"Creativity and imagination are not frosting on a cake: They are integral to our sustainability. They are survival mechanisms. They are of the essence of who we are. They constitute our deepest empowerment."
–– Matthew Fox (b. 1940), American priest, theologian, and author
Source: Matthew Fox. Creativity: Where the Divine and the Human Meet. New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher, 2004 (2002); p. 31.
via: Commonplace Book 2006-2009, 2007, p. 65.
"Your ego can become an obstacle to your work. If you start believing in your greatness, it is the death of your creativity."
–– Marina Abramović (b. 1946), Serbian conceptual and performance artist
"Dailyness is the most important thing. Creating that time every day for the muse to come through."
–– Claire McMillan, American author
Source: Claire McMillan. Alchemy of a Blackbird. Toronto: Atria Books (Simon and Schuster), 2023; p. 3-4.
via: Commonplace Book 2024, 2025, p. 34.
"At its root, creativity is not about success or failure. It's a spiritual path. It's mystery."
–– Clarissa Pinkola Estés (b. 1945), American author and psychoanalyst
via: Commonplace Book 2006-2009, 2008, p. 165.
"[C]reativity follows from positive emotion. The more positive a person's mood on a given day, the more creative thinking he did the next day –– and, to some extent, the day after that –– even taking into account his moods on those later days. This may be due to what psychologists call an incubation effect. Pleasant moods stimulate greater breadth in thinking –– greater cognitive variation –– which can linger and even build over a day or more. Such cognitive variation can lead to new insights at work. In other words, although new ideas might emerge soon after you experience a positive emotion, you might find them popping up much later."
–– Teresa Amabile (b. 1950), American academic and author; and Steven J. Kramer, American independent researcher, writer, and consultant
Source: Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer. The Progress Principle: Using Small Wins to Ignite Joy, Engagement, and Creativity at Work. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review Press, 2011; p. 52-53.
via Commonplace Book 2013-2014, 2013, p. 27-28.
"Darkness is generative, and generation, biological and artistic both, requires this amorous engagement with the unknown, this entry into the realm where you do not quite know what you are doing and what will happen next. Creation is always in the dark because you can only do the work of making by not quite knowing what you're doing, by walking into darkness, not staying in the light. Ideas emerge from edges and shadows to arrive in the light, and though that's where they may be seen by others, that's not where they're born."
–– Rebecca Solnit (b. 1961), American author
Source: Rebecca Solnit. The Faraway Nearby. New York: Viking, 2013; p. 185.
via: Commonplace Book 2013-2014, 2014, p 81-2.
"Creativity is piercing the mundane to find the marvellous."
–– Bill Moyers (b. 1934), American journalist and political commentator
Source: textile art site, Instagram, September 29, 2024.
via: Sketchbook O #15, 2024, p. 10.
"Creativity involves the ability to synthesize. Einstein captured it nicely when he called his own work "combinatory play." It is a matter of sifting through data, perceptions and materials to come up with combinations that are new and useful."
–– Richard Florida (b. 1957), American urban studies theorist, author, and professor
Source: Richard Florida. The Rise of the Creative Class: and how it's transforming work, leisure, community and everyday life. New York: Basic Books, 2002; p. 31.
via Commonplace Book 2003-2004, 2003, p.45.
"I believe that survival is also an act of creativity. It's a matter of seeking out new ways to stay inspired, and creating paths that lead to a better future for yourself, and in turn, others."
–– Quincy Jones (b. 1933), American record producer, songwriter, composer, arranger, and film and television producer.
Source: Quincy Jones. 12 Notes on Life and Creativity. New York: Abrams Image, 2022; p. 24.
via: Commonplace Book 2022, 2023, p. 120.
"Downtime enables not only our creativity and our need for rest. It also enables the formation and maintenance of our deep sense of being and identity. ... Without downtime, we might not physically die, but we will die psychologically, emotionally, spiritually. In downtime, not only are we making sense of the events of the day, we are making sense of our lives."
–– Alan Lightman (b. 1948), American physicist, writer, and social entrepreneur
Source: Alan Lightman. In Praise of Wasting Time. New York: TED Books, Simon and Schuster, 2018; p. 67-8.
via: Commonplace Book 2022, 2022, p. 61.
"When I feel creatively stuck I remember some great advice a furniture designer gave me years ago: by starting to make something, the act of making will function as a problem-solving process and the work will reveal itself to me in unfolding layers as I continue to put in the time."
–– Tara Badcock, Tasmanian artist
Source: Faire Magazine Issue 9, July 2023, p. 61.
via: Aboveground Art Supplies Sketchbook 2020, 2024, p. 31.
"I think we're creative all day long. We have to have an appointment to have that work out on the page. Because the creative part of us gets tired of waiting, or just gets tired."
Joel and Helena [Haran] "dreamed up the idea for their first furniture collection while on holiday in Greece ("because you get the best ideas when your mind is free," Joel says)."
"That's where being perfectionist comes in – and the need to balance it with the more relaxed pace of outdoor life and the Cornish landscape. They work on one farm, live on another, and spend as much time on the beach as they can. "You need time and space," Joel says, "because when you're stressed, you can't be creative. You stick with the first idea rather than exploring other options."
–– Joel Haran, UK designer
Source: Modern Rustic UK 06, p. 81.
via: Art Alternatives Knapsack Sketchbook J 2020-2023, 2021, p. 20-21.
"Lying fallow ... allows for that larval inner experience which distinguishes true psychic creativity from obsessional productiveness."
–– Masud Khan (1924-1989), Pakistani-British psychoanalyst
Source: Maria Popova, The Marginalian, April 11, 2023, Instagram
via: Sketchbook 33, 2023, p. 22.
"Creativity and ego cannot go together. If you free yourself from the comparing and jealous mind, your creativity opens up endlessly. Just as water springs from a fountain, creativity springs from every moment. You must not be your own obstacle. You must not be owned by the environment you are in. You must own the environment, the phenomenal world around you. You must be able to freely move in and out of your mind. This is being free. There is no way you can't open up your creativity. There is no ego to speak of. That is my belief."
–– Jeong Kwan (b. 1957), South Korean Seon Buddhist nun and chef of South Korean cuisine
via: Sketchbook 30, 2017, p. 45.
"It's not about standing still and becoming safe. If anybody wants to keep creating they have to be about change."
–– Miles Davis (1926-1991), American musician, bandleader, and composer
"I'm always thinking about creating. My future starts when I wake up every morning. Every day I find something to do with my life."
–– Miles Davis (1926-1991), American musician, bandleader, and composer
