After I finished my Ph.D. at the University of Chicago, I tried very hard to do what I was ‘supposed’ to do… get a tenure-track position at some respectable university. But I couldn’t do it. Instead, I moved to the wilderness of northwest Montana and lived in a teepee for a few years. Here’s what…
I once heard Terry Gross interview the celebrated filmmaker David Lynch interviewed on her program, NPR’s Fresh Air. Gross asked Lynch something about what he does when he makes a movie and Lynch responded, “When I work on a movie, I don’t really know what I’m doing.” I loved hearing that. When the amazing David…
I taught creative process courses for several years in a graduate program at the Sophia Center at Holy Names University. The thing I enjoyed most about teaching this course was that I got to share the things that inspired me. Week to week all I did was bring in what inspired me. So on that…
In alphabetical order, 17 potent, inspiring, and relatively unknown books on the power of art, imagination, learning, and metaphor. (These are books not commonly known, so that’s why some popular books on creativity and imagination aren’t listed.) Enjoy. THE AESTHETIC DIMENSION: Towards a Critique of Marxist Aesthetics by Herbert Marcuse ALONE WITH THE ALONE: Creative…
Humans have been harnessing the power of inner images since pre-historic times, when tribes painted their visions onto cave walls. Psychologist David Premack noted, “The original and basic unit of mental activity, which remains the psyche’s preferred way of operating, is the image.” Across centuries, imagery has sparked innovation, with countless scientific discoveries emerging from…
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