Life as Art

How our world shapes who we are and how who we are shapes our world

Shelley Carson, PhD, is an instructor and researcher at Harvard University, where she teaches creativity and abnormal psychology. See full bio

August 16, 2009

Hollywood Portrayal of Thinness, Success, and Butter

Anorexia Nervosa is great American tragedy. It's the most deadly of psychiatric illnesses, killing almost 20% of those afflicted. Media portrayal of unhealthy thinness as the ideal of feminine beauty is one (but certainly not the only) contributing factor to this devastating illness. That's why it's so refreshing to see Hollywood offer us a glamorous, oversized, butter-eating role model. Read More

July 20, 2009

Novelty-Seeking, Hospital Beds, and the Spirit of Exploration

It is 8 pm EDT on July, 20, 1969. Anticipation and excitement grip the nation. Sometime within the next few hours, the hatch of a small vehicle will open and history will be made.
Read More

March 30, 2009

Creativity and the Aging Brain

The aging brain resembles the creative brain in several ways. For instance, the aging brain is more distractible and somewhat more disinhibited than the younger brain (so is the creative brain). Aging brains score better on tests of crystallized IQ (and creative brains use crystallized knowledge to make novel and original associations). These changes in the aging brain may make it ideally suited to accomplish work in a number of creative domains. So instead of promoting retirement at age 65, perhaps we as a society should be promoting transition at age 65: transition into a creative field where our growing resource of individuals with aging brains can preserve their wisdom in culturally-valued works of art, music, or writing. Read More

January 21, 2009

“How to Be” in the Age of Obama

"Change" and "Hope" are the buzzwords of the new Administration. They're also the buzzwords for survival in the 21st Century...at the individual level, the business level, and perhaps (given the unrest in our post-atomic age) the level of our species. Read More

November 8, 2008

How Do You Keep On Playing When You Know the Game Is Lost?

This has been a week for great victories and great defeats. I'd like to muse on the defeat side of the issue for a few minutes. Like millions of Americans I watched both John McCain's gracious concession speech and Barack Obama's eloquent victory speech. The speeches of both men on this historic night brought me to tears. Read More

October 8, 2008

The Good Side of the Bad Economy

Several generations of Americans, from the Baby Boomers through the X and Y Generations, have grown up in a state of mind called the “more” mentality. Coincidentally (or not), the rate of depression has increased with every generation from the Baby Boomers on. Read More

September 9, 2008

Sports Grief, Roller Coasters, and Sarah Palin

It’s a dull ache in the throat and stomach, accompanied by a sudden sinking feeling. I started noticing these physical symptoms of melancholy last week but couldn’t put my finger on the cause until I reread a Psychology Today blog on Sports Grief by colleague Steven Kotler that first appeared on June 25th. Then I realized that my symptoms coincided with the onset of the NFL season… Read More

July 30, 2008

Depression, Creativity, and a New Pair of Shoes

After reading a newspaper article about some of the current research linking depressive disorders to creativity, an artist friend of mine commented, "Well, I guess now all I have to do is get depressed and my work will improve." Read More

July 2, 2008

How "Thin" Are Your Boundaries?

Personal space is a very individual matter. Each of us has a certain amount of physical space we like to maintain between ourselves and someone with whom we're interacting. This physical space acts as a boundary between self and others that may reflect the thickness of our psychic boundaries in other areas. Read More

July 2, 2008

"Designer" Personalities?

The age of designer babies (in which gender, eye color, height, and even IQ of offspring can be preselected) seems to be looming in the not-too-distant future. But is the age of designer personalities (in which our personality traits can be pharmaceutically altered to achieve optimum success and happiness) already upon us? And if so, is this a good thing for society or a disaster? Read More

Creativity Basics

Even those of us not in explicitly creative fields must come up with new ideas and insights in order to move ahead. How can we shake up our thinking patterns?

Go to the Creativity Basics page for more on Creativity including:

Current Issue

Everyday Creativity

How to start living creatively and reap the benefits.

Subscribe to Life as Art

Creativity Basics

Current Issue