This morning on my way into work I was rereading the chapter of Abraham Maslow’s Toward a Psychology of Being entitled “Creativity and Self-Actualizing People” and absolutely loved it. He talks about creativity and how it shows up in many people and places outside of the common notions of creativity (paintings, music, literature). There’s one line regarding something about a housewife he knew and how he much preferred her first-rate cake to a second-rate painting…
I think what resonated most about the article to me was the highlighting of creativity as being not in the product but in the individual’s actions and way of looking at things. It’s been on my mind lately that much of our works of art are a result of our character and the state of being we bring to the table when going to work, and less so as a result of technique or something inherent to the product itself.