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The Woman's Book of Creativity
Describes the holistic creative practice while explaining how it can particularly benefit women, describes how female creative processes differ from those of men, and offers exercises on developing and focusing creativity. Original. Tour. IP.
276 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 1995
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
April 25, 2018
p.83 – Sacred space is our own room, our office, our niche. When we’re in it, no one enters who isn’t invited. Sacred time is the part of the day devoted to creative work. No one else will provide these things for us; we need to create them for ourselves.
p.87 – We need privacy and solitude to facilitate our creative process. Through our commitment to ourselves we’ll make certain we have what we need.
Loving Your Creative Self
p.181 – Creativity exists to make our lives better, more fun, and interesting. It provides us with tools for meeting challenges and coping with adversity while giving us an outlet for a unique aspect of ourselves. We need to develop a rapport with our creativity, nurturing our relationship with our creative self the way we would any other important partnership.
We need to know what stimulates our creativity and what we can do to facilitate the process. We need to understand it at an intimate level.
p.182-183 – No one can develop intimacy with someone shrouded in mystery or elevated to a pedestal. Interacting with our creative aspect is encountering a healthy, vibrant part of us. It can become one of the most important relationships in our lives.
Adapting Susan Campbell’s five-stage model for relationships as described in The Couple’s Journey: Intimacy as a Path to Wholeness can give us a framework for developing a rapport with our creativity.
Romance – In the fist stage, romance, we become enthralled with the idea of making great art or writing best-sellers or being responsible for a revolutionary advance. We’re in love with our creativity. We can be caught in the illusion that simply by wanting to be more creative, we will be. […] Being in love with our creativity awakens us to our own possibilities. It opens us to the sheer joy of creating and connects us to our passions. Unfortunately, many of these feelings can fade as we encounter “reality.”
Power Struggle – The second stage presents the greatest difficulty: the power struggle. After the romance wears off and the hard work begins, we can find ourselves struggling to force our creativity process and the end results into a preconceived mold. Rather than encouraging our creative self to communicate naturally, we may attempt to follow what we think is the “correct” process or to validate only tangible products, leaving much of our work unrecognized. Not only will we fail to give expression to our true creative nature, but we’ll also resent our creativity for not meeting our expectations. Our task in resolving this inner conflict lies with recognizing and honoring the distinctive process and products our creativity has to offer. Learning to tryst the process and accepting that our creativity exists for our well-being are critical. At the same time, we take care of our needs, balancing creative work with other aspects of our lives. We give up trying to force our creativity into preconceived ideas while our creative self learns how to work with us. We discover in this power struggle who we are as unique beings and learn how expressing our creative gifts can support our individuality. We make peace with our creative self, joining in full partnership with it.
Stability – The next phase is stability, where, by accepting who we are as creative individuals and how our unique creativity manifests, we can welcome change. It’s part of the paradox of creativity that it is nurtured in an atmosphere of security form which we can take risks and invite the change accompanying creative expression. The more intimate we are with our unique process, the better understanding we have of what it needs. One time it may be stimulated by the discipline of working on a project for several hours while another time it may need to retreat into our less-conscious awareness as we engage in some unrelated activity such as physical exercise or watching a movie.
Commitment – the fourth stage in our evolving relationship, is typified by a feeling of being able to be who we truly are as we express our unique self. We’ve stopped trying to force conformity on ourselves or our creativity and have accepted change as a constant. With a solid trust in our creative aspect, we rely on creativity to improve the quality of our lives. As we increasingly give expression to this unique part of ourselves and begin living a creative lifestyle, we discover that this expression influences those around is to be more creative.
Co-Creation – In the fifth stage, co-creation, we sympathize all the lessons we’ve learned from the previous phrases. We understand we are multiple options for how we relate and respond to events in our lives; we create our experience. From this perspective, we may decide to carry our innovations into the world.
p.186 – Building a positive alliance with the creative self takes time, effort, and patience, just as developing any intimacy does. Because creativity makes our lives better, every effort invested in improving that rapport brings multiple benefits. Eventually, our lives will seem less split into the creative and the routine and more of our experiences will be dominated by the former. Then we’ll feel more like a whole person living creatively.
p.87 – We need privacy and solitude to facilitate our creative process. Through our commitment to ourselves we’ll make certain we have what we need.
Loving Your Creative Self
p.181 – Creativity exists to make our lives better, more fun, and interesting. It provides us with tools for meeting challenges and coping with adversity while giving us an outlet for a unique aspect of ourselves. We need to develop a rapport with our creativity, nurturing our relationship with our creative self the way we would any other important partnership.
We need to know what stimulates our creativity and what we can do to facilitate the process. We need to understand it at an intimate level.
p.182-183 – No one can develop intimacy with someone shrouded in mystery or elevated to a pedestal. Interacting with our creative aspect is encountering a healthy, vibrant part of us. It can become one of the most important relationships in our lives.
Adapting Susan Campbell’s five-stage model for relationships as described in The Couple’s Journey: Intimacy as a Path to Wholeness can give us a framework for developing a rapport with our creativity.
Romance – In the fist stage, romance, we become enthralled with the idea of making great art or writing best-sellers or being responsible for a revolutionary advance. We’re in love with our creativity. We can be caught in the illusion that simply by wanting to be more creative, we will be. […] Being in love with our creativity awakens us to our own possibilities. It opens us to the sheer joy of creating and connects us to our passions. Unfortunately, many of these feelings can fade as we encounter “reality.”
Power Struggle – The second stage presents the greatest difficulty: the power struggle. After the romance wears off and the hard work begins, we can find ourselves struggling to force our creativity process and the end results into a preconceived mold. Rather than encouraging our creative self to communicate naturally, we may attempt to follow what we think is the “correct” process or to validate only tangible products, leaving much of our work unrecognized. Not only will we fail to give expression to our true creative nature, but we’ll also resent our creativity for not meeting our expectations. Our task in resolving this inner conflict lies with recognizing and honoring the distinctive process and products our creativity has to offer. Learning to tryst the process and accepting that our creativity exists for our well-being are critical. At the same time, we take care of our needs, balancing creative work with other aspects of our lives. We give up trying to force our creativity into preconceived ideas while our creative self learns how to work with us. We discover in this power struggle who we are as unique beings and learn how expressing our creative gifts can support our individuality. We make peace with our creative self, joining in full partnership with it.
Stability – The next phase is stability, where, by accepting who we are as creative individuals and how our unique creativity manifests, we can welcome change. It’s part of the paradox of creativity that it is nurtured in an atmosphere of security form which we can take risks and invite the change accompanying creative expression. The more intimate we are with our unique process, the better understanding we have of what it needs. One time it may be stimulated by the discipline of working on a project for several hours while another time it may need to retreat into our less-conscious awareness as we engage in some unrelated activity such as physical exercise or watching a movie.
Commitment – the fourth stage in our evolving relationship, is typified by a feeling of being able to be who we truly are as we express our unique self. We’ve stopped trying to force conformity on ourselves or our creativity and have accepted change as a constant. With a solid trust in our creative aspect, we rely on creativity to improve the quality of our lives. As we increasingly give expression to this unique part of ourselves and begin living a creative lifestyle, we discover that this expression influences those around is to be more creative.
Co-Creation – In the fifth stage, co-creation, we sympathize all the lessons we’ve learned from the previous phrases. We understand we are multiple options for how we relate and respond to events in our lives; we create our experience. From this perspective, we may decide to carry our innovations into the world.
p.186 – Building a positive alliance with the creative self takes time, effort, and patience, just as developing any intimacy does. Because creativity makes our lives better, every effort invested in improving that rapport brings multiple benefits. Eventually, our lives will seem less split into the creative and the routine and more of our experiences will be dominated by the former. Then we’ll feel more like a whole person living creatively.
August 17, 2010
I love this book... just re-read a passage about giving small gifts to yourself, so I'm going to just spray a little of one of my favorite perfumes in my office. A small treat for me and others who come in. It's "Spa Sugar Cologne" by BeautiControl.
May 5, 2022
A tad dated in terms of gendered language, but when read with the mindset of "woman" equals "feminine spirit/divine feminine," it mostly hits the mark. Many more practical solutions presented than anticipated, and came away viewing my relationship with creativity differently.
March 22, 2014
Very interesting insights into how creativity works for people with non-linear processes. The meditation exercises in particular were valuable to me. I wish there were an updated version!
November 27, 2023
Between 2 and 3 stars for some rather dated language and view points.
May 8, 2013
Ealy debunks many myths about creativity that have been handed down over the centuries (e.g. 'creativity is about producing a tangible thing' and only 'a few people possess creativity'). She explores why so many women feel like they aren’t creative. Through reviewing the received wisdom of ‘creativity research’, she demonstrates that women’s experiences and expressions of creativity historically haven’t been included in ‘what counts as creative’. Prevailing definitions of what constitutes creativity or creative thinking have been male-defined.
Ealy argues that women tend to gravitate to holistic models of problem-solving. She walks a fine line between arguing that both holistic and linear thinking styles are human traits and not sex specific, and yet that women have inherent leanings toward holistic thinking. One thing is clear, when some women tend to problem-solve or express their creativity in holistic ways--it is often devalued. She urges women to embrace and value their unique style and shows how to overcome common issues that block women (i.e. fear of being called selfish, being outer directed, unhealthy responses to conflict, etc.). The book offers practical, easy and fun techniques for expanding what's in one's creative toolkit. Her expertise as a therapist, coach and seeker is evident; she skillfully weaves together empirical research, archetypal psychology, client case studies and her own insights.
Ealy argues that women tend to gravitate to holistic models of problem-solving. She walks a fine line between arguing that both holistic and linear thinking styles are human traits and not sex specific, and yet that women have inherent leanings toward holistic thinking. One thing is clear, when some women tend to problem-solve or express their creativity in holistic ways--it is often devalued. She urges women to embrace and value their unique style and shows how to overcome common issues that block women (i.e. fear of being called selfish, being outer directed, unhealthy responses to conflict, etc.). The book offers practical, easy and fun techniques for expanding what's in one's creative toolkit. Her expertise as a therapist, coach and seeker is evident; she skillfully weaves together empirical research, archetypal psychology, client case studies and her own insights.
February 10, 2008
When I read this book it helped me to see more why men and woman can be so vastly differant. I think it would be a help to any woman in understanding themselves and the opposite sex more thoroughly. Sorry for any mis-spelled words, one of my many handicaps in life. jk.
August 4, 2008
I have been slogging through this and after discovering Twyla Tharp's book, decided to let it go. There are great tidbits in this book but it's so dry. Typically I finish every book I start but as Sunny's pointed out, no one is paying me to read this, so I'm not finishing it.
December 8, 2013
I skipped through this, but what I did read of it was well written. She has some nice things to say about the perilous path of creativity, and didn't dodge the ugly sides either. But this wasn't what i was looking for right now to read. I may return to it in the future and read it through.
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May 6, 2009I've had this book for 10 years and it's been a while since I've dabbled in it, but it's great and any book about creativity is worth revisiting again and again and again for inspiration.
May 9, 2010
I live by this book! If you ever need to reflect or inspect what is unique about you and your creative thoughts, pick this guide up.
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July 26, 2016Over het "ontremmen" van je creatitiviteit, met speciale aandacht voor de specifiek vrouwelijke belemmeringen daarbij. Met mooie opdrachten.
June 27, 2015
meh. some ok ideas/ activities. I didn't finish it.
January 5, 2016
I expected more, this book having been written by a Ph.D and especially catering to women. Most of the tips and things in here are common sense, basic Psych 101 and "no-duh" how-to's.
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February 21, 2012The Woman's Book of Creativity (The Business of Life) by C Diane Ealy (1995)
January 1, 2015
Definitely keeping this one. I've marked several creativity and discovery exercises for repeat use.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews