| Background. Creativity is a complex construct that challenges traditional research methodologies. Although significant understanding of the "four P's" of creative achievement---person, process, product, and press---has been gleaned from studies utilizing cognitive, psychometric, social, and developmental approaches, the literature is inadequate with regard to experiential investigations that might balance or amend quantitative measurements with qualitative descriptions of "what's it like."; Purpose. Borrowing perspectives and strategies from phenomenology and heuristics, the current study began with the proposition that the experience of creativity---how the phenomenon appears in the artist's consciousness---is a defining feature of the construct, one that should be considered in tandem with explanatory and predictive research. The study's guiding purpose was to explore and describe the nature of the lived experience of creativity, eliciting structures, capturing meanings, and synthesizing essential themes.; Methods. Conducted on-site at a major regional theatre, the study used interviews and observations to document experiential characteristics of creative activity. The 13 participants---five designers, two directors, and six actors---were highly qualified in their respective fields, well regarded by the national theatre community, and deemed "experts" by virtue of reputation and experience. Each took part in two to five semi-structured interviews; additionally, rehearsals and performances were observed during critical periods. Interview transcripts, field notes, and literary and nonliterary artifacts were compiled into the data corpus, which was then analyzed to uncover meaningful individual and composite portraits.; Findings and implications. The artist's experience of creativity was found to be a multifaceted array of emotions, meanings, and perceptions described as engagement in a psychophysical feeling of being connected; as understanding a meaningful existential purposing; and as having an awareness of a revealed transcendent knowing. Periods of deepest absorption in creative activity were characterized by a sensation of extending beyond one's familiar identity while channeling insights not accessible in "real" life. When contextualized to four areas of interest---research, theatre, education, and business---knowledge of the phenomenal experience of creativity may serve to distinguish creative work from other activities, enhance motivation and collaboration, improve educational practices, and otherwise facilitate the achievement of valued social and organizational goals. |
