Friday, December 13, 2019

Do You Believe in Stages?- #113

Reopening the David Ulrich* book, inspiration for the recent series of posts on the stages of the creative process, my intent was to discover what he listed as the next stage.

 Before I glanced at his answer, I was blindsided by a strong epiphany: 

 There really are no hard and fast stages in the creative process. 

 This quickly morphed into another epiphany: 

 There really are no hard and fast stages in the grief process.  

 Sheepishly I recalled posts 106-112. My chosen words undoubtedly implied there is "right" order for the creative process to unfold.  Even more sheepishly, I recalled how as a psychotherapist, I would hand out copies of a diagram, the Grief Wheel, which I proudly explained to my unsuspecting clients, meant they would feel their grief in these particular stages.

 I think these epiphanies are also here to remind me there is no right way to do the holiday season. Each year is different. Each person is different. Does anything happen in preordained stages? Do you think things happen in predetermined stages? Let me know what you think!

 Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall

 CLUE for living a full life: Strike up a brief conversation with a person you ordinarily would not. See what happens and let me know. Did you learn something? What? Just a few words can change your mood or the mood of someone else, hopefully to a more positive state. 

 IMAGE: This image of ice and mud was in my Dropbox account and I picked it out randomly. We've had some of each already this year!
* Zen Camera by David Ulrich. If you are curious what Ulrich proposed, he said responsibility and release were the final stages. 















* David Ulrich's Zen Camera is well worth a look if you want to read about the creative process and at the same time, learn about establishing a daily practice in photography.
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4 comments:

  1. Diane GottliebDecember 14, 2019 at 10:18 AM

    I definitely agree there are no "hard and fast stages" to any complex process and not right order. When you mentioned the grief wheel, it did make me think that the stages and processes never end. We just go around them again, on a deeper level each time, learning and growing more with each spin.

    Hope all is well!
    XO

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. nicolaDecember 15, 2019 at 2:35 PM

      Diane - The insight that stages and processes never end is helpful. Thanks for that - I think we do go deeper and deeper each time we encounter the felt sense of a loss.

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

      Delete
  2. NolanDecember 15, 2019 at 12:56 PM

    I was always skeptical about the stages for grief. The generalization is no doubt based on countless observations and may help guide people and even give them some reassurance.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. nicolaDecember 15, 2019 at 2:36 PM

      Hi Nolan,
      Interesting that you were always skeptical about stages for grief. Your wisdom impresses me!
      Thanks for reading and commenting!

      Delete

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