Negative Capability

. . several things dovetailed in my mind, & at once it struck me, what quality went to form a Man of Achievement especially in Literature & which Shakespeare possessed so enormously--I mean Negative Capability, that is when man is capable of being in uncertainties, Mysteries, doubts, without any irritable reaching after fact & reason--

(written by William Butler Yeats John Keats, an excerpt from a letter)

(LOL!! Yeats, Keats, very little difference. I have to tell you that I didn't even realize my mistake until I was driving down the highway taking the kids to ice skating lessons, with no prospect of being able to correct my error for at least 4-5 hours. Why in the world I waited to edit my blog post until I was driving down the road, I do not know. This is a very interesting brain I am dealing with.)

A Summation

An excerpt from Mariel's most recent history narration:

"England and France are quarreling. Again."

Creativity

In order to rearrange life, in order to create, one must get comfortable with disarrangement for awhile. One must be able to live with the unfamiliar without, to use Keats' phrase, any "irritable searching for fact and reason." In bearing with the tension of the unknown or the unfamiliar, one can enable something new to come into existence. If one forecloses a thought too quickly, because it seems too weird or strange or disorganized, then the pattern or beauty that may be contained within the fantasy may be lost.

--from the book, Driven to Distraction