The Catholic´s Way. Road not taken in Creative Thinking
Frank A. Hilario
April 29, 2009
Indeed. And that I´m very particular about the giving back, and that my God is Roman Catholic. And so it happens that ´The Catholic´s Way´ is my own gift to the Catholics. I´m Filipino and Catholic; I know that not many Catholics love me, but just the same I love all the Catholics!
For I am not ashamed of the good news of Catholicism; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, and lives his faith. And why is that? It is in the Roman Catholic tradition where I find truly the audacity of love. Yes! See my ´Idiot´s Box. The Great American Revolution´ (08 September 2006, frankahilario.blogspot.com), the story of Mother Angelica and the impossible TV station that became as huge as the world and continues to broadcast on faith and good works while it runs on faith alone: EWTN. See also my ´The Audacity of Love. Henry David Thoreau Meets St Therese of Lisieux´ (25 November 2008, frankahilario.blogspot.com). The lives of those 2 women are modern stories to show Catholics have what I call The Love Tradition: For sure for God, they live for the impossible (Mother Angelica), or die of love (St Therese).
Tradition, you accept it, or you try to improve on it. My Way, The Catholic´s Way, is inside the love tradition, as you will see. Sometimes I conform. It is also outside the tradition of creative thinking and creative writing. Sometimes I don´t conform.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I –
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
(Robert Frost, The Road not Taken, 1920)
The Catholic´s Way (thechatholicsway.blogspot.com): With that new blog, while I´m inventing that name only today, 29 April 2009, I have in fact been inventing and reinventing the complete creative process of The Catholic´s Way formally since 7 January 2008 when I came out with the book idea of a course online, ´My Crazy Dozen´ (frankensteinmindster.blogspot.com). That old blog of mine now actually contains a complete online book in creative thinking leading to creative writing that I call The Frankenstein Mindster. If you read and follow the instructions, Chapters 1 to 12 make up a complete course in creative thinking, and yes, it´s absolutely free, and I don´t mind, Mister. And why Frankenstein? Remember: Frankenstein was the genius, the constructive doctor, not the destructive monster.
No, The Frankenstein Mindster is not your usual chapter-to-chapter genius of a book. While the whole idea of a teach-yourself-creative-writing course online was thought out first, by design the chapters themselves were neither written nor uploaded consecutively, as you can see yourself if you check out the sequence, first to last, in frankensteinmindster.blogspot.com:
Chapter 07. Wars of the World (20 May 2008)
Chapter 11. The Osims Years. (08 May 2008)
Chapter 09. Virtual Thinking (08 May 2008)
Chapter 10. Language of Change (04 May 2008)
Chapter 03. Serendipity X (02 May 2008)
Chapter 08. Readability Check (01 May 2008)
Chapter 12. My Digital World (30 April 2008)
Chapter 06. The Neutral Visits (29 April 2008)
Backword. The Frankenstein Mindster (27 April 2008)
Chapter 05. Lesson of the Water Cycle (20 April 2008)
Chapter 04. A Thinker´s Faith (22 March 2008)
Chapter 02. PC Fools (14 February 2008)
Chapter 01. My Law of Graffiti (22 January 2008)
Foreword. My Crazy Dozen (07 January 2008)
I think it should be in the Guinness Book of World Records. It is probably the first book in the history of creative writing that itself practices what it preaches, 2 instructions being: (1) To be creative, don´t be critical. (2) Begin anywhere, but begin! (Same with reading.) I practice what I preach.
It is foolish to teach a course in creative thinking by way of critical thinking, such as instructing a writer to select a topic first and then to generate an outline based on that, and only then to search for ideas. Creative thinking begins with ideas, not rules. Including that of the London School of Journalism, many a current creative writing course instructs rather than inspires; the way it begins intimidates you, starting the class or workshop discussing why write, setting the tone, understanding your reader, genres, finding your voice etc. You did not come to be lectured upon but to be tutored. You did not come for the theory but rather for the practice. Critical thinking used to introduce creative thinking is the reason why we don´t have many inspiring writers coming out of schools or workshops anywhere in the world.
I call my creative thinking package The Catholic´s Way because it is both creative and constructive in the intellectual and spiritual senses. How often do you hear of a Catholic preacher attacking another religion? The Catholic´s appeal is always in the spirit of brotherhood, which is meant to be regenerative.
And yes, The Catholic´s Way uses the NRSV, New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, Catholic Edition (2006, Makati City, Philippines: St Pauls, 1666 pages). I love it because it hews closely to the language of the King James Version, ´the noblest monument of English prose,´ while the NRSV has corrected ´serious defects´ of the KJV (NRSV, page xv). I don´t separate the Bible from my writings, even if you don´t see it. Am I a biblical scholar? No, but I´m inspired by it. And wouldn´t you know! So was William Shakespeare, the greatest English dramatist – he got many plots for his plays from the Old and New Testaments.
No, The Catholic´s Way is not patterned after Julia´s The Artist´s Way, though I knew about it before today, though mine suggests that it came from hers. They are as different as morning and evening. If it were a 10K race, one gets you started early in the morning, that´s all; the other gets you started and not necessarily only in the early morning ... and cheers you along the way to the finish line, even if you are the very last to arrive and everybody else has gone home. I keep the faith with you.
She has a 2-million-copy-selling book; I have a book online, and 2 visitors a day to the site. I congratulate her; you don´t quarrel with an original idea that meets stupendous success. I congratulate myself; you don´t quarrel with another original idea.
To be sure, in The Artist´s Way, doing your daily ´Morning Pages´ gets your creative juices flowing; doing your weekly ´Artist Date´ gets your inner self out, and you get to like yourself better, which is important; the exercises encourage you ´to develop creative habits´ (Ginny Wiehardt, fictionwriting.about.com). ´The Artist´s Way links creativity to spirituality by showing how to tap into the higher power that connects human creativity and the creative energy of the universe´ (spiritsite.com). For the Artist Date, you set aside time, say 2 hours a week, ´for feeding your creative consciousness´ and so that you can ´fill the well´ with ´new images, old memories´ or else attempt ´bold projects never before undertaken´ (Frederic & Mary Ann Brussat, spiritualityandpractice.com). That´s good.
I think The Artist´s Way has broad appeal because the spiritual practices recommended are ´recognized by all the world´s religions´ and ´they help us connect with the Divine, our true selves, our neighbors, and the whole Creation´ (spiritualityandpractice.com). And I, I´m at ease only with the Christian God, especially as the Roman Catholics conceive of Him. I prefer to be connected to all creation in the Brother Sun, Sister Moon paradigm of St Francis of Assisi.
Her Way is to begin with unlocking Writer´s Block; My Way is to begin with no thought at all of Writer´s Block; instead, to begin with information and insight coming from any and many sources. When you think Writer´s Block, you will have Writer´s Block. The Artist´s Way starts with creating the Flow; The Catholic´s Way starts with creating the Chaos (look at the image again; by the way, also a photographer, I created that chaos myself). Didn´t God start creating the world in the midst of chaos? It´s more exciting, and more creative, once you learn how to handle chaos. It takes a genius.
How creative can you get? In the first place, the creation of the concept itself, "The Catholic's Way,' is proof that it works, that it is most creative. And how diverse? Remember, I'm 69; now, you can check out my blogs, all 20 of them in Blogger alone; start at Brainshopping (brainshopping.blogspot.com). As of today, I have written at least 400 long essays, at least 1,500 words each; let me awe you with The BrainShopper Files (frankahilario.blogspot.com). I have published 2 books for ICRISAT; you can check out ICRISAT: The Story So Far (icrisatwatch.blogspot.com). I have published 1 book online as I have already said, The Frankenstein Mindster. Elsewhere, in American Chronicle, I have published a good 193 essays, not simply news, including this one, at least 1 essay 1 week since 11 February 2006. I have learned to be master of the creative moment - wouldn't you want to be?
(You will see high creativity for yourself if you take The Catholic´s Way 3-day weekend workshop - with me. This is the short & sweet hands-on version of my free online course on creative writing, The Frankenstein Mindster. Nothing beats hands-on tutoring and mentoring. Then you will see how much more creative you can be, as already I am, a writer & editor & publisher solely using Bill Gates' Microsoft Word 2003. Why not Word 2007? That's another story.* If you are in the Philippines, email me for details and arrangements, frankahilario@gmail.com; if you are elsewhere, email me anyway - I should be able to create something for you!)
The Artist´s Way is to ´discover, recover your creative self stroke by artistic stroke´ – The Catholic´s Way is to assume your creative self right at the beginning, and the beginning is not an exercise to discover or recover it; in fact, it is not an exercise at all – it is the start of the creative process itself. The output is an actual revised draft of a short story, or a song, or an essay, or a poem, or a speech, or whatever – and may already be circulated or submitted for publication. (I can publish it, of course.)
Unlike in The Artist´s Way, in The Catholic´s Way, there are no morning pages to write and no artist dates to keep. My Way and Her Way arise from different perspectives of how to go about being creative as an author, a poet, songwriter, playwright, short story writer, novelist, speechmaker, lecturer, biographer, ghostwriter whatever. She makes you take the slow boat to China; I make sure we fly – you take the lower, I take the upper.
Unlike Julia, I don´t believe in Creative Clusters, peer groups – they tend to be counter-intuitive to creativity. My idea is better than yours; you get the point?
Instead, for The Catholic´s Way, I have Creative Circles, where you go ´round and ´round and enjoy the ride – for a taste of it, see my ´Creative Red Circles´ in my networked blog (brainshopping.blogspot.com). Creative Clusters requires that you work out with others; Creative Circles allows you to work freely alone. I like it that way. There is no creativity in committees!
Julia´s The Artist Date is a good idea, a ´once-weekly, festive, solo expedition to explore something that interests you.´ In The Catholic´s Way, ´It´s a date!´ always and everyday; I mean, you´re always exploring what interests you, as well as what doesn´t interest you – you are interested in communicating, and a basic rule is that you have to know what interests others, not only what interests you. The Catholic´s Way teaches you how to become interested in what´s not interesting at first sight.
The Artist´s Way is a 12-week course to discover and recover your creative self. The Catholic´s Way is a 3-day course designed so that you learn to enjoy your creative self. Unlike Her Way wasting time discovering or recovering creativity, My Way assumes your creative self and outright you enjoy the creative process itself. You´ll want to do it again and again. The Catholic's Way is designed to be truly self-empowering.
As a matter of fact, The Catholic´s Way is actually a name presented in contradistinction to The Protestant´s Way, which I will limit here to sola scriptura, the Bible alone as the basis for God´s revelation, the only path to spiritual truth. If you want to be your most creative self, you have to approach information and insight in a holistic manner – and ultimately measure it with the universal moral yardstick. The Protestant view is not holistic, as I shall explain.
The Catholic´s Way does not subscribe to the Protestant Ethic; here is Encyclopedia Britannica with its helpful little summary of it: 'In sociological theory, the value attached to hard work, thrift, and efficiency in one´s worldly calling, which, especially in the Calvinist view, were deemed signs of an individual´s election, or eternal salvation.' Rather, I might say, to the Catholic Ethic - faith with works. Neither does it subscribe to the separation of Church and State – I see so much human rights, so much human greed. Neither to the separation of Church and Creativity – I will not expose myself to creativity leading to conquest. And no, I don't subscribe to the separation of Church and Science – I have been conceited long enough!
The Roman Catholic Church is holistic in its approach to faith. It accepts the oral and written past (Holy Traditions and the Bible), and the oral and written present (Teaching Authority of the Church, or Magisterium). It learns from the past; it relates to the present. No other religion does that fully, certainly not the Protestant Church with its sola scriptura. My own creativity is a leap of faith in the past and in the present. I like the match.
After all, many of those who are associated with the Roman Catholic Church are great thinkers, philosophers, mystics. To name a few:
Nicholas of Cusa (´God is a circle whose center is everywhere and whose circumference is nowhere´)
* Augustine (role of Christ as mediator)
* Gregory the Great (´Love itself is a form of knowing´)
* Francis of Assisi (life of following Christ)
* Teresa of Avila (The Interior Castle)
* John of the Cross (The Living Flame of Love)
* Thomas Merton (´Hope is a gift from God´)
* Therese of Liseux (´My vocation is love!´). (For more on St Therese, see my ´The Audacity of Love,´ christmasscience.blogspot.com.)
Creativity must be relevant to society. Thus, the Catholic´s Way is designed not for the self to discover its creativity but for society to discover its creative self in the many individuals being creative.
Creativity must construct, not destruct. Do you hear Catholics bludgeoning other religions? It´s the other way around. You can call the Catholic stance religious tolerance; I call it faith with works.
If you are a protestant in any manner, shape or form, you don´t know what you´re missing because you´re starting on the wrong foot to creativity. The very word protestant is anti-creative; you are only complaining. No wonder you have Writer´s Block!
After searching the Internet long and hard, I congratulate the Sydney Writers´ Centre as they do seem to have a beautiful creative writing course being taught by Pamela Freeman and Kate Forsyth (sydneywriterscentre.com), a course that promises to:
* kick-start the creative writing process
* tap into your imagination
* draw from everyday experiences and memories
* examine different types of creative writing
* give structure to your writing
* use characters and dialogue.
That´s the spirit! In learning creative thinking The Catholic´s Way, you will not begin with ´An Introduction to Creative Thinking´ – you will begin with excitement, by exploring ideas. I call that brainshopping; this is important because ´brainshopping sets you free´ to discover (brainshopping.blogspot.com).
Aside from all of the above, The Catholic´s Way will teach you how to tap into the infinite brain of the Internet. In fact, to kick-start my own creative writing process, that´s where I almost always begin. Discovering what others know is the first step in The Catholic´s Way. Formally, you call that research. That is vital.
Craig Lock advises you to ´carefully research and study your subject matter´ (selfgrowth.com), while I advise the exact opposite of that: Don´t. Not until you have a satisfactory draft. Be careless when you do research! If you begin carefully, you´re already thinking critically even before you´re thinking creatively. That´s putting the critical cart before the creative horse.
And no, The Catholic´s Way will never require the student of creative writing to read before going to Edinburgh as many of the Postmodernism texts as possible, as advises Arcadia University (arcadia.edu). That´s making reading a duty, not a delight. Creative writing should not be an agony but an ecstasy.
I like the way Listal (listal.com) quite briefly captures Irving Stone´s biographical novel of Michelangelo, The Agony And The Ecstasy: ´This novel offers a compelling portrait of Michelangelo´s dangerous, impassioned loves, and the God-driven fury from which he wrested the greatest art the world has ever known.´ It is important that when we create in passion, we don´t create a Frankenstein monster. God-driven fury: So much for The Catholic´s Way!