In Free Play, Stephen Nachmanovitch proposes a masterful meditation on how improvisation can be applied not only to art but also to life and how, in doing so, we will unlock our creativity.

"How do you learn to improvise? Or, for that matter, how do you learn any art? Or anything? It's a contradiction, an oxymoron. Go and tell someone: Be spontaneous! Or try to get someone to tell you. We submit ourselves to teachers of music, dance or literary workshops who may criticise or suggest, but what they really ask us to do is to be spontaneous, to be creative. And that, of course, is easier said than done. How do you learn to improvise? The only answer is another question: what prevents us from doing so? Spontaneous creation comes from the deepest part of our being. What we have to express is already in us, it is us, so creativity is not a matter of finding the material, but of unblocking the obstacles so that it flows naturally." -Stephen Nachmanovitch

While spontaneity and inspiration can be blocked, derailed or overshadowed by unavoidable life factors, Stephen Nachmanovitch is committed to an unhindered flow of creative energy, i.e. to the joy of making art in all its vital variants. Drawing on examples from the arts, sciences and spiritual traditions of humanity, Free Play reveals why we create and what we learn when we do.

Filled with unusual quotations, amusing anecdotes and original metaphors, the author guides us to clarify how we can free the inspiration within us - and free ourselves - to speak, sing, write, paint, dance or play with our true voice. Wise, generous and timeless, Free Play is a reference work for people in any field to turn to again and again in times of creative need.

Publisher: Paidós