Creative expression, such as music and writing, can transform negative energy into creative energy. Beethoven's ability to compose despite personal challenges, including loneliness and deafness, exemplifies using creativity as a means to cope and find joy. Utilizing neuroticism for creative purposes is considered one of the most beautiful mature defenses against life's difficulties.
Is there any upside to negative emotions? What can comedians teach us about dealing with pain? And why did Angela eat off of a stranger’s plate at a sushi bar?
- RESOURCES:
- "The Sad Clown: The Deep Emotions Behind Stand-Up Comedy," by Jen Christensen (CNN, 2018).
- "Neuroticism," by Jennifer L. Tackett and Benjamin B. Lahey (The Oxford handbook of the Five Factor Model, 2017).
- "Thinking Too Much: Self-Generated Thought as the Engine of Neuroticism," by Adam M. Perkins, Danilo Arnone, Jonathan Smallwood, and Dean Mobbs (Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 2015).
- "Survivor Mission: Do Those Who Survive Have a Drive to Thrive at Work?" by Lauren Eskreis-Winkler, Elizabeth Shulman, and Angela Duckworth (The Journal of Positive Psychology, 2014).
- "Age Differences in Personality Traits From 10 to 65: Big Five Domains and Facets in a Large Cross-Sectional Sample," by Christopher J. Soto, Oliver P. John, Samuel D. Gosling, and Jeff Potter (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2011).
- "Adaptive Mental Mechanisms: Their Role in a Positive Psychology," by George Vaillant (American Psychologist, 2000).
- The Harvard Study of Adult Development.