Why Creative People Are Walking Paradoxes

Joe Vastano
Joe Vastano

In the latest Glimmer Train bulletin, Joe Vastano has a lovely essay on how writers have to acknowledge the duality inside them in order to achieve artistic triumph. I couldn’t agree more. Here’s a brief snippet:

Creative people are walking paradoxes; both shrewd and naïve, libidinous yet prudish, and so on. I believe that this paradox forms the basis of the creative tension so essential to artistic triumph—the friction of opposites setting fire to that “third thing,” which goes by yet another name: the Sublime.

Go read the entire essay, “Into the Sublime,” and see what other gems await in Glimmer Train’s latest bulletin.

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shirleyhs

I love this! Just what I needed for my morning of writing. I love this way of describing creativity and the sublime. Jane, you sure know how to pick’em.

Visionarystone

thank you, Shirley.  I always recommend that creative folks I know read Carl Jung’s essay, “The Transcendent Function” for a supremely detailed and amazing explanation of the phenomenon.  Blessings to you, and write hard!

Joe Vastano

Cindy Thrasher

Thank you for this.  I agree wholeheartedly, only because I find myself battling both sides, trying to come to some sort of compromise.  Compromise in this context, in my mind, equates to adequate or vanilla or even worse, average.  I’ve printed his article and am pinning it to my board.  It bears frequent reads, until I “get” it. 

Visionarystone

thank you, Cindy. I always recommend that creative folks I know read Carl Jung’s essay, “The Transcendent Function” for a supremely detailed and amazing explanation of the phenomenon. Blessings to you, and write hard!

Joe Vastano

Visionarystone

For more info on the paradoxical creative personality, I highly recommend this book:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_10?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=creativity+flow+and+the+psychology+of+discovery+and+invention&sprefix=creativity%2Cstripbooks%2C180

Blessings and good fortune to all!

Joe Vastano

Donna Amis Davis

Fascinating!