Sara Jacobovici

7 years ago · 2 min. reading time · ~10 ·

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Alone to create?

Alone to create?

Ed 4


A very interesting discussion has been generated from a couple of Buzzes; what is the relationship between loneliness and creativity? I would like to offer my perspective through this Buzz and invite others to communicate theirs.

First, a few questions that come to mind:

· Loneliness; a place or a state of being?

· Is it a feeling or a need?

· What is the difference amongst loneliness, solitude, and being alone?


We come into this world with a unique fingerprint of our own, yet we are dependent on our survival by a form of imprinting or bonding with another.

Imprinting, psychological: "A remarkable phenomenon that occurs in animals, and theoretically in humans, in the first hours of life. The newborn creature bonds to the type of animals it meets at birth and begins to pattern its behavior after them. In humans, this is often called bonding, and it usually refers to the relationship between the newborn and its parents."

We have been attaching or not attaching from the moment of conception. There are biological, physical, emotional and social attachments happening or not happening on a daily basis. Part of the choice we take to attach, or not, is conscious, part more unconscious.

Winnicott, a pediatrician and psychoanalyst, developed the theoretical concept of a “holding” environment: an environment that allows you to safely feel taken care of, protected, understood, accepted unconditionally, and held in such a way that your consciousness which, at the beginning of human development is unformed, fluid, and changeable, can grow spontaneously and naturally on its own. (Excerpt from The Holding Environment)

The paradox that is created as a result of this theoretical concept is:

In order for an infant to develop a sense of self as independent from others, it is dependent on the other to provide the environment in which to develop this sense.

The paradox that is “born under the wings of [this] paradox”* is:

In order for an infant to develop a healthy dependency with another, it must first have the other with whom to attach.

“A man can be himself only so long as he is alone, and if he does not love solitude, he will not love freedom, for it is only when he is alone that he is really free.” - Arthur Schopenhauer

From my perspective, the man described by Schopenhauer is formed out of the relationship with another.

“I had three chairs in my house; one for solitude, two for friendship, three for society.” - Henry David Thoreau

Creativity is an extension of the individual formed within a relationship of another or environment of others.

There is pleasure in the pathless woods, there is rapture in the lonely shore, there is society where none intrudes, by the deep sea, and music in its roar; I love not Man the less, but Nature more. - Lord Byron




*Ali Anani

image credit: www.liveinternet.ru


"
#Winnicott #Holding Environment #Excerpt #Buzzes #Buzz
Comments

Sara Jacobovici

6 years ago #33

#79
Thank you Marta \ud83d\udc1d Garc\u00eda Quijada for taking the time to read and to respond. Love your comment!

Sara Jacobovici

7 years ago #32

#73
Thank you Ali Anani for keeping this Buzz going.

Sara Jacobovici

7 years ago #31

#74
Thank you for your comment Lisa Gallagher. Your description of your grand-daughter is proof of the wonderful holding environment that has been created for her.

Sara Jacobovici

7 years ago #30

#70
Thank you Melissa Hefferman. Your thoughtful, reflective and insightful comment is a valuable contribution to this discussion.

Sara Jacobovici

7 years ago #29

Thank you @Jason Attar.

Sara Jacobovici

7 years ago #28

#6
Thank you for reading @Fatima Williams and for your response.

Sara Jacobovici

7 years ago #27

#64
Thank you for your contributions Ali Anani.

Sara Jacobovici

7 years ago #26

#61
Thanks for your share Donna-Luisa Eversley. Your support is much appreciated.

Sara Jacobovici

7 years ago #25

#60
Thank you for your very valuable and beautifully written spontaneous thoughts and opinion Donna-Luisa Eversley.

Sara Jacobovici

7 years ago #24

#56
Agreed CityVP Manjit that Bees communicate and they do so in their own language. I still maintain, however, that only humans tell stories.

CityVP Manjit

7 years ago #23

#52
Bee's tell stories too, that is their waggle dance, to let the bee's in the hive know where they found honey https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vaszh2bY3mc This video also is humbling because the life of a bee is work, work and work, and the Queen a slave to the hive. Imagine then how liberating the waggle dance is in relation to their painstaking work. beBee Javier C\u00e1mara Rica about the waggle dance - a "Waggle" is an even greater wonder to me than ever.

Sara Jacobovici

7 years ago #22

Ali Anani, all done the Hive is now up and running!

Sara Jacobovici

7 years ago #21

#51
Thanks Ali Anani. let me check it out now.

Sara Jacobovici

7 years ago #20

I am deeply humbled and very inspired by the discussion that has been taking place here. Thanks to all of you! A couple of thoughts: Ken Boddie's Buzz. I have started a new Hive called Only Humans Tell Stories. Please join and share!

Sara Jacobovici

7 years ago #19

#35
Just in case you didn't see my response to your Buzz William King, please go to the Hive Only Humans Tell Stories.

Sara Jacobovici

7 years ago #18

#33
Thank you Vivian Chapman for a very thoughtful and insightful comment.

Sara Jacobovici

7 years ago #17

#32
Agreed Lisa Gallagher, there are great conversations on this post and yours is a very important and appreciated contribution. Thank you.

Sara Jacobovici

7 years ago #16

#31
What a powerful image of loneliness Ken Boddie. Inspires me to think of how others actually "see" and experience the presence of loneliness.

Sara Jacobovici

7 years ago #15

#30
I can't access See More. CityVP Manjit. Did you finish your comment? In any regard, I want to thank you for expanding the discussion with your perspective. Very worthy consideration. Thank you for your link.

Sara Jacobovici

7 years ago #14

#26
Thank you Anees Zaidi for your thoughtful and genuine share of your "me".

Sara Jacobovici

7 years ago #13

#23
Wow!! Beautifully written and expressed Cyndi wilkins (as always). It's a keeper.

Sara Jacobovici

7 years ago #12

#19
Powerful share of ideas and feelings Deb Helfrich. Each section of your response can be expanded into a Buzz onto itself (hint, hint).

Sara Jacobovici

7 years ago #11

#17
Fabulous and heartfelt response Cyndi wilkins. Much appreciated.

Sara Jacobovici

7 years ago #10

#15
Great "comment" as always, Ali Anani. Your added value to the discussion is much appreciated.

Sara Jacobovici

7 years ago #9

#14
Great contribution Franci Eugenia Hoffman. Much appreciated.

Sara Jacobovici

7 years ago #8

#13
Great perspective Kevin Pashuk.

Sara Jacobovici

7 years ago #7

#12
, what a wonderful contribution to the discussion! Thank you. Love all of what you said, the line that stays with me is, "what I will share with others when I next meet or connect with them." For me this is such a great way of describing the bridge contained in the paradox of being an individual dependent on community.

CityVP Manjit

7 years ago #6

This is a book worthy subject and certainly more than one book. The way I will approach it now is relate loneliness with homeless people. The first article relates isolation as a precursor of homelessness http://www.crisis.org.uk/pages/relationship-breakdown-and-lonliness.html If this is a precursor, when someone does become homeless is their loneliness exacerbated. Not necessarily if I accept the view of this Canadian social hub for homeless matters when it comes to cell phone use among homeless people in Canada http://homelesshub.ca/blog/how-can-homeless-people-afford-cell-phones From here I consider people with homes and their experience. What is the difference in loneliness between a person who comes home to an empty one-bedroom apartment and someone like me who comes home to venerable tribe of constant noise, and so find creating personal space more inviting. In terms of loneliness of living alone, I liked this article http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/how-to-live-alone-without-feeling-lonely-217427 because it captures what people do not usually articulate, lest they feel worse for admitting loneliness. Ultimately, we can explore our own loneliness and not judge it but get to know it, or we can wallow in our loneliness and turn into an emotional condition such as a "pity party" - what is important here is that the meaning we attach to loneliness changes what it is.

Sara Jacobovici

7 years ago #5

#10
All the power to you Randy Keho for your choices. Thanks for sharing your experiences.

Sara Jacobovici

7 years ago #4

#8
Thank you debasish majumder. Your comments are always a poetic addition to the discussion.

Sara Jacobovici

7 years ago #3

#3
I agree Nancy Walker and I hope you will express your perspective. From my point of view, being alone is a capacity we develop, while loneliness is a state of being, a sense based on meanings we created from experiences over the years. Solitude for me is a conscious choice of place; we choose to be in a place of solitude as opposed to a place with others in which we would be choosing to engage. In solitude there is opportunity for self-reflection, in being alone we tap into our resources of adaptation and in loneliness we yearn.

Sara Jacobovici

7 years ago #2

#4
It would be hard to comment on what you read William Davis specifically but the idea behind it may be referring to individual creativity being suppressed by the group's expectations to conform to what the group does or how the group works. In this way individual creative expression is suppressed.

Sara Jacobovici

7 years ago #1

#1
First of all James McElearney, it's referred to as "creative theft" rather than steal. But in this case not even theft is involved. Glad you liked the quote. I appreciate you sharing your experience. For me it reflects the complexity of the nature of being alone versus lonely, connected versus isolated, and so on. On top of it all, you then "attach" the meaning of the time and space in which you find yourself.

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