How to Help Kids Find Their Passion

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Note: I'm going to clear out some time to read Flow in the coming weeks as well as some of his other books found here.  I am so excited about this I'm doing a happy dance right now! Creativity is almost as important to me as my heartbeat.

We should know our children better than anyone else, but it seems that the craziness of life often gets in the way.  I make it my point to study my child. I want him to avoid wasting his time pursuing things that really don’t suit him.  Let's use sports as an example.  He tried soccer at age four. He loved it the first year, but each season became less and less enjoyable for him. He “retired” from the sport when he was six years old. He was an excellent soccer player with skills and stamina, but he didn’t like it. So, the following spring, he tried lacrosse and loved it. Then in the fall, he found his “flow” with football. He is an overall excellent athlete no matter the sport, but football is where his passions lie.  Had I made him stay with soccer, I would have missed the opportunity to witness his football abilities and joy playing the sport.  He’s even interested in playing football in the spring which means that lacrosse and his $300 dollars’ worth of equipment will take a back seat for now.  He assured me that he'll pick it back up when he's in middle school.


Another area where he is in his flow is while he is drawing and sculpting.  He sits for hours drawing, but will only play a video game for the requisite 15 minutes.  The average attention span is 15 minutes, but when we are in our flow, "time doesn’t exist." What activities does your child do for long periods of time?  Don’t say watch TV! We all are guilty of that one.  There are some other activities in which your child becomes enthralled. Take note. That activity just may be the thing that will make him millions while fulfilled and possibly blessing others.  I’ve posted a TED talk about flow. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: Flow, The Secret to Happiness. The video is also found here.

I related to the speaker more than I could have ever imagined. When I’m writing, time doesn’t exist. I will sit down to write and the next thing I know it’s 3 hours later. If I don’t write, I miss my characters. I wonder what they’re up to.  Anyway, once you notice your child’s “flow” activity, give them opportunities to hone their skills.  Give them the tools they need to experience this wonderful space. I signed my son up for two art camps this summer, and of course we are in the middle of football season right now. I signed him up for a speed and agility afterschool activity this fall as well. There are always a plethora of art supplies available to him.

I think back to when I was eight years old deciding my future by stating that I wanted to be a pediatrician based on an interview I conducted with my pediatrician. I couldn’t stand the sight of mucus or blood, but I was going to be a doctor. I sat in my room for hours designing clothes and hairstyles, but doctor was my career choice.  I took photographs and won awards for my photography, but doctor it was.  I wrote and illustrated books and won awards for them, but there was no turning back from a declaration I made when I was a mere eight years old.  O, had my parents and I known about flow back then.  I would be a fashion journalist. But, it’s never too late, and the fact that I’ve been through twists and turns with my career, makes me all the better suited to help students make wise decisions about their career track.  Let's study our children, witness when they're in flow, and help them hone those skills. Simple, right?  Help them intermingle the practical with their passions and success is inevitable!

Creativity

In honor of back to school, I'm posting a helpful paper I completed a couple of years ago on creativity.  I hope it sparks your creativity. It may even be helpful information for your own paper.  Have a great year and feed your imagination!

Psychoanalytic Theories of Creativity & Genius
by Amanda Gia
MLA:  Johnson, Amanda Gia. "Psychoanalytic Theories of Creativity & Genius."  Amanda Gia. Blogspot.com, 4 Sept. 2014. Web. Access Date.

An epiphanic thought came to mind after reading Carlisle Bergquist's article:  The act of discovering the source of creativity is a creative process within itself.  Which leaves one to wonder, if the progenitors of the three branches of psychology, Freud, B. F. Skinner, Rogers and others, would have attempted to uncover their source of creativity, would they have found the answer?  They would have been their own best subjects. They would have known what happened immediately prior to an idea of greatness, what encounters sparked curiosity, and what emotional state they were experiencing when inspiration hit.  Instead, they looked to the tenants of psychology to define creativity.

Psychoanalysis was too primal in its interpretation. Freud even acknowledged that psychoanalysis was not the solution to “elucidating the nature of the artistic gift” in his Autobiographic Study (qtd. in Bergquist). There had to have been a better explanation for the creative process than impulses and urges.  If all of the creative people in this world were unhappy and unfulfilled, this world would be in an abysmal state.  Behavioristic psychology is built on what is observable, and the source of creativity is definitely not observable. The behavioral processes and the ultimate products of creativity were studied, yet the source was still unidentifiable since it was an unquantifiable enigma.  Lastly, the humanistic approach to understanding creativity drew near to the source because it clearly described the creative process, integrating aspects of both psychoanalytic (i.e., primary processes) and behavioristic (i.e., conditioning and positive reinforcement) in addition to declaring that creativity is what makes one human.  Humanistic psychology best describes Albert Einstein’s creative process, yet still lacks to uncover the source.   

Einstein’s “driving need to understand the logic of nature, tied to a breathtaking creativity and a fierce intellectual independence” were the catalysts for his work (Smolin 56).  His “driving need” fueled his creativity and his creativity coupled with his intellect and hard work changed society.  His process can be clearly observed through the humanistic integrated creativity lens.  Yet, he had visions or “happy thoughts” while at his job at the patent office (Gribbin 39).   Where did these visions originate? Was it his childhood imagination resurfacing at a time when he could infuse his vast knowledge to postulate and test theories of relativity? Or, was he just sleepy causing his brain to wonder which precipitated broad thinking (Diduch 9)? The source is still a mystery.  Einstein’s ability to think on dual planes of thought by connecting a happy thought and the laws of physics can be characterized as “bisociation” as coined by Arthur Koestler in his 1964 book The Art of Creation (qtd. in Bergquist). Ainsworth-Land’s third order humanistic view best describes his creative process insomuch he was in constant harmony with physics.  “Insightful solutions to problems often happen when people use knowledge that they did not realize would be valuable when they learn it” (Markman 52).  As proposed by Smolin in “Why No ‘New Einstein’?” encouragement and funding should be given to scientists who are “independent thinkers” with “diverse points of view” who are committed to solving the untrendy problems “to ensure the progress of science is not stalled” (56-57). 

The same sentiment should be expressed in the discovery of the source of creativity.  Although the three branches of psychology describe the process, the origins of creativity in the human mind or, even in the human genome, still need to be unlocked.  “The concepts, attitudes, and procedures employed are probably at fault and in need of being transcended in a fresh approach” (Ghiselin 3).  This fresh approach should be one that studies the characteristics, habits, environmental factors, genealogy, nutrition, and spiritual life of all who are creative, no matter what they create. Whether the arts or psychology, the light bulb pops up over them all.  Had the psychologists not precluded themselves from their own studies, it is quite possible that we would know what powers that light bulb.

Works Cited
Bergquist, Carlisle. “A Comparative View of Creativity Theories: Psychoanalystic, Behavioristic,   
    and Humanistic.” Vantage Quest for Creativity and Personal Transformation (1999-2000).  Web. 
    14 May 2012. <http:// www. vantagequest.org/ trees/comparative.htm>
Diduch, Mary. “Four secrets of creativity: to get your mental engine humming ignore conventional 
    advice.”  Psychology Today (2012): 9. Web. 18 May 2012.  <http.// go.galegroup.com>
Ghiselin, Brewster, ed. Introduction. The Creative Process: Reflections on Invention in
    the Arts and Sciences. 1952. California: University of California Press; London: University of 
    California, LTD, 1985. Print.
Gribbin, John, and Mary Gribbin. Einstein in 90 Minutes. London: Constable and Company Limited, 
    1997. Print.
Markman, Art.  “Get smart: how to bulk up your creativity muscle.” Psychology Today (2012: 52) 
    Web. 18 May 2012. <http.//go.galegroup.com>
Smolin, Lee. “Why No ‘New Einstein’?”  Physics Today (2005): 56-57. Print.