The Expressive Instinct: How Imagination and Creative Works Help Us Survive and Thrive

273 Pages·2022·15.646 MB·English

by  Girija Kaimal

The Expressive Instinct

The Expressive Instinct
How Imagination and Creative Works Help Us
Survive and Thrive
Girija Kaimal
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© Oxford University Press 2023
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Kaimal, Girija, author.
Title: The expressive instinct : how imagination
and creative works help us survive and thrive / by Girija Kaimal.  
Description: New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2023] |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2022027313 (print) | LCCN 2022027314 (ebook) |
ISBN 9780197646229 (hardback) | ISBN 9780197646243 (epub) |
ISBN 9780197646250 (online)
Subjects: LCSH: Creative ability—Psychological aspects. |
Creation (Literary, artistic, etc.)—Psychological aspects.
Classification: LCC BF408 .K2236 2022 (print) | LCC BF408 (ebook) |
DDC 153.3/5—dc23/eng/20220712
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022027313
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022027314
DOI: 10.1093/ oso/ 9780197646229.001.0001
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Printed by Sheridan Books, Inc., United States of America
For Miu and Lails

Contents
List of figures ix
Foreword xi
Christopher Bailey
Introduction 1
I. UNDERSTANDING THE LAY OF THE LAND:
THEORIES AND HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES ON
CREATIVE SELF- EXPRESSION
1. Why does creative self- expression matter? 15
2. Philosophical perspectives and theories about creative
self- expression and well- being 29
3. What our ancestors knew: Indigenous and traditional arts
practices and health 46
II. EMBODIED EXPRESSION: WHAT WE KNOW
ABOUT THE HUMAN BODY AND ITS PHYSIOLOGICAL AND
PSYCHOLOGICAL RESPONSES TO EXPRESSIVE
EXPERIENCES
4. Receptive and expressive experiences: How we see, create, and
make narrative sense of it all 67
5. Evoking the protector within: Neurobiological indicators and
creative self-e xpression 85
6. Tracking creative self- expression through imaging tools 100
III. WEATHERING STORMS: FACILITATING
CREATIVE SELF-E XPRESSION TO COPE WITH STRESS,
ADVERSITY, AND TRAUMA
7. Creative self- expression by ourselves and with others 115
8. When words are not enough: Creative self-e xpression and
adversity in the developing years of childhood and youth 133
viii Contents
9. Navigating adversity in adulthood through creative
self- expression 150
IV. PREPAREDNESS: IMPLICATIONS FOR CURRENT
AND FUTURE WORK IN ARTS, HEALTH, AND WELL-B EING
10. The prepared warrior: Creative expression, health, and
well- being in modern society 173
11. What lies ahead? Research and practices for the future 191
Afterword 207
Acknowledgments 211
Glossary 213
References 219
Index 243
Figures
I.1. Terrain map for the book 4
I.2. Extraordinariness of the ordinary 6
1.1. Imaginal Naturescapes 16
1.2. Art as the visual metaphor that connects to ourselves and to others 27
2.1. What if Black holes can “hold” everything 30
2.2. The continuum from hedonism to eudaimonia in creative works 38
3.1. Floral floor decoration called pookalam made during the harvest
festival of Onam 47
3.2. Contemporary group kolam rangoli 53
3.3. Conceptualizing human needs as interwoven aspects rather than as a
hierarchy 60
4.1. Unfurled 68
4.2. Parts of the cerebral cortex and key inner brain structures 73
4.3. Imagination, expression, and the human life story 79
4.4. Cycle of receptive and expressive experiences 83
5.1. The interconnectedness of all things 86
5.2. Stages of making a quilt together 93
5.3. Molecular structures that shape our mental states: dopamine, serotonin,
oxytocin, and endorphin 95
6.1. Scribble- doodle 101
6.2. Setup of fNIRS headband for data collection 107
7.1. Prismatic PoV 116
7.2. Different arts and health professions and areas of impact 120
7.3. An open studio table where a study participant works on a mixed media
collage 125
7.4. Adaptive Response Theory (ART) framework in art therapy 127
7.5. Adaptive Response Theory (ART) processes, mechanisms, and outcomes 129
8.1. Artwork by a pediatric oncology patient 134
8.2. Developmental stages of drawing 136
8.3. Artwork by an adjudicated youth indicating undetected developmental
delays 138