The Art Of Mind’s Blog

“Curving back upon my own nature, I create again and again.”- Bhagavad-Gita

In the gifted person the calling to create can frequently be a relentless yearning. Innate characteristics of the gifted individuals such as seeking a deeper meaning and purpose; immense satisfaction in problem solving; constant curiosity and viewing a creative task from different perspectives, naturally urges them towards creativity. It’s as if all these traits merge together and become a compelling force from within to seek out creative challenges. In Mary-Elaine Jacobsen’s book, The Gifted Adult, she best describes this drive as never really ceasing, but instead oscillates in intensity, always to return.

“Everyday Geniuses’ need to create the best that they are capable of is not something that goes away with time. It’s not something we can excise, or a job from which we can expect to happily retire. To be sure, the intensity of creative pressure does ebb and flow, but like the tide, it always comes back. Unless we are extraordinarily hindered, sooner or later we must comply with the creative spirit’s urgings, because it is more persevering than any attempt by our thinking mind to ignore our gifts. Living everyday with the need to create is like sharing a room with a hyperactive little brother who elbows you, tugs at your shirtsleeve, and tweaks your ear repeatedly until you give him your undivided attention.”

Perhaps what fuels this drive is the tremendous satisfaction, the gifted person experiences during and after the creative process. Resulting in a release of such overwhelming pressure to utilize their talents and skills. Annemarie Roeper, founder of Roeper School of the Gifted and the Roeper Review, best describes this aspect as a “feeling of aliveness.”

“Gifted adults may be overwhelmed by the pressure of their own creativity. The gifted derive enormous satisfaction from the creative process….the whole process is accompanied by a feeling of aliveness, of power, of capability of enormous relief and of transcendence of the limits of our own body and soul. The ‘unique self’ flows into the world outside. It is like giving birth. Creative expression derives directly from the unique Self of the creator, and its activation brings inherent feelings of happiness and aliveness, even though they may be accompanied by less positive emotions, such as sadness, fear and pain.”— Gifted Adults: Their Characteristics and Emotions (Advance Development, 3)

She also touches on what can happen if the gifted person is suppressed or hindered from releasing such creative energy. “Just as the creative process creates a feeling of happiness, the greatest unhappiness can occur if it is interfered with or not allowed to happen. In that case the inner pressure cannot be released.”

It is common for the gifted person to suppress his or her own curiosities and creative urges as an attempt to avoid being perceived as odd or different. However doing so, can bring about a deep dissatisfaction in one’s life. Instead the gifted person should honor and embrace such natural forces and channel them in ways that will express his or her creative potential.