Love can make us more creative
The highest expression of love is creativity.
–Deepak Chopra
Love has inspired countless works of art, from immortal plays such as Romeo and Juliet, to architectural masterpieces such as the Taj Mahal, to classic pop songs, like Queen’s “Love of My Life”.
–Nira Liberman and Oren Shapiro, “Does Falling In Love Make Us More Creative,” Scientific American
According to a recent study, thinking of love can make us more creative. The experiments, conducted by psychologists Jens Förster, Kai Epstude, and Amina Özelsel at the University of Amsterdam, suggest that love induces us to think long term, “triggering global processing”–a sort of psychological distancing or perspective–which promotes creativity. Thinking of sex, however, actually engages analytical–short-term, detail-oriented–thinking.
“One of the most noteworthy implications of these experiments is that love and sex don’t simply influence the way we think about the people we love or desire,” says an article in Scientific American. “Instead, they influence the way we think about everything.”
A friend just rekindled a romantic relationship. She and her (re)new love have kicked the creativity quotient into high gear. They both are sending letters and writing poetry to each other. She is knitting, creating collage, and trying new things. There is an aliveness in creative areas of her life that had long been dormant. It may be anecdotal, but they both agree, their rekindled creativity is due to their rekindled love.
It makes me wonder how much more there is to it than global processing. I wonder if thinking of love does something that can’t be quantified–if it opens our hearts and if, with open hearts, we are more creative.
I wonder, too if the expression of creativity is actually a form of love itself. To me, it encompasses both self love and love of others by giving expression to the creative spirit–that kernel of uniqueness and connection to something larger within each of us.
And for those who think creativity is limited to those who express their talents through the “arts,” in fact, ways of expressing creativity are only limited by creativity itself.
If you haven’t already watched Playing for Change’s wonderful video, Stand By Me, or Matt Harding’s Where the Hell is Matt? videos of him dancing in locations and with people from around the world, check them out. It may just trigger that “global processing” the Dutch researchers refer to.
Submitted by: Roselle Kovitz