Ten paradoxical traits of the creative personality

This was written by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Of all human activities, creativity comes closest to providing the fulfillment we all hope to get in our lives. Call it full-blast living.

Creativity is a central source of meaning in our lives. Most of the things that are interesting, important, and human are the result of creativity.

What makes us different from apes–our language, values, artistic expression, scientific understanding, and technology–is the result of individual ingenuity that was recognized, rewarded, and transmitted through learning.

When we’re creative, we feel we are living more fully than during the rest of life. The excitement of the artist at the easel or the scientist in the lab comes dose to the ideal fulfillment we all hope to get from life, and so rarely do.

Perhaps only sex, sports, music, and religious ecstasy–even when these experiences remain fleeting and leave no trace–provide a profound sense of being part of an entity greater than ourselves.

But creativity also leaves an outcome that adds to the richness and complexity of the future.