The essential point is the degree of
absorption
CREATIVITY BEGINS WITH ENGAGEMENT
"Thought of the Week" for
December 7, 1998
The first thing we notice in a creative act is
that it is an encounter. Artists
encounter the landscape they propose to paint—they look at it,
observe it from this angle and that. They are, as we say, absorbed
in it. Or, in the case of abstract painters, the encounter may be
with an idea, an inner vision, that in turn may be led off by the
brilliant colors on the palate or the inviting rough whiteness of
the canvas. The paint, the canvas, and the other materials
then become a secondary part of this encounter; they are the
language of it, the media, as we rightly put it....
The encounter may or may not involve voluntary
effort -- that is, "will power."
A healthy child's play, for example,
also has the essential features of encounter, and we know it is one
of the important prototypes of adult creativity. The essential point
is not the presence or absence of voluntary effort, but the degree
of absorption, the degree of intensity; there must be a specific
quality of engagement.
Comment:
If interpreting literature and film, or the
process of writing, are creative acts, then it must be an encounter
between student and material. More importantly, according to May, is
the degree of absorption the student has in the material. The
student must get beyond abstracting the material, putting it "out
there," and involve himself or herself in the experience of the
reading or viewing. Engagement must precede creativity.
