Everyday Creativity and New Views of Human Nature: Psychological, Social, and Spiritual Perspectives
What is everyday creativity? This book offers a great  synthesis of the literature and a wealth of ideas and perspectives about  everyday creativity from the leaders in the field. It is scholarly,  interesting, and practical--an excellent combination. Ruth Richards  continues to develop this important concept and tells us the practical  benefits of everyday creativity.--Sandra W. Russ, PhD, Professor, Department of Psychology, Case Western  Reserve  University, Cleveland, OH; author of Affect and Creativity: The  Role of Affect and Play in the Creative Process; editor of Affect, Creative  Experience, and Psychological AdjustmentThis work is a tremendous leap forward in our understanding of human  nature. It demonstrates that everyone is capable of discovering creativity  in the immediate moment. Our senses come alive, our emotions are stirred,  an inward door opens, and our consciousness is expanded. Everyday behaviors  and cognitions are transformed into flashes of intuitive insight that feed  the growth-oriented dimension of personality. With this volume, we cross  the threshold into a new psychology.--Eugene Taylor, PhD, Saybrook Graduate School, San Francisco, CA;  Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA; author of  William James on Exceptional Mental StatesEveryday Creativity and New Views of Human Nature presents us with a  stunning array of models of everyday creativity. It demystifies and  illuminates. Both academic and accessible, this volume offers students and  teachers of philosophy, psychology, education, and social policy  provocative and useful insights into the underrecognized power of creative  energy in our daily lives. Furthermore, it takes us beyond the realm of  personal change to the possibility of social transformation. It inspires us  to reach, with creative courage, for openness to experience, flexibility,  collaboration, and movement to new realms of human potential by simply  supporting the creative energy in each of us.--Judith V. Jordan, PhD, Director, Jean Baker Miller Training Institute,  Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA; Assistant Professor, Harvard Medical  School, Boston, MA; editor of The Complexity of Connection; author of  Women's Growth in ConnectionEveryday Creativity and New Views of Human Nature offers a treasure trove  of new perspectives on the nature and functions of one of the least  understood and most important human attributes.--Arnold M. Ludwig, MD, author of The Price of Greatness: Resolving the  Creativity and Madness Controversy and King of the Mountain: The Nature of  Political LeadershipReading this book is like attending an enthralling exhibition: Contributing  eminent artists grapple with the most important themes of our time. Their  collection sparkles with urgency and intensity. Ruth Richards brings a  subversive understanding that the secret of change lies in the apparent  ordinariness of our own lives. The ingredients for transformation are here  for everyone who wants humanity to evolve creatively and positively. It's a  treasure.--Jonathan Milne, founder and Managing Director, The Learning Connexion,  Wellington, New Zealand, a university-level program offering Diploma of Art  and Creativity, nominated for the Wellington Creative Gold Award; author of  GO! The Art of ChangeRuth Richards, one of the world's leaders in the study of creativity, has  assembled an enormously valuable compendium of leading-edge research on the  nature of creativity and its relationship to learning, spirituality, art,  social justice, and the search for meaning. The amazing insights brought  forth by this broad array of distinguished writers and thinkers lead us to  the inescapable conclusion that the study of creativity is the "high  ground" for a new and deeper understanding of the cognitive process. This  is an essential resource for anyone interested in new ways of thinking  about how we transform ourselves and the world.--Michael Grady, MFA, Chair, Department of Arts and Consciousness, John F.  Kennedy University, Berkeley, CAThis collection assembled by Dr. Ruth Richards represents a remarkable  range of ideas, characterized by sound scholarship, beautifully written  prose, and surprise. The book, itself, embodies the essence of creativity  in its presentation, and its breadth and thoroughness destine it to become  a multidisciplinary classic.--Jeanne Achterberg, PhD, Professor of Psychology, Saybrook Graduate  School, San Francisco, CA; Senior Editor of the Journal of Complementary  and Alternative Therapy; author of Imagery in Healing: Shamanism and Modern  Medicine and Woman as HealerIn this book, Ruth Richards has synthesized an important dialogue that  invites a broad readership. By viewing everyday creativity in a  multifaceted mirror, we are invited to more clearly see the complexity of  who we are; how we image ourselves; what we may become; and how to open  ourselves to life, spirit, and transformation. This book speaks to anyone  who is interested in the human capacity for transformation. The core  creativity it addresses applies to spiritual experience as well as to  survival and adaptation. It is excellent to see a book tackle everyday  creativity at this level.--Nik Warren, PhD, President of AHIMSA (nonviolence in Sanskrit), an  interfaith organization dedicated to encouraging  dialogues and public  forums that bridge spirituality, science, and society; editor of Dimensions  of Unity: Dialogues of Spirituality, Science, and SocietyToo often the term creativity is narrowly used to describe the individual  gifted in the arts, the scientist who develops a new theory, or the  inventor of cutting-edge technology.  Everyday Creativity and New Views of  Human Nature illustrates the point that creativity is inherent in every  person and is, in reality, an organic part of life itself. It drives home  the message that the life well lived is a creative one--and the creativity  inherent in life itself transforms the person in return. Creativity heals  lives individually and has the potential to transform society as a whole.--Marie A. DiCowden, PhD, founder and CEO, The Biscayne Institutes of  Health & Living, Miami, FL; author/editor of Humanizing Health Care and The  Colors of Prayer by HeartThis book offers a fresh approach to the significance of creativity in the  lives of all of us at every age and stage of our development. Although the  product of everyday creativity is a goal, readers will see that the process  of being creative can have transforming psychological benefits. This volume  includes the best contributing authors in the field and great editing by  Ruth Richards.--Delmont Morrison, PhD, University of California, San Francisco, and  Shirley Linden Morrison, MA, Notre Dame de Namur University, Belmont, CA;  coauthors of Memories of Loss and Dreams of PerfectionThis impressive book brings together a variety of fascinating essays on  both personal and social aspects of creativity. The essays are authored by  distinguished scholars and draw on academic research yet are written in  such a clear and engaging manner that they are accessible to a wide  audience. The book will be of great interest not only to scholars and  students but also to anyone who wants to learn more about creativity from  some of the world's experts on the subject.--Dennis Kinney, PhD, Research Psychologist, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA;  Associate Professor in Psychology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MAThis fascinating volume presents important and unusual perspectives on  creativity. Drawing extensively on systems perspectives, the authors  provide us with a broader and richer approach to the phenomenon of  creativity in all its permutations and manifestations.--Alfonso Montuori, PhD, Professor, California Institute of Integral  Studies, San Francisco, CA; coeditor of Social Creativity and Creators on  Creating; coauthor of From Power to Partnership: Creating the Future of  Love, Work, and Community