The creative process

Jerome Berryman illuminates the creative process in his book, “Godly Play: An Imaginative Approach to Religious Education”. There are so many parallels to a good DBS group and the creative process (see discovery stories.

The Creative Process (pg. 94)

  1. Opening: the disruption of one’s circle of meaning

    A disruption may be caused by a hard or soft opening. A hard opening might be a tragic event or painfully sudden change which forces the person to re-evaluate. A soft opening happens when a person has a wonder-induced encounter with something that doesn’t fit their existing paradigms.

  2. Scanning: finding a new circle of meaning to cope

    A broken circle of meaning is uncomfortable and a person naturally seeks to fill the missing pieces that are causing tension. Scanning is a pre-language process with the aformentioned discovery that is primarily focused on experiencing the emotions and the images which are evoked by the disruption.

  3. Insight - building a new circle of meaning

    As the emotional and image-laden response begins to be formed into ideas and concepts which can be turned into language, the person starts to craft insights.

  4. Articulation - sharing the insight with others for validation and satisfaction

    An insight is still tentative without social validation and exposure. Humans have a need to not only form meaning from their experiences but also to find comraderie and understanding with others.

  5. Closing: the circle is complete (for now)

    The uncomfortable exploration and testing which has formed newly internalized insights can be closed and moved into subconscious meaning. Humans are only able to absorb so much change at a time and the process of closing offers a chance to reflect and rest.

General Notes

One might pair the opening/closing and scanning/insight stages as opposites with one another. That is, individuals tend to value or excel at one above the other. For example, for some the experience of wonder is paramount but they can struggle to find closure. The scanning phase is heavily emotion-led and thus people who highly value emotional response will prioritize scanning but feel that the burden of articulating the insight is difficult. Others may find the feelings uncomfortable and move too quickly into insight before their emotional experience has really been explored.