A book on Mindful Creativity

Before I read Imagine: How Creativity Works, I was about half-way through a book on creativity told from a very different perspective. I came back to On Becoming an Artist: Reinventing Yourself Through Mindful Creativity by Ellen J. Langer after finishing Lehrer's book and am still really enjoying it!

Langer is a psychology professor and a painter. The book begins with the story of how she became an artist and her references are often personal, and it reads more like a self-help book, which I like. Each chapter and sections of chapters begin with a quote, and it's segmented into easily digestible sections. The title led me to think this was going to be a book about how to become an artist, to which my response is: I already am an artist so why do I need this book? But that is deceiving. It would be more accurate to say that it's a book about mindfulness for creative people.

I think the parts I have enjoyed the most are dealing with evaluation, comparison and criticism. For example, I really grabbed on to this quote on page 59:

"The important thing is never to let oneself be guided by the opinion of one's contemporaries; to continue steadfastly on one's way without letting oneself either be defeated by failure or diverted by applause." - Gustav Mahler

Langer goes on to talk about how compliments can act as confirmation of the artist's worth, but that is just as dangerous as not receiving compliments or winning awards. Later in the book she comes back to evaluation in the chapter on social comparison. I really liked this part:

"Social comparing is one way for us to gain validation. But there are other ways that are not so costly. Because a work of mindful art has so much of the person in it, it is no wonder that artists are eager to show their work and are so disappointed if it does not receive approval. It is hard at that point to separate oneself from the work." Langer, 142

She goes on to suggest that we consider asking better questions than "do you like it?" to learn more about how others see our work. Some of her suggestions include:

What does it mean to you?
Would you have added something (or left something out), and why?
What does this tell you about me?

The book as a whole is an encouraging lesson, one that all art school dropouts should read, that anyone who creates from the soul should read. It's so easy to talk yourself out of creating, so why not let someone who's been there talk you into creating? For me the take-away is: Don't be afraid to create. Create for yourself and don't be discouraged by others. They may not understand the work in the same way you do and that is ok.

If you are stuck in a mental block, trying to free yourself to be more creative, as I often do, search out and try keeping a list of sources for inspiration and encouragement. I keep a list of books/talks/etc to encourage myself to just go out there and create. You can find my haphazard study of creativity on this page. Now what are you waiting for? Go create something! Do it for you!


(If you are one of those people who were frustrated that Jonah Lehrer failed to cite sources in Imagine, and the fact that it used some of the same studies and stories as Malcom Gladwell's Blink, you will be pleased that Langer references her material and the bulk of the stories shared come from her own experiences as a psychologist.)

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