Developing creative thought

Creative thought is said to involve the two different reasoning processes of divergence and convergence. Divergent reasoning is the ability to take two different sets of facts and bring them together into a new synthesis. This occurs in a transitory and unstable mental state which disturbs the balance of emotion and thought. It is also not commonly found in ordinary consciousness. The result is a creative instability which emerges into form in science and art. Convergent reasoning is the ability to evaluate logically, choosing the best idea, and working it into reality. For a person to realize a creative idea, both of these kinds of thinking must come into play.

The writer Nabokov stated, "A person hoping to become a poet must have the capacity to think of several things at a time." In his autobiography, Nabokov explains the experience of writing his first poem. He was chatting with the schoolmaster while registering the wild flowers in his hands, along with the voice of a cuckoo from afar, the flash of a butterfly on the road, a memory of pictures from school, and the grass stalk he was chewing, "and all the while I was richly, serenely aware of my own manifold awareness."

It gets trickier. Creativity includes acceptance and validation by others. This complication brings in factors of cultural, social and economic restraints. Since the creative process brings together opposing elements into something new, it is often a challenge to the very authorities which are in place to approve it. Powerful creativity is transformative - and most people don't come willingly to such change.

Then we add in the destructive element. In order to create anew, a mold has to be broken. Creatives are often feared as much as they are admired by those who do not experience all these levels of reasoning and layers of awareness.

For those who realize they do indeed possess these strengths of doubleminded reasoning, and who deeply desire the experience of manifesting art out of pure imagination, it may be possible to develop the mind's abilities. Scholars and scientists have argued that creativity cannot be taught, yet with the continuing discoveries of the capacities of the brain, it stands to reason that we may also discover how to unlock more of its potential. This pursuit is made easier by the fact that developing one's own creativity has become quite popular. In the West, creativity is related to the idea of individuality. In the East, the creative is thought of as a collective expression of the divine. Of course, the creative as we defined earlier is likely to try to integrate these two into yet another new paradigm!