TBD on Ning
Are You A Creative Person?
I see myself as a creative person. Among other things, I tend to be independent in my thinking and actions. Sometimes my independence has gotten me in trouble with more conforming people. How does one maintain his independence and, at the same time, get along with people who place a premium on conformity and conventionality?
My psychiatrist recommended that I try to be more conforming. He said if I was less independent, my relations with other people might improve. He said, "sometimes a person needs to make sacrifices in the interest of larger goals." I try not to flaunt my independence in an attention-seeking way. I just have my unique take on things in life. I don't know how to stop seeing things the way I do.
I came across the following description of creative people, on the internet. The description emphasizes the independence and autonomy of creative people. Maybe creative people tend to have more social problems than the less creative.
Here are some of the other characteristics that differentiate the more creative individual from the less creative:
* He is more observant and perceptive, and he puts a high value on independent "true-to-himself" perception. He perceives things the way other people do but also the way others do not.
* He is more independent in his judgments, and his self-directed behavior is determined by his own set of values and ethical standards.
* He balks at group standards, pressures to conform and external controls. He asserts his independence without being hostile or aggressive, and he speaks his mind without being domineering. If need be, he is flexible enough to simulate the prevailing norms of cultural and organizational behavior.
* He dislikes policing himself and others; he does not like to be bossed around. He can readily entertain impulses and ideas that are commonly considered taboo; he has a spirit of adventure.
* He is highly individualistic and non-conventional in a constructive manner. Psychologist Donald W. MacKinnon puts it this way: "Although independent in thought and action, the creative person does not make a show of his independence; he does not do the off-beat thing narcissistically, that is, to call attention to himself. ... He is not a deliberate nonconformist but a geniunely independent and autonomous person."
* He has wide interests and multiple potentials--sufficient to succeed in several careers.
* He is constitutionally more energetic and vigorous and, when creatively engaged, can marshal an exceptional fund of psychic and physical energy.
* He is less anxous and possesses greater stability.
* His complex personality is, simultaneously, more primitive and more cultured, more destructive and more constructive, crazier and saner. He has a greater appreciation and acceptance of the nonrational elements in himself and others.
* He is willing to entertain and express personal impulses, and pays more attention to his "inner voices." He likes to see himself as being different from others, and he has greater self-acceptance.
* He has strong aesthetic drive and sensitivity, and a greater interest in the artistic and aesthetic fields. He prefers to order the forms of his own experience aesthetically, and the solutions at which he arrives must not only be creative, but elegant.
* Truth for him has to be clothed in beauty to make it attractive.
* He searches for philosophical meanings and theoretical constructs and tends to prefer working with ideas, in contradistinction to the less creative who prefer to deal with the practical and concrete.
* He has a greater need for variety and is almost insatiable for intellectual ordering and comprehension.
* He places great value on humor of the philosophical sort and possesses a unique sense of humor.
* He regards authority as arbitrary, contingent on continued and demonstrable superiority. When evaluating communications, he separates source from content, judges and reaches conclusions based on the information itself, rather than whether the information source was an "authority" or an "expert."
(Reprinted from CREATIVE COMPUTING VOL. 9, NO. 10 / OCTOBER 1983 / PAGE 196 / "Profile of the creative individual." (part 2) Eugene Raudsepp.
The late Eugene Raudsepp was an expert on interviewing techniques and served as president of Princeton Creative Research, Inc. in Princeton, New Jersey. He published over fifty articles in National Business Employment Weekly between 1984-1995, and wrote over seven hundred articles for publications around the world. Raudsepp also published sixteen books on achieving success in the workplace, including Creative Growth Games (1977), How to Create New Ideas for Corporate Profit and Personal Success (1982), The World's Best Thoughts on Success and Failure (1981), and What the Executive Should Know About Creating and Selling Ideas (1966).)
My psychiatrist recommended that I try to be more conforming. He said if I was less independent, my relations with other people might improve. He said, "sometimes a person needs to make sacrifices in the interest of larger goals." I try not to flaunt my independence in an attention-seeking way. I just have my unique take on things in life. I don't know how to stop seeing things the way I do.
I came across the following description of creative people, on the internet. The description emphasizes the independence and autonomy of creative people. Maybe creative people tend to have more social problems than the less creative.
Here are some of the other characteristics that differentiate the more creative individual from the less creative:
* He is more observant and perceptive, and he puts a high value on independent "true-to-himself" perception. He perceives things the way other people do but also the way others do not.
* He is more independent in his judgments, and his self-directed behavior is determined by his own set of values and ethical standards.
* He balks at group standards, pressures to conform and external controls. He asserts his independence without being hostile or aggressive, and he speaks his mind without being domineering. If need be, he is flexible enough to simulate the prevailing norms of cultural and organizational behavior.
* He dislikes policing himself and others; he does not like to be bossed around. He can readily entertain impulses and ideas that are commonly considered taboo; he has a spirit of adventure.
* He is highly individualistic and non-conventional in a constructive manner. Psychologist Donald W. MacKinnon puts it this way: "Although independent in thought and action, the creative person does not make a show of his independence; he does not do the off-beat thing narcissistically, that is, to call attention to himself. ... He is not a deliberate nonconformist but a geniunely independent and autonomous person."
* He has wide interests and multiple potentials--sufficient to succeed in several careers.
* He is constitutionally more energetic and vigorous and, when creatively engaged, can marshal an exceptional fund of psychic and physical energy.
* He is less anxous and possesses greater stability.
* His complex personality is, simultaneously, more primitive and more cultured, more destructive and more constructive, crazier and saner. He has a greater appreciation and acceptance of the nonrational elements in himself and others.
* He is willing to entertain and express personal impulses, and pays more attention to his "inner voices." He likes to see himself as being different from others, and he has greater self-acceptance.
* He has strong aesthetic drive and sensitivity, and a greater interest in the artistic and aesthetic fields. He prefers to order the forms of his own experience aesthetically, and the solutions at which he arrives must not only be creative, but elegant.
* Truth for him has to be clothed in beauty to make it attractive.
* He searches for philosophical meanings and theoretical constructs and tends to prefer working with ideas, in contradistinction to the less creative who prefer to deal with the practical and concrete.
* He has a greater need for variety and is almost insatiable for intellectual ordering and comprehension.
* He places great value on humor of the philosophical sort and possesses a unique sense of humor.
* He regards authority as arbitrary, contingent on continued and demonstrable superiority. When evaluating communications, he separates source from content, judges and reaches conclusions based on the information itself, rather than whether the information source was an "authority" or an "expert."
(Reprinted from CREATIVE COMPUTING VOL. 9, NO. 10 / OCTOBER 1983 / PAGE 196 / "Profile of the creative individual." (part 2) Eugene Raudsepp.
The late Eugene Raudsepp was an expert on interviewing techniques and served as president of Princeton Creative Research, Inc. in Princeton, New Jersey. He published over fifty articles in National Business Employment Weekly between 1984-1995, and wrote over seven hundred articles for publications around the world. Raudsepp also published sixteen books on achieving success in the workplace, including Creative Growth Games (1977), How to Create New Ideas for Corporate Profit and Personal Success (1982), The World's Best Thoughts on Success and Failure (1981), and What the Executive Should Know About Creating and Selling Ideas (1966).)
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Comment
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Comment by Kittycat on August 28, 2009 at 9:40am
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Most times I'm creative, but I can soak up what's happening around me and darn if I don't seem to act like everyone else. If everyone's quiet, I'll be quiet as a mouse. But, if there's mayhem around me, well, let's just say, I've been known to dance on a few tabletops in my time. lol Maybe I'm just a camellion (sp).
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Comment by caseyjo on August 27, 2009 at 4:41pm
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I don't get it....Why do you have to conform to their ways? Why not the other way around?
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Comment by ZenDog on August 27, 2009 at 12:49pm
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When someone prizes conformity above all else, then they are most likely not worth the time and effort it takes to get along with them. We need to celebrate our differences, as well as our similarities.
Conform my ass. Sounds like your schrink is simply attempting to justify his own behavior - I'm sure he sold out a long time ago . . .
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