Wonderful piece on creativity. Thank you. The quotation about memory and desire is from psychoanalyst Wilfred Bion, who said that the therapist much approach each session "without memory or desire". Difficult to do as a therapist, difficult to do as a writer!
Thank you Anna for that source. Interestingly Gail Sher doesn't name him, but the full quote from her book is this:
"A great psychoanalyst used to say that each clinical hour should begin 'without memory, without desire, without understanding'. The intentional remembering of a previous session (holding the person to who she was in the past), the desire (to cure or influence), and the illusion of understanding, all contend against the kind of receptivity that allows something entirely new to arise. The underlying principle is that the unconscious does the work. The healing factor is the power of the person's psyche, given the right support, to resolve its own conflicts. The psychoanalyst is witness to the person's inherent healing power just as a writer, if she generates the space, can witness her inherent creative power. The main job is to be there, but out of the way."
I love this - thanks for sending me back to the full passage, Anna. Difficult to do indeed! But also essential, liberating ...
Wonderful piece on creativity. Thank you. The quotation about memory and desire is from psychoanalyst Wilfred Bion, who said that the therapist much approach each session "without memory or desire". Difficult to do as a therapist, difficult to do as a writer!
Thank you Anna for that source. Interestingly Gail Sher doesn't name him, but the full quote from her book is this:
"A great psychoanalyst used to say that each clinical hour should begin 'without memory, without desire, without understanding'. The intentional remembering of a previous session (holding the person to who she was in the past), the desire (to cure or influence), and the illusion of understanding, all contend against the kind of receptivity that allows something entirely new to arise. The underlying principle is that the unconscious does the work. The healing factor is the power of the person's psyche, given the right support, to resolve its own conflicts. The psychoanalyst is witness to the person's inherent healing power just as a writer, if she generates the space, can witness her inherent creative power. The main job is to be there, but out of the way."
I love this - thanks for sending me back to the full passage, Anna. Difficult to do indeed! But also essential, liberating ...