VOYAGE TO THE UNEXPLORED PARTS OF THE CREATIVE SELF

Subjects:> Active Imagination > brainstorming >brain-writing >computer (computer-assisted creativity) >concept storming >debriefing >flappers >ideas >idea starter >metaphors >mind mapping >mind storming >miscellaneous (some idea killers) >mistakes >provocation >question kit >reversal >roles & the part they play >round table quality drive >simulation >sources of creativity >stuckness >synectics >swot-analysis >taxonomy in problem solving >thinking, flexibility in .. >xyz-feedback >zero

It is creative apperception more than anything else
that makes the individual feel that life is worth living.
D.W. Winnicott

In this part attention will be focussed on creative thinking techniques. However, it should be borne in mind that creativity is not just a bag full of tricks, it is an attitude, a state of mind, a way of life.
The techniques are given to create flexibility in your use of strategies.
As Winnicott ( Playing and Reality, Pelican Books, 1971) said 'creative apperception' i.e. self-consciousness makes life worth living. It is an open attitude towards life in general. Not one of conformity and blind acceptance. He contrasts this attitude with a relationship to external reality which is one of compliance, the world and its details are recognized but only as something to be fitted in with or demanding adaptation. Compliance carries with it a sense of futility for the individual and is associated with the idea that nothing matters and that life is not worth living. The uncreative person tends to experience life as mildly depressive - except for the holidays.

Creativity >>> making your life one holiday

In a tantalizing way many individuals have experienced just enough of creative living to recognize that for most of their time they are living unimaginative lives, as if caught up in the creativity of someone else, or of a machine. This part tries to provide you with tools to come to grips with situations and just as we are influenced by reality, to creatively adapt that same reality. To experience the joys of having created something new that makes living worthwhile.
Techniques are tools and it will always depend on how well these are used and applied by all participants. In case of failure it is always wise to reflect on what or where is has gone wrong. Such reflection will only be effective if you are critical of yourself as well as of others. If the others have not cooperated, blaming them is of little help. The creative attitude implies a critical analysis of myself and where and how I can change my approach. I can change others by changing myself and/or the way I approach them. The creative traveller has taken his bearings (analysis), knows where he is going and has considered a minimum of five alternatives (incubation) on how to reach his destination. These considerations have given her/him ideas (illumination) and then he/she sets out to explore them (verification). After careful charting the lands and waters he/she will be able to implement the changes.The pattern to chart our ways into the new land (input - process - output) can be graphically explained as follows:

These different steps will be explained with special attention to the second and third stages: invent and try out: these tend to be omitted by quick problem solvers.

creativity >>> contributing towards making this world a better place

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