How important is joy for our creative lives?
“If only we’d stop trying to be happy we could have a pretty good time.” Writer Edith Wharton
But what about the deeper, less common experience of joy?
What helps us live a more joyful life?
Creativity and positive psychology researcher Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi wrote that "Even without success, creative persons find joy in a job well done." [From his book Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention.]
He emphasizes joy can be a result of both a final outcome - a "job well done" - and an ongoing process of "creation for its own sake.” [From my article The Complex Personality of Creative People.]
Steven Kotler (Executive Director of the Flow Research Collective) notes that Csikszentmihalyi "points out that joy is a fundamental component of wisdom."
From episode "Steven Kotler || Creativity, Skill-Mastery, and Aging" of The Psychology Podcast by Scott Barry Kaufman.
(See related comments by Eckhart Tolle below.)
But this experience of joy is not an inevitable result, especially for those of us with mood disorders like anxiety and depression.
As musician Alanis Morissette commented: “Having been so freaked out about my bouts of depression and everything that I’ve experienced, I’ve actively sought out different ways to turn to my innate joy...many different workshops and books and journaling and artistic expression that I’ve done.” [rollingstone.com interview in 2005]
[From my article Alanis Morissette: Channeling rage and finding joy in creativity.]
Actor Owen Wilson once commented about the kinds of mood challenges so many creative people experience. He repeated a quote by Yeats I appreciate:
"Being Irish, he had an abiding sense of tragedy, which sustained him through temporary periods of joy.”
Wilson said, “I like that, because I’m definitely an up-and-down person.”
Joy as a drive to discover and create
"What is the meaning of all this? Why am I doing what I'm doing? I'm always looking for something that will in some way electrify me with joy. It's a relentless question. That's what drives me." Alejandro G. Iñárritu, director and co-writer of "Birdman" on his work as a filmmaker. [Los Angeles Times Jan 29, 2015]
What gets in our way?
"In today’s rush, we all think too much, seek too much, want too much – and forget about the joy of just being." Eckhart Tolle
In his book A New Earth, Tolle also notes when we are quick in "attaching verbal or mental labels to things, people or situations, the more shallow and lifeless your reality becomes" and "in this way cleverness may be gained, but wisdom is lost, and so are joy, love, creativity, and aliveness."
Living more joyfully
Maria Hill is the founder of the Sensitive Evolution site, and her newer one The Magic Of Joy, which she says "I have created to help us reimagine life and develop the practices we need to live more joyfully."
The photo at top (by Diego Rosa on Unsplash) is used in one of her free ebooks. She writes:
"Joy is generative and creative. Joy is a way to meet the moment and create that which serves the good in the moment.
"You can see how important joy is by watching animals who continually navigate in the direction of their natural joy. That is why and how they can be relatively uninhibited and flexible."
She thinks "One of the beauties of joy is that it has little connection to disappointment.
"Joy is ever available in all of its subtleties because the ongoing flow of life is to continually create and add more joy.
"This is why a gratitude practice is so important. It connects us with all of the ways in which people and nature have conspired to create joy for us."
See much more in her free ebook The Magic of Joy - How To Shift From A Fear-Based Life To A Joy-Filled One.