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Creativity and Procrastination

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Many a creative seed has been choked by neglect. The reason for neglect is procrastination and a certainty that the idea will amount to nothing. We are not just discussing creativity that has given us masterpieces like Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, the Pyramids of Egypt, or Michelangelo’s David We are looking to create our own masterpiece to realise our true potential. We all receive creative impulses from time to time, directing these ideas require generativity.

Procrastination leads to stagnation. In his Eight stages of Development, Erik Erikson seventh stage is Generativity Vs Stagnation. Generativity involves concern for others and the desire to contribute to our world and future generations This can be achieved in a myriad of ways unique to the individual, whether through creative output, parenting or mentoring, they have a strong sense of adding value to society. Stagnation comes from feeling unproductive and uninvolved, leading to self-absorption, lack of growth and entrapment. According to Erikson, successfully navigating this stage develops a virtue of care. When we develop this virtue we feel a sense of contribution to the world, typically through family, work, and creative output. We feel unproductive by failing to find a meaningful way to contribute to the world. This leads to stagnation and a feeling of disconnect, uninvolved with our communities and society as a whole. Success in phase seven of Erikson’s timeline leads to feelings of usefulness and accomplishment, while failure results in shallow involvement in the world.

Procrastination has long been part of human behaviour predating the internet and the lure of scrolling. Procrastination is often a combination of fear of failure and sticking to a tried and tested formula. Anything that requires moving outside evidential experience is discarded as a flight of fancy to someone with fixed behaviour patterns. To move beyond this restricted point of view, we need to invoke a feeling of trust. Acting on a creative impulse requires determination to see it through even if we don’t know what the outcome will be. It requires trust that if our inner-directive has given us the impulse, it has also provided the energy to bring it to fruition. We can’t always see the outcome but we learn to trust the process. The suppressed energy that supplies the separate-self on an individual level, congeals to create a mass belief system among populations. Majority thinking is a mirror that reflects limitation, and it strengthens a resolve to stick to only what is tried and tested. But the limits of evidence are not the limits of imagination. Michelangelo is reputed to have said that every block of stone has a statue inside it, it is the task of the sculptor to discover it. We are the sculptors and our lives are the marble, our true face is waiting to emerge. But if we approach the marble from majority thinking, we will be just another featureless face on the frieze of humanity.

Collette O’Mahony 23/02/2024

An extract from my upcoming guidebook ‘A Compass for Change’ . Available next May/June.

For online counselling appointments please visit my Psychotherapy Page http://www.colletteomahony.com/counselling – or – email info@colletteomahony.com

Navigating Change

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An extract from my upcoming guidebook – A Compass for Change.

When something cataclysmic occurs it has a direct effect on our mental health. This may be a gradual cause like separation and divorce, or an unexpected cause such as sudden death. The cause is the event, the effect is the feelings of loss and grief. We cannot undo the event no matter how much we may wish to but we can gradually process our feelings by giving them our attention. The effect of a job loss may shake our confidence and lead to financial uncertainty, on the other hand it may lead to better opportunities and increased salary. Preparation is the key to success in most fields of endeavour, it is similar for good mental health. Most people face a crisis when unwanted change is forced upon them through tragic or unavoidable circumstance. Similarly, those who try to avoid change reach a point where their health suffers due to a clash between their conditioned mind and their inner directive. The conditioned mind functions on schemas, the parameters laid down by learned habits, beliefs and structure. It arises from childhood and is influenced by family structure, schooling, regional and national thinking. On the other hand, the inner directive is our intuition, that which says something is wrong even if others try to convince you otherwise. Too often we allow ourselves to be swayed by what people think of us, or the mood of the collective.

Our initial response to enforced change is often resistance. This is understandable given how the subconscious operates. It takes longer for our subconscious mind to accept change, it runs on a conditioned loop compromising of our daily habits and cognitive learning, culminating in repetitive behaviour patterns. When these behaviour patterns are thrown into tumult through an unexpected event, the subconscious mind tries to default to the habitual patterns causing the thinking mind to struggle with the new situation. This is something that those who are bereaved struggle with, particularly in the early stages of grief, the conscious mind has to constantly remind the subconscious that their loved one is no longer with them. It can take several months for the subconscious to acknowledge the death, when it eventually does it reduces mental pressure. This permits normal functioning of the mind to resume and allow time for the bereaved person to process grief. Many bereaved people report feeling lost, confused, forgetful or think they are losing their mind; it could just be that the thinking mind is overloaded with functions that are normally designated to the subconscious. The subconscious will eventually register the change and adapt accordingly, but during the adjustment period there are feeling of loss and grief that require inner attention.

Many people take the view that free will is an illusion, and that our behaviour is governed by forces over which we have no control. Consequently, how we act or react is viewed as predictable or unavoidable. Our behaviour can be predictable, but that doesn’t make it’s inevitable. We can choose how to behave, but this is restricted if we determine we have to behave according to our structural belief system. As individuals we are free to choose our behaviour, we have a choice to act responsibly or irresponsibly.

Collette O’Mahony. 10/02/2024

Excerpt from the guidebook – A Compass for Change.