being. Understanding creative children who are closer to the essential state is important for their emotional wellbeing and the nurturing of their creativity. w w m " l O NIn our association with creative adults we became aware that they share certain feelings and experiences that are infrequently (if ever) mentioned in the literature. They struggle to verbalize these feelings which center around a n sense of being different. This "difference" refers not only to the experience of being unlike fellow adults but also to being unlike themselves as children. Many of them express a striving to reclaim what they feel is their "original creativity." All of them speak in various terms of a tremendous sense of loss, an emptiness, a numbness, a sense of being false, of being irretrievably "programed."They use different terms to say the s a m e thing. S o m e are investigating how they c a m e to end up in the way they are. Others accept that life will most likely never offer them the same fulfillment they experienced a s children. Their comments inspired u s to review the meaning of being creative in a n attempt to understand what they are trying to say.

Natural Biology vs. Cultural Structures: Art and Child Development in Education

“…To be creative is to be open to the unknown (Kokot & Colman, 1997;Kou, 1996). This state of being allows unconscious intelligence to enter the field of action and thought.…”

Creativity: a refinement of the concept for nursing practice

“…Kokot and Colman (1997 ) state that the 1990 version of the ‘Concise Oxford Dictionary’ gives no definition of creativity and only mentions it as the noun version of creative . Merriam‐Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (1998 ) records the earliest use of the word creativity as being in 1875.…”

“…Two definitions are given: (1) ‘The quality of being creative’ and (2) ‘The ability to create’ ( Merriam‐Webster's Collegiate Dictionary 1998 , p. 425). The word ‘creative’ is derived from ‘the Latin creare meaning to make, and the Greek krainein meaning to fulfil ( Kokot & Colman 1997 ) .…”

“…The discipline of Psychology provides greater insight into the concept of creativity than either Nursing or Business. Busse and Mansfield (1960, cited in Kokot & Colman 1997) have organized the theories of creativity as follows:…”

“…It has been theorized that conformist, formal schooling, which emphasizes procedure and encourages rote thinking may cause a loss of creativity over time (Kokot & Colman 1997). Sullivan's (1987) findings seem to support the position that the overall creativity of baccalaureate nursing students may actually deteriorate upon completion of their course of study.…”