Dr. Ronald Alexander Releases Core Creativity

Ronald Alexander, PhD’s new book is a fact-based celebration of the intangible concept of creativity. With Core Creativity: The Mindful Way to Unlock Your Creative Self, Dr. Alexander walks the reader step-by-step through the medical profundities and psychosocial brilliance of what we as a society deem the ‘creative mindset’. Rather than something to be viewed as a liability, Dr. Alexander is one of those rare, esteemed professionals who appears to embrace its facets – all of them, in all their (sometimes) unhinged glory. “When you’re transforming personally, it’s natural to feel some resistance to change as you wonder who you are becoming and whether the ‘new you’ is a self you’ll feel comfortable with. Even when the transformation seems positive, you can experience fear, loss, or discomfort with a significant change in your personal identity.

ABOT THE PROJECT/AUTHOR: https://ronaldalexander.com/core-creativity-training/

You might fear that you’re becoming a ‘creative type’, as I wrote about earlier, but what you’re actually doing is reclaiming your creativity and creative self. Broadening your definition of ‘creative’ might help you feel more at home in your new self or identity,” he writes. “Creativity involves reassembling what already exists: putting together ideas that haven’t been combined before. It also involves perceiving differently instead of from a default perspective. These are aspects of creativity that one client’s parents had instilled in him despite their lack of involvement in the arts beyond enjoying other people’s artistic expressions. As you begin your process of envisioning what comes next for you, think about what it would take for you to see yourself as a creative, innovative, adventurous, or even daring person.

What would it look like for you to be more creative than you are right now? When does a writer become a writer? When he’s first paid to write something? Or when he sees himself as a writer, maybe when he is a young adult writing short stories? Our identities change over time, and you may be realizing you want your identity to change. Think about how you would describe the new identity you would like to adopt.”

The aforementioned quote summarizes the heart and soul of the read perfectly. Part of how it does this is through Dr. Alexander’s willingness to make certain aspects of the professionalist ruminations feel motivational. In lesser hands, this could seem like maudlin drivel – acting in place of ideological filler. But Alexander has earned it. Much of the read is driven by objectively compelling data and medical inquiry. When you get to the point that Alexander relaxes and becomes more accessible in terms of his narrative choices, it serves a two-fold purpose: both him leading by example, and his humanizing the drier aspects of the read considerably.

AMAZON: https://www.amazon.com/Core-Creativity-Mindful-Unlock-Creative/dp/1538149567

“Even if you don’t resist the idea of becoming more creative, your identity—how you perceive yourself—may need to change for you to achieve transformation and begin to reach your goals,” he states in this vein. “Breakthroughs that come as a result of accessing core creativity are infused with potential but remain ephemeral until you take action.”

Nicole Killian