Meaning-Making Through Creativity During COVID-19

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in an abrupt change in routines and livelihoods all around the world. This public health crisis amplified a number of systemic inequalities that led to populations needing to grapple with universally difficult truths. Yet some individuals, firms, and countries displayed resilient and creative responses in coping with pressing demands on healthcare and basic sanity. Past work has suggested that engaging in creative acts can be an adaptive response to a changing environment. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to describe how entities at the personal, community, and national levels cultivated and expressed creativity in an effort to make meaning during COVID-19. By overlaying the Four C model of creativity on such responses, we aim to (a) to connect mini, little, Pro, and Big creative behaviors with our attempts to make meaning of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and (b) to suggest how engaging in creative expression can be used to guard against the adverse consequences of this outbreak. Acknowledging that this time has been and continues to be distressing and filled with uncertainty, we propose some ways of making sense of current events by applying original thinking across domains. Further, we propose how engaging in creativity can serve to buffer against the negative effects of living through the pandemic.

Creative Lockdown? A Daily Diary Study of Creative Activity During Pandemics

“…The current pandemic created an entirely new reality for almost anyone across the world. While its influence on creativity has only recently begun to be analyzed (Beghetto, 2020 ; Kapoor and Kaufman, 2020 ), emphasizing both opportunities (Kapoor and Kaufman, 2020 ; Orkibi, 2020 ) and challenges (Karwowski et al, 2020 ) of the current situation, the devastating effects of the lockdown on creative professions have already been recognized. As the Creative Industries Federation called it (June 17, 2020), what coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused is a “cultural catastrophe” (Creative Industries Federation, 2020 ).…”

“…Indeed, musicians, actors, or visual artists in most countries struggle seriously, as their possibilities to work are almost entirely undermined (see Comunian and England, 2020 ). However, what is less known is the impact of pandemics on less professionalized creativity, primarily the so-called mini-c or little-c—to use the Four-C model's terms (Kaufman and Beghetto, 2009 ). The Four-C model distinguishes different forms and aspects of creativity, starting from the mini-c creativity (primarily cognitive processes engaged in learning) and little-c creativity (problem-solving and everyday creativity) to pro-c (professional creativity, usually conducted within a certain domain) and Big-C creativity—typical for very few geniuses.…”

“…Different expressions of a creative potential during adolescence and early adulthood usually fall into the broad category of everyday or little-c creativity (Kaufman and Beghetto, 2009 ). They can be seen as a springboard for professional and eminent creative accomplishments.…”

Secondary Education in COVID Lockdown: More Anxious and Less Creative—Maybe Not?

“…Creativity has already shown links to a number of socioemotional traits and abilities that are particularly important during COVID times, such as enabling growth after trauma (Forgeard, 2013 ) and reducing stress (Byron et al, 2010 ). Indeed, there have been many reports of people specifically turning to creativity to cope with the many challenges of the pandemic (Kapoor and Kaufman, 2020 ). There is also now solid evidence that helping students facilitate their learning in difficult and new circumstances can be added to this list of ways that creative can help out during these challenging times.…”

Space for STEAM: New Creativity Challenge in Education

“…Kaufman and Beghetto ( 2009 ) discern different levels of creative expression: eminent creativity (C- creativity), professional-level expertise (Pro-c), everyday creativity (little-c) and personal creative expression as inherent in the learning process (mini-c). Within the educational field, and STEAM framework, the focus is on mini-c and how the cognitive process of students is related to the contextual factor of the educational environment.…”