In this paper I will deal with creativity and the creative process. I will not discuss the causes, or the origin of creativity, but I will try to share some reflections on one of the possible ways the creative process unfolds.

I would like to start my thoughts from three universally known Greek maxims. The first one is a Delphic saying which commands us: Γνῶθι σεαυτόν – Know thyself!, and thus indicates to us the ultimate – yet infinite – goal of human development.

The second one describes the general path that one must take: it is related to a sentence that Pindar said to its tyrant Ieron I: Γένοιο οἷος εἷ - Become who you are! This maxim is very intimately related to this article, as it indicates how one may know himself: by becoming himself, or, in other terms: by matching himself with himself in the most crucial coniunctio that I can think of.

The third and last advice is Epicurus’ admonition, which goes: Λάθε βιώσας – Live hiddenly!

If, as it is obvious, it is possible to write about creativity as something happening to and through someone else, (discussing it - so to say - in the third person), it is also possible to do it in the first person. By choosing to approach the study of the creative process through one’s own experience, one makes explicit the unavoidable personal contribution to the formation of any theory. Therefore, I will write through and about my personal experience with creativity, and, in so doing, I have myself resolved to break Epicurus’ advice.

Read Writing Stories in Time: The Unfolding of the Objective Biography in Life and Work in its entirety here.