Donna Frost

Chapter 3 70 interpersonal communication. Human creativity takes many forms. Coping in the world, for example. Imagining or envisioning other possibilities than those which exist right now and then taking action towards realizing the imagined possibilities. McCormack and Titchen ( 2006 ) and Titchen and McCormack ( 2010 ) point out that the creative effort involved in achieving transformation of understanding, practices or circumstances is often underestimated, even in research or practice development work within the critical paradigm, where transformation is aimed for. Being aware of the creative effort involved and using strategies to support creative processes helps realize these goals. Specifically incorporating creative expression and artistic methods within research supports, for example, the articulation of embodied knowing, exploration of pre-conscious understandings and placing these in (different) contexts, for example of our own worldview or of the worldview of another (McCormack & Titchen, 2006 ). It helps with both creating distance from and digging deeper into experiences and imagined possibilities. Within this research room was made for using various forms of creative expression, such as painting, drawing, making collage and the creative use of language, for example using metaphor and poetry. Our capacity for creativity enables us to imagine things that hold us back just as easily and well as those things that move us forward. We can imagine disaster and failure just as easily as hope, safety and joy. There is powerful potential, however, in ‘singing up’ the beautiful, the effective and the hope-giving. The ‘appreciative inquiry’ approach to research (Cooperrider & Srivastva, 1987 ; Ludema, Cooperrider & Barrett, 2001 ), for example, emphasizes the generative capacity of people and research processes. This methodology stems from the assumption that studying what goes well in practice will contribute to increasing the generative capacity within practice situations. Within this work I regarded it as valuable and legitimate to specifically seek out and pay attention to those things that are praiseworthy and imitable in nursing practice, with the intention of understanding better how they come into being and how such practice can be supported. ‘Sing up, question, create and critique’ are grouped together here to emphasise that although a capacity for creativity is an essential part of being human, our hearts and minds still need to take charge and direct that creativity towards things that will help us forward and, as well, create conditions in which we can helpfully ask critical questions, test developing conclusions and critique positions.