Yesterday I ran in the Tamalpa Headlands 50K in Marin, California. It’s known to be a demanding race with plenty of steep climbs, single tracks covered in rocks and roots, and the challenge of running downhill while weaving through packs of hikers making their way to Stinson Beach. This year’s conditions featured thick fog, mist that rained down on us throughout the day soaking our clothes, muddy trails, and chilling winds. In graduate school, I learned that one of the best ways to get to know someone is to ask about their “favorite kind of day”. This is mine.

In my work as a psychotherapist, I teach my clients how cognitive distortions can get in our way and shape how we perceive ourselves, the world, and the future. We have tens of thousands of thoughts per day that contribute to a hum of background chatter. We weave these thoughts together to narrate the story of our experiences and our lives. Many of our thoughts are accurate appraisals that aren’t worth much attention. When we’re well resourced, most of us can be quite thoughtful, kind, and optimistic. At the very least, we can see things with clarity and make an accurate appraisal about which action we can take next. When we’re stressed, however, one wily thought can create a spiral of negative thinking that can leave us feeling unglued.

Interactions with parents and teachers have a profound effect on a child’s view of creativity, process of exploration, and evaluation of self. In a time of shifting priorities and budget cuts that could remove programs that foster creativity from today’s educational system, this research attempts to locate epiphanies, turning points, and disruptions in the lifelong development of creativity by collecting childhood narratives involving parents and teachers from seven adults.