Jonah Lehrer’s book: “Imagine"

I enjoyed reading Jonah Lehrer’s book “Imagine”, in which he highlights a part of the creative process some people forget.

Lehrer declares that the feeling of frustration is an essential part of the creative process. “When we tell stories about creativity, we tend to leave out this phase. We neglect to mention those days when we wanted to quit, when we believed that our problem was impossible. Instead, we skip straight to the breakthrough. We tell the happy ending first”, says Lehrer.

The danger of this scenario is that the act of feeling frustrated is an essential part of the creative process. Before we can find the answer — before we can even know the question — we must be immersed in disappointment, convinced that a solution is beyond our reach. We need to have wrestled with the problem and lost. Because it’s only after we stop searching that an answer may arrive.

Lehrer, Jonah (2012), Imagine, How creativity works, Canongate Books Ltd; Export & Airside ed edition, Page 201.