Hallmarks of Creative Souls

During our Writer's Spa in Taos last week, Jennifer Louden (my co-leader), the group, and I came up with a list we call 'Hallmarks of Creative Souls". This came out of a discussion about being eccentric as a creative person, and how important it is to court those eccentricities and allow yourself to really claim your own particular creative 'weirdness'.

Read this list and do your own mental assessment: are you a creative soul? And if so, do you honor your eccentricities?

Creative souls tend to:

• Be confident about their uniqueness/'weirdness'
• Have multiple talents
• Hear voices or see visions
• Have a shifting focus or ADD (not all; some)
• Enjoy freedom of dress
• Are curious
• Notice more around themselves
• Seek a calm environment to create in
• Are sensitive to psychic energy
• See things differently
• Are driven to create, even beyond safety, pain or politeness
• Can be both extroverted and introverted at the same time
• Are sensitive
• Can be high maintenance
• Are troubled sometimes; can be addicts
• Tend to be experimental; into alternative lifestyles
• Overflow with ideas

Interestingly, a scholarly study of 1000 eccentrics in both the US and the UK found they tend to live longer. This study describes these eccentrics as "nonconforming; creative; strongly motivated by curiosity; idealistic: he wants to make the world a better place and the people in it happier; happily obsessed with one or more hobbyhorses (usually five or six); aware from early childhood that he is different; intelligent; opinionated and outspoken, convinced that he is right and that the rest of the world is out of step."  Eccentrics also tend to exhibit less stress, and enjoy better general health.

Viva la difference!

Comments

[Jay]

Thank you very much for describing so many of us, Suzanne!

And reminding us that we're not alone!

Just got back from celebrating my birthday with Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young at Bethel, NY.

Now I've got to get some work done to show everybody what I've got!

Joy, Jay

"Everything you've heard is true!"

[kristen]

geez you described me. what a cool theory you've developed:)

[Mary Lucker]

Whew! I feel so much better now that I can post this list and stop worrying about the voices and visions:-) I loved it, and the list reminds me that I am creative and need to stop running away from it.