Solitude

1. The creative person, in the inspirational phase of the creative furor, loses his past and his future and lives only in the moment. He is all there, totally immersed, fascinated and absorbed in the present, in the current situation, in the here-now, with the matter in hand. This ability to become “lost in the present” seems to be a sine qua non for creativeness of any kind. But also certain prerequisites of creativeness - in whatever realm - somehow have something to do with this ability to become timeless, selfless, outside of space, of society, of history. It has begun to appear strongly that this phenomenon is diluted, more secular, more frequent version of the mystical experience.

   Solitude

2. Maslow realizes that the creative attitude and the ability to have peak experiences depends upon being free of other people; free, especially, from neurotic involvement, from ‘historical hangovers from childhood’, but also free of obligations, duties, fears, and hopes.

   Solitude

3. We become much more free of other people, which in turn means that we become much more ourselves, our Real Selves, our authentic selves, our real identity.

   Solitude

4. The earth assumes a smiling countenance; and, although this may be no more than a projection of the inner bliss of the subject, there is a sense in which feeling that all is right with the world may actually promote a better adjustment to it. All the world loves a lover, and lover loves all the world. Being in love is a state of mind closer to ecstasy than it is orgasm.

   Solitude

5. Creatures who are more or less perfectly adjusted to the environment could be called ‘happy’.

   Solitude

6. Creativity usually consists of forming new links between formerly disparate entities, the union between opposites decreed by Jung. This linking process is obvious in scientific creativity, in which a new hypothesis reconciles or supersedes ideas which we previously thought to be incompatible.

   Solitude

7. Combining opposites can also be demonstrates in the visual arts and in music. Our delight is related to the skill with which the composer creates a new unity out of themes which at first appeared quite separate.

   Solitude

8. The creative process continues throughout life. No creator is ever satisfied with what he has done. New problems constantly occur which compel him to seek new solutions.

   Solitude

9. At the height of being in love the boundary between ego and object threatens to melt away. Against all evidence of his senses, a man who is in love declares that I and you are one and is prepared to behave as if it were a fact.

   Solitude

10. Jung and Freud almost abandoned interest in psychotherapy in favor of ideas and theories about human nature.

    Solitude

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