Learning the Creative Game

Steve Banhegyi / steve@storytelling.co.za
(c) 2007 Published in Enjin Magazine, 2007 June

"It takes a very long time to become young." (Pablo Picasso)

Did you have difficulty making friends as a child? Experience scholastic boredom and more than the normal helping of social problems? A little unconventional and nonconformist even at primary school? Eccentric parents? A study of gifted creatives by Psychologist Ellen Winner cited these early life experiences as stimulating creativity because of the introversion that springs from teasing or isolation; the greater the isolation, the more introspection and the more profound the gift she suggests.

There are many writers who suggest that the truly creative being is the child. And the child energy is still available and accessible to each of us. An interesting way of reaching this space is to think of the following question : Who were you before you became 'adult'? Before you knew all the big words that you know now? Many people when asked this question are stimulated to think of the events that made them adult on various levels Think what it was like to experience the world as a child.

There are many factors that stimulate a need to create but can the creative ability itself be learned and developed like a muscle? Maybe it is something like an ability to ride a bike. Whereas it is really quite impossible to describe what riding a bike involves, you contain your sense of certainty in your 'ability'. In much the same way, you construct your creative ability in your narrative.

Practical experience and a weight of evidence says that you can learn to be more creative and we've integrated some of these ideas into a narrative-centred life skills course that is now running in its third year at CIDA City Campus. The fundamental idea is this: You are created by the stories that you tell to yourself about yourself and the world around you. In other words, we are not only described by our life narrative, we are actually created by it. These stories shape your experience of the world and as you learn how to reframe these experiences (even the ones you've already had), you empower yourself. We also spend time describing creativity as a game and provide some ideas from the approach here:

Creative Narrative
Who is the being doing the creative act? In other words, Who are You? What is the story you tell about yourself as a creative being? How do you remind yourself of your brand? We've seen some amazing transformations in lives when they start to consciously work on their stories. Here is a before and after life script from a creative in a large Ad. Agency. Mary's experience suggests that if you craft your story and embed creative metaphors and symbols into it, that you will have a very different experience as a creative. She attributes the change in her experience to becoming aware that she needed a new story as the old one was literally killing her.

Before Lifescript
My Name is Mary. I am an addict. I drink quite a lot of rum and wine. Sometimes I get so smashed that I wake up on a Sunday Morning and don't know who I am anymore. I have also been doing coke and coffee at work and I feel really burnt out. I think I've lost the ability to crack a concept and I don't even want it back anymore.

After Lifescript
I'm Mary and I was born into a creative, artistic family where the house was filled with wonderful sounds and joy. My parents were both musicians and I experienced a warm and idyllic childhood of freedom and exploration filled with great stories, forest animals, fairies and mermaids. In my exploration of the forest that was part of my home, I spent hours mesmerised by the workings of bees and other forest creatures and was taught by my mother how to make fairy shoes out of the petals of wild flowers. I have never forgotten these carefree, wondrous explorations and I still experience and view the world in this way. My experience at Waldorf school brought me a valuable understanding of friendships and the often peculiar ways in which people behave.
My path as an artist was created when I went with my family on a pilgrimage to Spain and Italy to see the great museums and works of art. I recall staring at the Pieta for what seemed like moments but later turned out to be hours.
I'm clean of the alcohol and the bad drugs. I remember more. I'm more present. And I don't need a substance to make me brave enough to go into a presentation. I am now exploring my options, my possibilities and an empowering story of my future self. I have the support of my friends and family and look forward to living my story wholeheartedly.

Steve Banhegyi
steve@storytelling.co.za