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Deep Creativity: Inside the Creative Mystery
What is creativity? Where does it come from? How does one fulfill creative potential?
The creative process has remained a mystery to scientific observers unwilling to muddy their results with personal experience. University of Arizona psychologist Dr. Victor Shamas decided to break free of scientific convention, delving into the creative experience directly rather than just observing it in others. His thirty-year exploration of creativity reveals startling answers to basic questions about the nature of creativity.
Deep Creativity turns fundamental assumptions about the creative process on their head. Through his set of Ten Tenets, Shamas re-envisions creativity entirely, linking his own personal experiences with the reflections of eminent artists throughout history while providing groundbreaking insights into the scientific method, fractals, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, plate tectonics, mind and consciousness, hero myths, the life cycle, sleep and dreams, mothers’ intuition, the nature of wisdom, peak experiences, and even the Gospels.
Deep Creativity integrates art, psychology, philosophy, and mysticism to offer a radical new view of both the creative process and the human condition. The creative experience is portrayed as a bold adventure filled with passion, turmoil, inspiration, sacrifice, sheer joy, self-transcendence, and unconditional love. Deep Creativity shows readers that creativity is not just thinking outside the box but living outside it.
The creative process has remained a mystery to scientific observers unwilling to muddy their results with personal experience. University of Arizona psychologist Dr. Victor Shamas decided to break free of scientific convention, delving into the creative experience directly rather than just observing it in others. His thirty-year exploration of creativity reveals startling answers to basic questions about the nature of creativity.
Deep Creativity turns fundamental assumptions about the creative process on their head. Through his set of Ten Tenets, Shamas re-envisions creativity entirely, linking his own personal experiences with the reflections of eminent artists throughout history while providing groundbreaking insights into the scientific method, fractals, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, plate tectonics, mind and consciousness, hero myths, the life cycle, sleep and dreams, mothers’ intuition, the nature of wisdom, peak experiences, and even the Gospels.
Deep Creativity integrates art, psychology, philosophy, and mysticism to offer a radical new view of both the creative process and the human condition. The creative experience is portrayed as a bold adventure filled with passion, turmoil, inspiration, sacrifice, sheer joy, self-transcendence, and unconditional love. Deep Creativity shows readers that creativity is not just thinking outside the box but living outside it.
210 pages, Paperback
Published March 6, 2018
4 people are currently reading
18 people want to read
About the author
Victor Shamas
4 books2 followersI have dedicated my life to understanding and exploring the experience of being fully alive (EBFA), as well as the sensations that give rise to it, including: passion, intuition, receptivity, playfulness, and self-transcendence. As a University of Arizona psychologist, I have studied the relationship of the EBFA with health, well-being, and creativity. For more than two decades, I have brought together and mentored free spirits who, like me, recognize the importance of the EBFA as both a source of motivation and a guiding force in their lives.
The EBFA is a central theme in everything I have written. The Chanter’s Guide details the healing properties of the EBFA and explains how the practice of chanting can facilitate this kind of transformative experience. In The Way of Play, I explain how a variety of play activities can act as vehicle for EBFAs. Repose: The Potent Pause, co-authored with health psychologist Jhan Kold, introduces an effective tool that can induce an EBFA at no cost and with minimal effort or time commitment. In Deep Creativity, I examine the central role of the EBFA in the creative act.
I head two groups that serve the needs of free spirits: PlayHaven, which offers creative play for people of all ages, and Global Chant, a network of chanting circles that embraces wisdom and sacred music from all traditions. The mission of both is to provide a venue and activities that attract free spirits and promote the EBFA.
I have spoken to groups in four continents on topics related to the EBFA and the *free-spirit sensation, including creativity, play, Repose, chanting, self-transcendence and the future of spirituality.
During my personal exploration of the creative process, I have written several hundred musical compositions; produced over 200 instructional videos; developed and taught 25 university courses in psychology; organized a global event called WAVE1 that involved approximately one million participants in 40 countries; recorded three music CDs; designed multimedia materials on the neuroscience of addiction; invented an automated solar water distiller; created an anti-inflammatory health program, called Victor’s Inflammation Mend (VIM), to lower the risk of chronic illness; and directed the Intuition in Pregnancy study, which has been featured in the national media, including USA Today, Pregnancy magazine, and NBC’s Today show.
The EBFA is a central theme in everything I have written. The Chanter’s Guide details the healing properties of the EBFA and explains how the practice of chanting can facilitate this kind of transformative experience. In The Way of Play, I explain how a variety of play activities can act as vehicle for EBFAs. Repose: The Potent Pause, co-authored with health psychologist Jhan Kold, introduces an effective tool that can induce an EBFA at no cost and with minimal effort or time commitment. In Deep Creativity, I examine the central role of the EBFA in the creative act.
I head two groups that serve the needs of free spirits: PlayHaven, which offers creative play for people of all ages, and Global Chant, a network of chanting circles that embraces wisdom and sacred music from all traditions. The mission of both is to provide a venue and activities that attract free spirits and promote the EBFA.
I have spoken to groups in four continents on topics related to the EBFA and the *free-spirit sensation, including creativity, play, Repose, chanting, self-transcendence and the future of spirituality.
During my personal exploration of the creative process, I have written several hundred musical compositions; produced over 200 instructional videos; developed and taught 25 university courses in psychology; organized a global event called WAVE1 that involved approximately one million participants in 40 countries; recorded three music CDs; designed multimedia materials on the neuroscience of addiction; invented an automated solar water distiller; created an anti-inflammatory health program, called Victor’s Inflammation Mend (VIM), to lower the risk of chronic illness; and directed the Intuition in Pregnancy study, which has been featured in the national media, including USA Today, Pregnancy magazine, and NBC’s Today show.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
September 28, 2025
Fantastic book on our inherent creative power and ability
As important as science has been with assisting us on understanding the nature of our universe and reality, it does limit us to objective results, and there lies the issue. This read is not for those who strictly focus on results and conventions. It goes beyond human perception and limitations. It’s not about believing, but what’s useful for breaking paradigms that limit our fullest potential. You won’t know until you give it a try. That’s a more accurate definition of how we create any and all our beliefs. I recommend you give this book a try. If it resonates with you, then that means something. If not, then by all means, disregard this review and recommendation, and discover what does. That’s your birthright.
As important as science has been with assisting us on understanding the nature of our universe and reality, it does limit us to objective results, and there lies the issue. This read is not for those who strictly focus on results and conventions. It goes beyond human perception and limitations. It’s not about believing, but what’s useful for breaking paradigms that limit our fullest potential. You won’t know until you give it a try. That’s a more accurate definition of how we create any and all our beliefs. I recommend you give this book a try. If it resonates with you, then that means something. If not, then by all means, disregard this review and recommendation, and discover what does. That’s your birthright.
Displaying 1 of 1 review