{"id":50,"date":"2007-11-18T19:47:18","date_gmt":"2007-11-18T23:47:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cefocusing.com\/wordpress\/?p=50"},"modified":"2007-11-18T19:47:18","modified_gmt":"2007-11-18T23:47:18","slug":"focusing-and-creativity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cefocusing.com\/wordpress\/focusing-and-creativity\/","title":{"rendered":"FOCUSING AND CREATIVITY"},"content":{"rendered":"

Focusing On The Creative Edge<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Sitting With The Unclear Edge <\/strong><\/h3>\n

Intuitive Focusing<\/a> applied to creative expression, is a methodical, predictable road to \u201cAh, hah!\u201d experiences.<\/strong> \u00a0Gendlin\u2019s Focusing (Bantam, 1981) is a step-wise procedure for paying attention to the murky, intuitive, whole-body \u201cfeel\u201d of a creative project and going back-and-forth between this Creative Edge and words or images for describing it. When you hit on just the right words or image, you will experience that \u201cAh, hah!…Yes, that\u2019s it. That is exactly the next step.\u201d With continued rounds of Focusing, you can carry the creative project through many steps of problem-solving.
\n\u00a0
\nFocusing simply provides specific steps to encourage the \u201cAh, hah!\u201d process which creative people have always accessed, usually accidentally.<\/strong> Fortunately, the \u201cunconscious,\u201d or the concretely available Creative Edge, \u201cthe intuitive body sense,\u201d can carry more information, all at once, in that murky, wordless \u201cfeel,\u201d than we can ever carry in our minds consciously. So, during Focusing, the creative problem-solver has access to \u201call of it,\u201d \u201cthe whole thing,\u201d more than could ever be recited consciously.<\/p>\n

From Creative Block To Next Step<\/strong><\/h3>\n

For example, a painter is stuck on what a particular painting needs next, right now.<\/strong> She can step back, take a look, and then, ask herself, \u201cWhat does this painting need?\u201d and, instead of answering from her head, the already-known, she can wait, as long as a minute or more, for the bodily-feel, the intuitive sense, the Creative Edge of \u201cthe whole thing, and what it needs now\u2026\u201d to arise as a murky, wordless \u201cfeel,\u201d usually in the center of the body, between the throat and stomach\u2026\u201dWhat does it need?\u201d\u2026..and waiting, just paying attention to the intuitive feel\u2026.then carefully looking for words or an image or just the right gesture, the next painterly act, the next step toward \u201ccompletion.\u201d\u00a0 Stuck again later? Just follow the same process, stepping back, sensing in, waiting for \u201cthe exactly right\u201d next move to arise.<\/p>\n

A writer is stuck in a novel: \u201cWhat does this story need?….What does this character need?…..What happens next?\u201d<\/strong> Again, the writer steps back, takes a moment to go quietly inside, perhaps with eyes closed, and sits with the creative question, setting aside any already-known guesses or solutions, and just waiting, for at least a minute, for the intuitive feel of the \u201cwhole thing\u2026this whole question\u201d to arise.\u00a0 Then, just as carefully, he looks for words or images or metaphors that are exactly \u201cright\u201d in capturing the \u201cfeel of it all.\u201d\u00a0 And, then, \u201cAh, hah! That is exactly it.\u201d Or, in writing even more than in painting, he can try out the body\u2019s best guess, and, again, check with the body sense: \u201cIs that it?\u201d<\/p>\n

Same thing for creative problem solving in a business, engineering, scientific research situation.<\/strong> When \u201cstuck,\u201d not knowing the answer in a left-brain way, the problem solver can simply pause for a moment, go quietly inside, and look for the Creative Edge, the \u201cintuitive feel\u201d for \u201cthis whole problem,\u201d wait at least a minute for the intuitive feel to form, then use Intuitive Focusing to carefully find the exact words or images which ,\u201dfit,\u201d bringing that experience of \u201cAhah! That is exactly it!\u201d<\/p>\n

Predictable Creativity<\/strong><\/h2>\n

By definition, creativity comes from the not-yet-known.<\/strong> Whether you are trying to find the next step in a piece of art work, a musical composition, writing, or a scientific, philosophical, or business project, you need a predictable, methodical method for having the kinds of \u201cAh, hah!\u201d moments which otherwise come only when a new solution or idea bubbles up, unpredictably, from the backburner of your consciousness.<\/p>\n

The great thing about Intuitive Focusing is that the answer, the next step, comes, not just intellectually, but experientially, as a whole-body response: \u201cYes. That\u2019s it!\u201d<\/strong> Throughout the Focusing process, the Focuser is constantly checking with the body-sense: \u201cIs it this?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Is this right\u2026?\u201d and waiting for the body\u2019s response. If the words or image or gestures don\u2019t fit, the body response is flat. Nothing moves or changes.<\/p>\n

But, when the symbols are just right, an exact \u201cfit\u201d for the whole-body-sensing, then, the body responds with a physically experienced sense of relaxation, tension-release, opening into a new, forward flow of energy.<\/strong> This is the true \u201cAh, hah!\u201d experience, physically and viscerally felt, as distinct from all the ideas and possible solutions tried before. Gendlin called it a \u201cfelt shift.\u201d \u00a0Dr. McGuire calls it a Paradigm Shift<\/strong> to emphasize that the kaleidoscope has turned, and everything is new.<\/p>\n

And, another check point: the artist or painter or musician or problem-solver can try out the new \u201cnext step,\u201d and see if it does fit, again checking with the intuitive sense as this new step is made manifest. <\/strong>Now, the art work, the creation, will \u201creflect back\u201d to the creator, who can again sense in the body, The Creative Edge, \u201cIs this it?\u201d So the Focusing process, the back-and-forth between symbolizations and felt experience, can be carried on throughout the creative process.<\/p>\n

Read more about Intuitive Focusing<\/a><\/p>\n

Read about “Ahah!” experiences and Paradigm Shifts through the PRISMS\/S Problem Solving Process<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0or PROCESO DE SOLUCION DE PROBLEMAS\u00a0 PRISMAS\/S<\/a>.<\/font><\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Download\u00a0 the Instant “Ahah!” Mini-Manual<\/a>\u00a0or Ajas Instantaneos<\/a>\u00a0so you can try “Ahah!” #9, Creativity: From Blocks To Predictable “Ahah!”s, p.29<\/em><\/font><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Dr. Kathy McGuire<\/font><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Creative Edge Focusing (TM)<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Focusing On The Creative Edge Sitting With The Unclear Edge Intuitive Focusing applied to creative expression, is a methodical, predictable road to \u201cAh, hah!\u201d experiences. \u00a0Gendlin\u2019s Focusing (Bantam, 1981) is a step-wise procedure for paying attention to the murky, intuitive, whole-body \u201cfeel\u201d of a creative project and going back-and-forth between this Creative Edge and words […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,15,10],"tags":[69,749,744,54,50],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cefocusing.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cefocusing.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cefocusing.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cefocusing.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cefocusing.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.cefocusing.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cefocusing.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cefocusing.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cefocusing.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}