Two types of creativity exist in my person. At least these are two kinds I can identify.
First, there is big idea creativity, it’s sparked by feeling. Emotion, when an idea is in sync with my soul. I feel the need to express or emote. This kind is attributed to a muse or intuition. Suddenly I know where to go and what to do. The visions start in my head of places, reactions, attire. They’re pieces of the full experience or finished product.
When the idea collides with my mind or makes itself known, once it finds me to express it. “Yeah, I have to go with this.” The idea’s been looking for me and something like a homing device sounds and the idea zips to me from out of the ether of the universe. Maybe from the dark matter we can’t see or wherever all ideas live until they come meet us.
Second, there is action creativity. I build systems to carry out tasks with this kind. I consider the final product; I look at the elements. What do I have on hand to accomplish this, what else needs to be brought in, found, or created. I use all the information to shape my course of action. I rearrange my to-do list based off it. Finish smaller tasks first, then tackle the big project. Start the big project first, save small tasks for later. Alternatively, place smaller tasks before and after the big project.
In the middle of said project I can identify a need to change course or add and adjust steps. I adapt to efficiencies as I work. Pattern recognition plays a big part here. Especially when I am a project involves other people and there’s a pass off or back and forth. I can decipher how something was done by another person. Their thought process is easy to follow or identify.
Out of curiosity what types of creativity have been identified formally? In a 2018 paper, published in 2019 in the Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, Arne Dietrich, of the American University of Beirut, laid out a theoretical framework for identifying subtypes of creativity. A framework is less rigid which lends itself to the inherent complexity of the subject and attempts to study and identify creativity’s origin.
Dietrich identified three subtypes:
Deliberate Mode: “Creative ideas are generated by deliberate iterations of trial and error.”
Spontaneous Mode: “Creative ideas arise suddenly, spontaneously, and unintentionally in the mind.”
Flow Mode: “Creative behavior comes about through fluid and effortless motion that bypasses consciousness altogether.”
The study of creativity is fascinating. Dietrich repeatedly states that the work and research are ever changing, and creativity cannot be tied to one, sole source or mechanism. I cn see where the types of creativity I’ve identified in myself fall. Big Idea aligns with Spontaneous Mode, Action with Deliberate Mode, and the kind that I find at the studio moves with Flow Mode.
Turning over stones in the river of my life to identify what each means is endlessly fulfilling. I no longer see myself as a problem but a puzzle. Cheers to finding another piece.
Citation: Dietrich A. Types of creativity. Psychon Bull Rev. 2019 Feb;26(1):1-12. doi: 10.3758/s13423-018-1517-7. PMID: 30128937.
*In case the link is finicky, the song of the week is ‘5th Symphony in Congo Square’ by Jon Batiste*
