The Life of the Creative Spirit

Drawing upon the ideas of more than three hundred notable creators, including painters, scientists, mathematicians, entrepreneurs, writers, poets, naturalists, actors, and rock climbers, The Life of the Creative Spirit explains how to work at most any vocation or avocation as an artist would.

For employers, it gives insights for keeping creative workers happy. For educators and parents, it gives ideas for schooling the young and turning them on to a life of creative work. For the young, it offers better understanding of themselves and their career possibilities. For older creators, it gives strategies for keeping their creative faculties and interest going strong.

And for readers in general, it gives an increased appreciation of creativity and its role in society, of the oneness of the aesthetic and the moral, and of how creative work puts spirituality into creators’ lives, leading them to what the writer Jack London called ultimate happiness.

The book presents new and valuable reasons for humanely treating animals and for preserving nature. It explains that compassion to animals is an integral part of a creative society, and that the more animals are revered and treated kindly, the more creative society will be.

It explains that nature is likewise an integral part of a creative society, and that the current destruction of wilderness and species suppresses creativity in society, thereby suppressing the production of great goodness we give to each other through our art and work.

Quotations of notable creators comprise half of the book. The author has collected them in the course of scholarly research of studying published diaries, journals, letters, and other autobiographical material, with the intent of making the collection form a gestalt on the topic of creativity.

Table of Contents

Chapter One: Introduction To Important Matters

PART ONE: The Nature Of Creative Work

Chapter Two: What A Project Is

Chapter Three: How Projects Are Recursive

Chapter Four: How Projects Use Modeling

Chapter Five: How Creators Collaborate

Chapter Six: What Goodness And Quality Are

Chapter Seven: Where Quality Comes From

Chapter Eight: How Inner And Outer Excellence Run Each Other

Chapter Nine: How The Creative Spirit And Quality Humanize Us

Chapter Ten: What Motivates Creators

Chapter Eleven: How To Be A Universal Artist

PART TWO: Examples Of Creators At Work

Chapter Twelve: The Work Of The Artist

Chapter Thirteen: The Work Of The Scientist

Chapter Fourteen: The Work Of The Mathematician

Chapter Fifteen: The Work Of The Mechanic

Chapter Sixteen: The Work Of The Entrepreneur

Chapter Seventeen: The Work Of The Rock Climber

Chapter Eighteen: The Work Of The Collector

PART THREE: The Responsibilities Of Creators

Chapter Nineteen: Guarding Against A Life Given To Sensual Pleasures

Chapter Twenty: Raising Children

Chapter Twenty-one: Raising Oneself

Chapter Twenty-two: Revering Every Form Of Life

Chapter Twenty-three: Knowing And Preserving Nature

PART FOUR: Credos Of Creative Workers

September 2002 review in National Review Network (New Age Retailer magazine). Reviewer: Thomas Peter von Bahr, Pacific NorthWest Group, Lopez Island, Wash.

This plain-covered, inconspicuous book is more than 350 pages long. The first 165 pages are Dr. H. Charles Romesburg’s own, and the rest of the book is a collection of wonderful excerpts from the writings of many artists and “creators,” ranging from Georgia O’Keeffe to Bertrand Russell to Rainer Maria Rilke to Maria Callas. So readers are treated not only to the rich fabric of thought of humanist and professor of forestry Romesburg as he examines what cultivates a creative life but also to inspiring musings about creativity by noted artists, writers, and thinkers.

In a review of The Life of the Creative Spirit, September 2002, in the Natioanl Review Network, the reviewer Thomas Peter von Bahr said this about the book:

"This plain-covered, inconspicuous book is more than 350 pages long. The first 165 pages are Dr. H. Charles Romesburg’s own, and the rest of the book is a collection of wonderful excerpts from the writings of many artists and 'creators,' ranging from Georgia O’Keeffe to Bertrand Russell to Rainer Maria Rilke to Maria Callas. So readers are treated not only to the rich fabric of thought of humanist and professor of forestry Romesburg as he examines what cultivates a creative life but also to inspiring musings about creativity by noted artists, writers, and thinkers.

"Customers looking for insights and the thoughtful application of philosophy to the arts and humanities will find in Romesburg a man of uncommon creativity in the spirit of Barry Lopez and Edward Abbey. Romesburg describes the underpinnings of creators in terms of qualities, motivation, education, and how creative projects are launched, illustrates his points using the stories of well-known and scant-known notables, and writes of creators’ responsibilities. In chapter 19, he carries on a fanciful dialogue between creativity and sensuality in order to make clear that self-discipline is an anchor for those who wish to live authentically. Romesburg also argues for animal rights as a way for human beings to cultivate compassion and reverence. When we show disrespect for nature, he says, we learn disrespect for one another and we injure or cripple our creative potential. By learning and working to expect excellence in ourselves and others, he concludes, we can life the full life! of the creative spirit.

"Romesburg’s teachings are augmented by the diverse and spirited voices he quotes in the book’s second half. The Life of the Creative Spirit has a powerful message and deserves wide distribution."