Vincent Ryan Ruggiero in
his book The Art of Thinking writes that one
common image of the creative person is reinforced by a number of low-budget
horror films. That image depicts a wild-eyed mad scientist, shuffling nervously
around a laboratory (pronounced lab-or-a-try
in an ominous tone of voice), rubbing hands together evilly and drooling. Many people
really believe the image: They view creative
person and lunatic as near
synonyms. Vincent says that they are – wrong!
In the following passage,
Harold H. Anderson summaries a leading psychological view concerning the
relative sanity of creative people. (Endorsers include such respected thinkers
as Erick Fromm, Rollo May, Carl Rogers, Abraham Maslow, P.J. Guilford, and Ernest
Hilgard).
“The consensus of these authors is that creativity is an expression of a mentally or psychologically healthy
person, that creativity is associated with wholeness, unity, honesty,
integrity, personal involvement, enthusiasm, high motivation, and action.
There is also agreement that neurosis either accompanies or causes
a degraded quality of one’s creativity. For neurotic persons and persons with
other forms of mental disease [who are, at the same time, creative] such
assumptions as the following are offered: that these persons are creative in spite
of their disease; that they are producing below the achievements they would
show without the disease; that they are on the downgrade, or that they are
pseudo creative, that is, they may have brilliant original ideas which, because
of the neurosis, they do not communicate.”
In summary: Creativity is the expression of mental
health. Rejoices!
Lord, Give
Us Today Our Daily Idea(s)
