{"product_id":"on-becoming-an-artist-isbn-9780345456304","title":"On Becoming an Artist","description":"\u003cb\u003e“All it takes to become an artist is to start doing art.”\u003cbr\u003e–from \u003ci\u003eOn Becoming an Artist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eOn Becoming an Artist\u003c\/i\u003e is loaded with good news. Backed by her landmark scientific work on mindfulness and artistic nature, bestselling author and Harvard psychologist Ellen J. Langer shows us that creativity is not a rare gift that only some special few are born with, but rather an integral part of everyone’s makeup. All of us can express our creative impulses– authentically and uniquely–and, in the process, enrich our lives.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhy then do so many of us merely dream of \u003ci\u003esomeday\u003c\/i\u003e painting, someday writing, someday making music? Why do we think the same old thoughts, harbor the same old prejudices, stay stuck in the same old mud? Who taught us to think “inside the box”? \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNo one is more qualified to answer these questions than Dr. Langer, who has explored their every facet for years. She describes dozens of fascinating experiments–her own and those of her colleagues–that are designed to study mindfulness and its relation to human creativity, and she shares the profound implications of the results–for our well-being, health, and happiness.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLanger reveals myriad insights, among them: We think we should already know what only firsthand experience can teach us. . . . In learning the ways that all roses are alike, we risk becoming blind to their differences. . . . If we are mindfully creative, the circumstances of the moment will tell us what to do. . . . Those of us who are less evaluatively inclined experience less guilt, less regret, less blame, and tend to like ourselves more. . . . Uncertainty gives us the freedom to discover meaning. . . . Finally, what we think we’re sure of may not even exist.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWith the skill of a gifted logician, Langer demonstrates exactly how we undervalue ourselves and undermine our creativity. By example, she persuades us to have faith in our creative works, not because someone else approves of them but because they’re a true expression of ourselves. Her high-spirited, challenging book sparkles with wit and intelligence and inspires in us an infectious enthusiasm for our creations, our world, and ourselves. It can be of lifelong value to everyone who reads it.Advance praise for On Becoming an Artist\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“An artful blend of psychological research and personal reflection that illuminates human creativity.”\u003cbr\u003e–Howard Gardner, author of Creating Minds\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Whether painting, writing, or just being, Dr. Langer, a renaissance woman, offers profound insights into how and why to increase our mindful creativity.”\u003cbr\u003e–Betty Friedan\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Ellen Langer’s On Becoming an Artist\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003eis a profound book, clearly and simply written, that presents scientific evidence as good advice to everyone who wishes to lead a creative life. As a psychologist and artist, Langer sees the process of making art from the inside out. Her book goes beyond art to enable her readers to make important choices, freely to experiment, and to gain satisfaction from what she calls ‘living mindfully.’ I thoroughly enjoyed, and was inspired by her work.”\u003cbr\u003e–Roger Mandle, president, Rhode Island School of Design\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Without making extravagant promises about releasing our inner Michelangelos, On Becoming An Artist\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003eis provocative, liberating, and in itself a significant act of mindful creativity.”\u003cbr\u003e–Justin Kaplan, Pulitzer Prize—winning author of \u003ci\u003eMr. Clemens and Mark Twain\u003c\/i\u003eELLEN J. LANGER is the author of two bestselling books: \u003ci\u003eMindfulness\u003c\/i\u003e, which has sold more than 150,000 copies in thirteen languages, and \u003ci\u003eThe Power of Mindful Learning\u003c\/i\u003e. Langer is a professor of psychology at Harvard University. Dr. Langer is the recipient of, numerous awards and honors: a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Award for Distinguished Contributions to Psychology in the Public Interest from the American Psychological Association, and the Award for Distinguished Contributions of Basic Science to the Application of Psychology.Chapter 1\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA Life of Mindful Creativity\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"What attracted me was less art itself than the artist’s life and all  that it meant for me: the idea of creativity and freedom of expression  and action. I had been attracted to painting and drawing for a long  time, but it was not an irresistible passion; what I wanted, at all  costs, was to escape the monotony of life.\"\u003cbr\u003e- Pierre Bonnard\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAll of us have had the experience of being totally engaged in  something—a movie, an afternoon of adventure, or a new love affair—and,  like Bonnard, we seek lives steeped in such experiences. Bonnard found  creative engagement in painting and lived a rich life that many dream  of and most consider the realm of only a few special, talented people.  That belief, however, is wrong. Complete, creative engagement in all  that we do is the natural response to our world; it need not be  extraordinary at all. It is, in fact, the experience we have when we  are at play. Whether it’s at play or in a more serious pursuit, if we  approach the opportunity at hand creatively, we will experience such  engagement. In the best of all worlds, a life of total engagement would  be the norm, although in reality too many of us don’t see the  opportunity before us. What’s more, we seem to do everything possible  to prevent it from happening.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eToo much of the time, we are not seeing, hearing, tasting, or  experiencing what would turn lives troubled by boredom and loneliness  into lives that are rich and exciting. We unwittingly give up our  potential for creative endeavor and in the process live sealed in  unlived lives, where monotony is the rule rather than the exception.  Creativity is not a blessing some special few are born with or receive  from above. Our creative nature is an integral part of our daily lives,  expressed through our culture, our language, and even our most mundane  activities. “Art,” wrote the painter Robert Henri, “when really  understood is the province of every human being.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis book is about the roadblocks that stand in the way of our natural  creativity. It is intended to be a guide to opening up to creative  engagement on a daily basis in all that we do. Imagine being very  hungry and wandering into a room with a table full of delicious food.  If the room were empty of people, none of us would need any extra  motivation. We would taste some of everything, eat what we liked, and  enjoy the feast. But fill the room with people and we would face a host  of concerns that would give us pause: how the others might judge us if  we filled our plates; whether we shouldn’t, given the circumstances,  watch our weight instead of eating heartily; or whether to listen to  the judgments of others about the merits of a particular dish. Faced  with such socially induced concerns, we might well remain hungry. In  the same way, there are socially constructed roadblocks that keep us  from experiencing our creative selves. While some may argue that it is  a good thing to learn to curb our appetite at times, I don’t think any  would argue that it is to our benefit to forgo the pleasure of our  natural creativity.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEngaging our creativity more fully, giving it a form that holds some  innate interest, ought be part of everyday life for each of us. How  often have we neglected activities like art, music, writing, dance—or a  host of other creative endeavors—as we pursue careers and families? We  might regretfully add them to the list of things we’ll get to later,  but we think little about why we are doing so. Then one day we realize  that now is yesterday’s later. We typically regard such creative  pursuits as “leisure” activities, and that word suggests they are  rather unimportant. They may well, however, hold the key to the problem  of finding meaning and fulfillment in the rest of our lives. Because we  take them to be for our “leisure,” they need not carry the threat to  our self-esteem that changes in other aspects of our lives do.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eUnfortunately, our culture leads us to evaluate almost everything we  do, even our works of art, music, literature, and every other creative  product. We look at the end product and pass judgment on whether it is  “creative” or not without regard for whether a mindfully engaged  individual created it. We distinguish the product from the experience  of creating it. For most of us, it is a terrifying prospect to imagine  being judged in this way. If we could put aside our concern for others’  judgment of the product, however, creative engagement could transform  our lives through whatever creative endeavors we might choose. We can  learn to choose to engage creatively in any number of ways, simply by  learning how to be mindful.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMindfulness is an effortless, simple process that consists of drawing  novel distinctions, that is, noticing new things. The more we notice,  the more we become aware of how things change depending on the context  and perspective from which they are viewed. Mindfulness requires,  however, that we give up the fixed ways in which we’ve learned to look  at the world. Most of us confuse the stability of our mind-sets with  the stability of the underlying phenomena, and we come to think that  things are, will always be, and even need to be a particular way  without recognizing how they may also vary. It isn’t as though we need  or want to be so rigid. We celebrate as creative those who show us how  the commonplace may be made different. Many of the mind-sets that hold  us back, that deny us our own mindful creativity, are culturally  reinforced roadblocks.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLearning how to remove the roadblocks that keep us from a more creative  life can bring benefits to the rest of our lives. We may be able to  learn to be mindfully creative in all respects and at all times. If we  would prosper from this mindfulness, why is the path to creative  engagement so often blocked? As much as we’d love to play the recorder  or write poetry, it’s easier and safer to put it off because we are  afraid of making fools of ourselves. Of course, we know we shouldn’t  worry about what other people think, but we do. Or when we actually  give writing or drawing a try, the trying turns out to be more  terrifying still, and we too quickly put our creative activity aside.  Something interferes with just enjoying painting or playing an  instrument for the pleasure it brings us.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMost of us don’t really understand what keeps us from doing things that  we are otherwise drawn to. The answers to that question interest me,  both as a psychologist and as an artist. What exactly are the obstacles  that keep people from engaging in a more creative life? How do these  obstacles prevent us from getting started and then from more fully  enjoying creative pursuits? Can we learn to engage our creative  interests on the terms we seek? What would be the benefits of doing so?  I have studied exactly these questions in my scientific life, and I  know there are answers that can help virtually anyone become creatively engaged. As an artist, I have seen for myself how a creative endeavor,  done mindfully, can teach us to lead more rewarding lives in all  respects.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMindfulness, and its counterpart, mindlessness, are states of mind that  I’ve studied and written about for many years, and I know how potent a  force mindfulness can be. As important, I know that people can learn to  remake their ways of thinking to be more mindful. In my experience,  each of us has the potential for a renaissance, an age defined by a  creative, purposeful, and engaged life. It doesn’t matter whether the  creative work we choose is painting, dance, fiction, poetry, or music.  What matters is pursuing it mindfully. How do we get from beginning  some new activity to a personal renaissance? Learning what things stand  in the way of our comfortably engaging in some leisure activity, and  how to break down these roadblocks as we experience them provides the  practice we need to deal with our more familiar stresses and fears.  Once examined through this new lens, many of our “problems” fall by the  roadside. We can, it turns out, pursue art for art’s sake and art for  life’s sake, and it matters little what that art is. Any creative  activity can have a powerful effect on our lives if we pursue it  mindfully and recognize the ways in which old familiar fears and habits  can be set aside to make room for the personal renaissance we seek.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI also know from personal experience and scientific study that people  can, through the pursuit of their creative interests, enjoy the many  benefits of a mindful life. We need not be trapped by fixed mind-sets,  we can learn to recategorize the world, to change the way in which we  define and approach events and our impressions of them. We can gain an  enhanced receptivity to new information and an openness to new points  of view. A mindful life can also give us increased control over the  context of our lives and a new appreciation of process over outcome.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt doesn’t matter what we choose to do. For my personal renaissance I  chose painting. Rather than study any particular school of art, such as  Abstract Expressionism or Pop Art, or even define myself as self-taught  (which itself turns out to be another school), I wanted to begin a new  group or school: Untaught Art. It is a school unlike any other you may  be familiar with. The defining characteristic of Untaught Art is the  pursuit of creativity with attention to the process of engagement,  rather than a search for the rules that define it. The nature of being  schooled is that once we learn how to do something, too often we stop  experimenting, learning, and having fun. We proceed mindlessly. The  alternative I’m proposing will soon become evident. Entering into  something new, without rules to go by, doesn’t come to us easily. We  have been taught to believe that rules will make it easier for us to  find our way. In fact, rules often blind us to what we most want to  enjoy in creative activity. Most important, worrying too much about  learning the rules usually keeps us from ever engaging in that activity  in the first place. We worry that we won’t have the talent to learn the  rules; we worry that we should already know the rules; and we  especially worry that if we don’t know the rules, others will dismiss  us. The truth is, we’re often better off not knowing the rules. When we  know them, we run the great risk of mindlessly following them,  obviating the potential enjoyment and personal growth the activity  could otherwise provide. In general, when we’re rule-bound, we  mindlessly focus on details and often end up missing the whole. On some  occasions we’re so focused on the whole that we’re blind to the  details. Both whole and part are worthy of our mindfulness.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA woman once visited Henri Matisse in his studio and, after examining a  painting he had just finished, declared to him, “The arm of this woman  is much too long.” His reply was quick. “But, madame, you are mistaken.  This is not a woman, this is a painting.” How many of us, like that  woman, have mindlessly applied the rules only to miss the masterpiece  before us? No matter how hard we might try to make it otherwise, if we  do take the chance and, say, “paint,” our painting will only be a  painting. We will never be able to create a three-dimensional,  breathing person on a canvas, so why not paint what we like: two heads,  extra long legs, no eyes, whatever we wish? It’s time to learn to do it  our own way.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Essence of Mindfulness\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Nothing is a waste of time if you use the experience wisely.\" \u003cbr\u003e- Auguste Rodin\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBefore the airport in Provincetown, Massachusetts, was renovated, a  large glass wall faced out over the runway. A few years ago, while  waiting for a friend to arrive, I asked the person behind the counter  when the flight from Boston was expected. She replied that it was on  time and should arrive soon. A short while later a plane taxied up to  the terminal in full view. I was standing less than two feet from the  ticket agent, and there was no one else in the small airport, just the  two of us. Was this my friend’s flight? Rather than simply lean over  and confirm that the plane right in front of us was the flight I was  awaiting, she ritually picked up a microphone and announced the  flight’s arrival over the public address system.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWe’ve all experienced mindlessness in our lives, those instances when  someone’s actions (often our own) are characterized by an entrapment in  old categories, automatic behavior, and a lack of awareness of the  world at hand. Early in my academic career, I frequently found myself  frustrated by the mindless behavior I saw around me. People did not  seem to be acting in a way that I thought was sensible. When I moved  from New York City to Cambridge, I began to notice things like the  lines at the bank. In one line there would be two people, and in others  there would be five or more. Why didn’t anyone join the shorter line?  Why were smart people not making use of the detailed information  available to them? Was I at times acting this way as well? Indeed I  was. What I realized, though, was that in a different context our old  behavior made sense.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI decided to conduct experiments to assess how mindlessness comes about  and how pervasive it might be, and I have been studying it ever since.  An important discovery I made was that we teach ourselves to be  mindless in two very different ways: through repetition and through a  single exposure to a piece of information. The first way is quite  familiar. Most of us have had the experience, for example, of getting  in the car to drive someplace familiar, like the office, then  realizing, as if all of a sudden, that we have arrived. We made a large  part of our trip on “automatic pilot,” as we sometimes call mindless  behavior. Sometimes we quite deliberately cultivate mindlessness in  this way, as when we learn a skill by practicing until it becomes  “second nature” to us. It seems sensible to do so. We want to learn the  new skill so well that we don’t have to think about it. The problem is  that, if we are too successful, it might not occur to us to question  the way we are doings things in situations outside the context in which  we’ve learned it, even when it would be to our advantage to do so.Author of Mindfulness [quote]--Howard Gardner, author of Creating Minds","brand":"Ballantine Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46303079170277,"sku":"NP9780345456304","price":19.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780345456304.jpg?v=1767734078","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/on-becoming-an-artist-isbn-9780345456304","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}