 Plug In Your Creativity |
| Review Date: January 14, 2002 |
| Reviewer: helen Ponte, CA |
| I'll be brief and to the point. I have read this book many times. Each time it brings light to a specific area of my life that I need to work on. I believe the source of alot of depression, especially in women, is answered in this book. Anyone that finds themselves blocked creatively must read this. It provides simple concise answers to complex issues regarding many facets of creativity! |
A thorough guide to finding your muse.
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| Review Date: February 11, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Ruth Henriquez Lyon, Duluth, Minnesota USA |
Diane Ealy wrote this book in order to explore womens' unique approach to the creative process. After several years of reviewing the studies on how we create, she began to suspect that, since most of these studies had been done by men about men, they might not apply to women. The established model, which she considers to be linear, breaks the creative process into four steps: preparation, incubation, illumination, and implementation.* In contrast, she believes that women use a more holistic process that moves circularly as it moves forward, like a spiral.
I learned the 4-step process years ago, and it has always worked well for me. I have never followed it in a strict linear fashion, but I doubt that men do either. Thus I'm not convinced that the female creative process is entirely different from the male in the way she describes, although her approach to the feminine process is well argued and interesting. Clearly more research needs to be done, and Ealy does not claim to possess the final truth about the matter.
But the strength of the book lies in her willingness to address specifically female issues in the realm of creativity. She points out that the results of womens' creativity are often intangible and unmeasurable. For instance, fostering relationships, creating a nurturing home, and conducting a business meeting so that all viewpoints are respected -- all demand creativity and intuition in order to be carried out well. She also understands the impulse so many women have to put off their own creative work until everyone else's needs have been met. She dispenses advice on this and other challenges unique to women-- in a voice that is sometimes motherly and always intelligent.
The book contains common-sense and inspired information about the nuts and bolts of getting creative work done. Ealy tackles prosaic matters, like carving our your own time and space ("we need," she writes, "to practice what I call healthy selfishness") -- as well as more sublime subjects like quieting and expanding the mind, and plugging into one's spiritual energy ("from our expanded self we gain a sense of being part of the larger whole, where we can access creative possibilities"). Her discussion of self-empowerment takes a few detours off the well-worn path of affirmations and self-esteem development: "One way we de-power ourselves is by striving to become 'normal.'"
Ealy covers a wide range of topics, and presents each one in not-too-long, easily digestible chapters. The danger with this extended sound-bite approach is in veering off into superficiality. She only does this a couple of times, particularly when she begins moving into the deeper waters of dreams, archetypes, and depth psychology. For the most part, she hits the mark, and provides her readers with enough material to warrant several readings.
*Briefly, these steps refer to the initial legwork and information gathering phase(preparation); a resting period for things to percolate (incubation); an aha! moment (illumination); and finally the work of putting the project together into its final form (implementation).
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The book was excellent!!!
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| Review Date: May 8, 1998 |
| Reviewer: , |
| Thank you for writing a wonderful and inspiring book. It helps to encourage those of us that have a difficult time believing in ourselves. Thanks, |
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