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A repeating theme pervades creation myths: there is an active creator and a relatively more passive other, who does little but is still absolutely essential . For example, in an Eskimo parable the world is created by Father Raven. He begins in a void and nearly falls into a bottomless abyss, but at that very moment a sparrow appears to comfort him. Initially the great bird/creator has a human form; but as he slowly constitutes the world, he himself achieves his destined feathered form.
Three elements in this tale merit particular attention: (1) in the process of creating, the creator forms himself; (2) there is considerable danger involved in the creation process; and (3) at the time of danger, a facilitating other, the sparrow, is essential.
Unlike Father Raven, however, most of us create our selves in relationship to other people–not in relationship to a creative process and product. Many artists, by contrast, have found that human interactions cannot meet their core selfobject needs. They follow the way of Father Raven and attempt to form viable selves through their creative work; but, just as the Eskimo hero needed the sparrow, many of these human creators also must find some source of human support.
These elements are common to the lives of many geniuses in the arts and science and can guide our efforts to understand essential features of what motivates, facilitates, and inhibits the creative process. These people have found that human interactions are