Art Therapy is a form of psychotherapy that employs the medium of art as its main method of communication. Patients are spurred into expressing their emotions through a piece of art, be it a sculpture, a painting, or simply a drawing. Continue reading
Education and creativity expert Sir Ken Robinson gives a fantastic talk on how the standardized nature of the educational system restricts the imagination and creative diversity of today’s students. He argues that rather than worrying about the future of the external world, more resources should be invested in breaking down the boundaries that society subtly sets within our own minds and hearts.
In the video above, Elizabeth Gilbert muses on society’s general beliefs that (1) creativity and suffering are inherently linked, and (2) artistry ultimately leads to anguish. She claims that the immense responsibility and pressure of “being a genius” has been “killing off artists for the last 500 years.” Gilbert goes on to suggest that the antiquated Greek and Roman approach of externalizing the creative process, that is, seeing an extremely creative person as “having a genius” as opposed to “being a genius” would dramatically reduce the “inherent emotional risks of creativity.”
In this video Susan Cain distinguishes between introversion and shyness, and discusses the current cultural bias which favors extroversion in schools and in the workplace. She argues that solitude is often an essential ingredient for independent thinking and that introverts should not be stigmatized for seeking it out. Cain also emphasizes the point that introverts are a vital creative resource in tackling current world problems and that their talents and abilities should be encouraged and celebrated.
A profound talk by Sir Ken Robinson on human intelligence and the pressing need for an education system worldwide which nurtures childhood creativity. He argues that schools today are geared towards stigmatizing wrong answers (which subsequently restricts creativity and freedom of expression in students) and makes the point that creativity is something we slowly unlearn as we get older and become molded by the “rules” of general society.
