Slow Cognition: A 5-year Creative Journey and Two “GAP” Projects
What did I do in October 2022 and April 2024?
The above diagram was designed for discussing the GAP project in Dec 2023.
I use the “GAP” project to refer to some informal projects between two formal projects. The idea was inspired by the Gap year.
We can use the “After | Before” structure to define two types of “GAP” projects.
- The “After” Project: such as Creative Life Curation
- The “Before” Project: such as Creative Life Discovery
You can find more details in The Art of Situational Note-taking: Running the “GAP” Project.
45 days ago, I edited my 30th possible book titled Mapping Creative Dialogue on Mar 30, 2024.
On April 1, I realized that there is a 5-year creative journey.
On March 16, 2019, I finished the draft of Curativity in which I developed my first theory. One of the by-products of the book is the Ecological Practice Approach.
Moreover, I realized there is a Thematic Analogy between Oct 2022 and April 2024. On Oct 18, 2022, I closed the Knowledge Curation project which is a 3-year creative project.
What did I do after Oct 18, 2022? I ran an “After” project which produced the book Creative Life Curation.
This significant insight guided me in the past 45 days.
Encouraged by the Thematic Analogy, I ran a “Creative Life Curation” project and reflected on the 5-year creative journey.
Today I will share these two examples of the “GAP” projects.
1. One “GAP” Project in Oct 2022
Oct 2022 is a significant month in my creative journey from 2019 to the present. There was a switch between two major creative projects in Oct 2022. See the diagram below.
- Before: The Knowledge Curation Project (June 26, 2020 — Oct 18, 2022)
- After: The Creative Life Theory (v1) Project (Nov 2, 2022 — Dec 29, 2022)
1.1 The “Before” Project
In 2019, I wrote a book titled Curativity: The Ecological Approach to General Curation Practice.
I have been working in the curation field for over ten years. I was the Chief Information Architect of BagTheWeb, an early content curation tool (We launched the site in 2010). This experience inspired me to make a long-term commitment to the Curation theme. After having 10 years of various curation-related practical work experience and theory learning, I coined a term called Curativity and developed Curativity Theory which became a book.
The new term Curativity refers to “curating pieces into a meaningful whole” which means general curatorial practice. The reason why I coined the term is that I was not satisfied with the specific view of curation such as “professional curation means art and museum.” I argued that there is a need to redefine “curatorial practice” as a general social activity and a universal experience. In other words, I was calling for an interdisciplinary view of curation or curatorial practice.
From 2019 to 2022, I worked on several general curation projects.
The primary project was the Knowlege Curation project (Phase 1, 2020–2022). This project aimed to Connect THEORY and PRACTICE by turning Pieces into a meaningful Whole.
- Started on June 26, 2020
- Closed on Oct 18, 2022
You can find more details in The Knowledge Curation Project (phase 1).
1.2 The “GAP” Project
On Oct 20, 2022, I reflected on the three journeys of the Knowledge Curation project and developed the Creative Life Curation Framework. See the diagram below.
You can find more details in Slow Cognition: The Creative Life Curation Framework.
On Oct 26, 2022, I developed a curated framework for the Life Strategy project. It is a one-day knowledge curation project. The outcome is amazing.
Why did I do it?
In the past several months I developed several frameworks for creative life development from different theoretical perspectives. Today I’d like to make a curated framework by connecting them together. See the diagram below.
The above diagram highlights three theoretical approaches:
- Activity Theory
- Curativity Theory
- The Project Engagement approach
It also shows the following four frameworks:
- The Anticipatory Activity System (AAS) framework
- The Life—History Complex
- The Creative Life Curation framework
- The Path of Creative Life
How did I turn them into a meaningful whole?
I adopted the basic framework of Ping-keung Lui’s Theoretical Sociology as a meta-framework. See the diagram below.
I used Lui’s nested structure to connect my four frameworks. See the diagram below.
These frameworks are located at different layers.
- Ontology: The Path of Creative Life and the Life—History Complex
- Realism: The Anticipatory Activity System (AAS) Framework
- Hermeneutics: The Creative Life Curation Framework
Lui’s approach also offers a brand-new tool called “Semiotic System Diagram” which is a set of concepts that are connected together. I also made a semiotic system diagram for understanding Creative Life Strategy. Since the above diagram shows the basic structure of the map, I collected major concepts from my four frameworks and placed them together.
The outcome is the following semiotic system diagram.
This is a one-day tiny theoretical curation project, but it makes a huge impact on my creative work.
These two frameworks set the foundation of the Creative Life Theory (v1.0) project.
1.3 The “After” Project
On Oct 31, 2022, I wrote a post titled CALL: Annual Review (2021–2022) and summarized the Creative Life project in part 3.
… As mentioned above, the Slow Cognition project led to the Creative Life project in the past several months.
Originally, I developed the “Process as Product” approach to study creativity. You can find more details in The NICE Way and Creative Actions.
The “Process as Product” approach emphasizes the creative life experience of people. In 2021, it led to the Path of Creative life.
…
In Sept 2022, I added a new unit of analysis called “Creative Journey” to the “Process as Product” approach.
Creative Actions
Creative Work (Projects)
Creative Journey
Creative LifeIn Oct 2022, I developed a new semiotic system diagram in order to curate three theoretical approaches and four frameworks together.
Eventually, the Creative Life project became a collaborative project between the following four knowledge centers:
CALL
Life Strategy Center
Curativity Center
Activity Analysis Center
On Nov 2, 2022, I wrote a post titled Aspects of Creative Life: Four Possible Books for Knowledge Creators. I decide to use “Aspects of Creative Life” to name a series of possible books.
This was a Plan of the “After” project.
Did I complete the plan?
I didn’t write a book titled Creative Journey, but I wrote a book titled Creative Life Curation: Turning Experiences into Meaningful Achievements which covers more units of analysis.
I completed the book Life Strategy with a new name Advanced Life Strategy: Anticipatory Activity System and Life Achievements.
Creative Life Curation was edited on Nov 23, 2022. It was based on a Semiotic System Diagram I made on Nov 14, 2022.
Advanced Life Strategy was edited on Dec 15, 2022. It was based on the Semiotic System Diagram I made on Oct 25, 2022.
These two Semiotic System Diagrams are the foundation of Creative Life Theory (v1.0).
1.4 Reflection
What’s the impact of the “GAP” project? See the diagram below.
In 2019 I wrote a section about Knowledge Curation in my book Curativity. However, I didn’t write about Life Curation intentionally. I wanted to keep this topic for my second book about Curativity Theory.
The draft of Curativity was completed in March 2019. At that time, I had an “Insight” about the Life Curation project.
In Oct 2022, I closed the Knowledge Curation project and used it as an example for the Creative Life Curation project. I also adopted theoretical resources from Lui’s Theoretical Sociology as a meta-framework for the Creative Life project.
The outcome of the GAP project offers two frameworks for Creative Life Theory (v1.0).
On Nov 2, I made a Plan which defined an Objective for the Creative Life Theory (v1.0) project. The plan was completed on Dec 29, 2022.
2. Two GAP Projects in April 2024
45 days ago, I edited my 30th possible book titled Mapping Creative Dialogue on Mar 30, 2024.
On April 1, I realized that there is a 5-year creative journey.
On March 16, 2019, I finished the draft of Curativity in which I developed my first theory. One of the by-products of the book is the Ecological Practice Approach.
In the past 45 days, I ran a “Creative Life Curation” project and reflected on the 5-year creative journey.
In the past 45 days, I also worked on developing a set of knowledge frameworks and curating them into a meaningful whole. It led to a new project called “Strategic Life Development” and a meta-framework of Theoretical Psychology.
The diagram below represents these projects.
Two formal projects:
- Before: A 5-year Creative Journey (with 30 possible books) (March 16, 2019 — March 30, 2024)
- After: The Strategic Life Development project (May 6, 2024–present)
Two “GAP” projects:
- After: A “Creative Life Curation” Project (April 2024)
- Before: A “Creative Life Discovery” Project (April 2024)
2.1 The Before Project (2019–2024)
I have over twenty years of work experience which can be divided into three stages: the creative stage, the strategic stage, and the innovative stage. At the creative stage, I worked for the advertising and media industry as a creative copywriter and designer. I worked for pre-IPO stage enterprises as a business strategist and fundraising consultant at the strategic state. At the innovative stage, I worked on making brand-new digital tools and platforms as a researcher and designer.
Before 2014, I spent most of my spare time on digital nonprofit communities as a digital activist. From 2014 to 2015, I transformed my focus from nonprofit activities to theoretical learning. Since then, I have been spending most of my spare time learning ecological psychology, creativity research, and other related subjects.
2014–2020: Ecological Psychology and Creativity Research
2014–2018: Action Science, Activity Theory and Cognitive Science
2018–2019: Practice Theory, HCI, Strategy and Work
2020: Social Theory, Social Media, Information Systems and Platform
In Oct 2018, I started writing a book titled Curativity: The Ecological Approach to General Curation Practice. The draft of the book was completed in March 2019.
Curativity marked the beginning of the 5-year creative journey. From 2019 to March 2024, I wrote 30 possible books (drafts). See the diagram below.
The structure of the above tree:
The journey is fantastic. I didn’t intend to write these books. These are the containers of my knowledge frameworks and related ideas.
I also established a network of knowledge centers to host different knowledge enterprises.
You can find more details in Meet with Oliver Ding: 1 Mission, 4+1 Theories, and 12+18 Possible Books.
2.2 The Creative Life Curation Project (April 2024)
How did I reflect on the 5-year creative journey?
- Using the Thematic Exploration method to discover Situational Themes of the journey
- Using the Creative Diagramming method to model the journey and discover patterns.
From April 1 to April 10, I used a set of models to map 30 possible books. On April 10, I discovered a pattern from a unique model. See the diagram below.
This is a case study of “Mapping Strategic Moves”.
All details of the case study will be shared in a possible book titled Strategic Moves: Mapping Knowledge Engagement and Structural Choice.
On April 22, I wrote a 100-slide deck in which I explored a series of situation themes of the creative journey by using the Thematic Exploration method.
The screenshot below is a step of the Thematic Exploration. I used concepts of Activity Theory as meta-themes to analyze subtitles of 30 possible books.
I also told stories behind the journey of writing these 30 possible books. Each story generated a situational theme.
Finally, I reflected on a set of situational themes and discovered a pattern with a primary abstract theme and four sub-themes.
What’s the primary theme?
“Self-reference”
It echoes the outcome I made with the Creative Diagramming method. See the diagram below.
This is an amazing “Creative Life Curation” project!
All stories and themes will be shared in Strategic Moves: Mapping Knowledge Engagement and Structural Choice.
2.3 The Creative Life Discovery Project (April 2024)
In the past 45 days, I also worked on developing a set of knowledge frameworks and curating them into a meaningful whole.
I wrote some notes about my rough ideas on these frameworks on CALL’s website. See the screenshot.
I also shared some ideas and private documents with some friends. Their feedback inspired me to modify these ideas.
Eventually, I realized that I was in a thematic space called “Public Square” where every framework wanted to capture my mental focus.
On April 30, 2024, I reflected on the situation and recalled my experience in Oct 2022.
As mentioned above, I adopted the basic framework of Ping-keung Lui’s Theoretical Sociology as a meta-framework to curate several frameworks together in Oct 2022.
On April 30, 2024, I didn’t want to curate several frameworks into one meaningful whole because they belong to different projects.
However, I wondered about the similarities and differences between these frameworks.
Inspired by George Kelly’s Grid Form, I developed a new diagram called “Grid of Elements” and used it to test a set of knowledge frameworks on April 30, 2024.
The screenshot below is an updated version of the case study.
This is an interesting comparison. I will share more details about it in Strategic Moves: Mapping Knowledge Engagement and Structural Choice.
One significant insight is the diagram below.
The above diagram is a framework for understanding the concept of “Life”. It was the outcome of reflecting on the development of Life Strategy Center in 2023. You can find more details in The History[Life(Self)] Framework (v1) and Update (v2).
I shared the framework with several friends from April 16 to the present.
The conversation about the diagram led to the “After” Project.
2.4 The “After” Project (May 2024)
On May 4, 2024, A friend of mine asked me to share more details about the History[Life(Self)] diagram with her. In order to tell the story of the diagram, I wrote a deck that night.
Later I updated the deck into a 66-slide document. The v4 version was made on May 6, 2024.
Eventually, the Strategic Life Development project was born in the deck.
Part 5 of the deck is titled Toward a Strategic Developmental Psychology.
I developed a meta-framework of Theoretical Psychology in Part 5 and applied it to test the Strategic Life Development framework.
Inspired by the above meta-framework, I developed three creative themes last week. Each creative theme echoes one module of the meta-framework.
- Self (Ontology): Thematic Identity Curation
- Life (Realism): Professional Square
- Mind (Hermeneutics): The Curativity of Mind
I use these creative themes to refer to corresponding knowledge frameworks.
- Thematic Identity Curation: The “Thematic Curation as Identity Building” Framework
- Professional Square: The Project Engagement and Professional Knowledge Engagement
- The Curativity of Mind: The “Context of Developing Tacit Knowledge” Framework
You can find more details in Three Creative Themes and One Meta-framework.
The Strategic Life Development project can be seen as the seed of Strategic Developmental Psychology.
This is an ambitious knowledge enterprise!
2.5 Reflection
The diagram below represents the deep links between two “GAP” projects.
The above diagram represents the path of developing an Objective for the Strategic Life Development project and three creative themes as Objects.
How did I develop the Objective of the Strategic Life Development project? It has four sources. See the diagram below.
On April 5, I worked on “The Landscape of Evolving Knowledge Enterprise”. The framework is about upgrading Creative Life Theory from v2.0 (which is more about academic knowledge engagement) to v3.0 (which is more about general enterprise building).
The Strategic Life Development framework is an application of Creative Life Theory.
On April 17, I worked on the “The History[Life(Self)]” Framework which is about the concept of “Life” and the next step of Life Strategic Center.
On April 18, I developed the “Strategic Life Development” framework (v1) to connect the “The History[Life(Self)]” Framework and the Landscape of Evolving Knowledge Enterprise.
I considered the Strategic Life Development framework as the primary project of Life Strategic Center in 2024.
On April 17, I also worked on [Thematic Blend] Psychological Knowledge Engagement. It encouraged me to do more on psychological knowledge projects.
These ideas were combined in a 66-slide deck about the Strategic Life Development project on May 6, 2024. It also echoes the “Strategic Moves” theme.
In April 2024, I had a deep experience with “Thematic Curation” which includes Thematic Echo, Thematic Blend, Thematic Integration, etc.
On April 4, I wrote a note about the Thematic Blend of “Theoretical Integration”.
On April 15, I made a case study about “the Time Structure of Thematic Blending” and sent it to two friends.
Originally, I used “Psychological Knowledge Engagement” as a theme to explore a friend’s creative life. However, I recently realized this theme is also a theme of my creative life. On April 17, I wrote a post titled [Thematic Blend] Psychological Knowledge Engagement.
The above experiences inspired me to about the relationship between “Theme” and “Identity” from the perspective of the Developmental Project Model. See the diagram below.
On May 6, 2024, I wrote a document titled “Strategic Life Development” which introduces a new practice framework for the Life Strategy Center.
After placing a diagram of the Developmental Project Model to the document, I added the following idea:
Thematic Curation as Identity Building
This is a significant insight!
It offers a bridge that connects “Theme” and “Identity”.
On May 9, I turned the insight into a framework.
On May 14, I coined a new term called “Thematic Identity Curation” as a specific advanced life strategy.
What is it?
From the perspective of Thematic Space Theory, a person’s Identity can be seen as a dynamic process of thematic curation. The person moves between several thematic spaces within his life course.
Each thematic space has a primary theme and a set of secondary themes.
The person could find a meaningful chain of life themes in his/her creative journey.
Finding similar life themes crosses different thematic spaces, turning them into a meaningful whole.
This is called “Thematic Identity Curation”.
I use the creative theme “Professional Square” to refer to the Project Engagement approach to Professional Knowledge Engagement.
Originally, I developed a model of Professional Knowledge Engagement on April 27, 2024.
On April 29, 2024, I renamed it “Professional Square” because the primary focus of the model is the following part.
It describes a public space for thematic discussion around a theme or a set of themes.
On May 11, 2024, I made a toolkit for the Professional Knowledge Engagement project.
The core of the toolkit is the Developmental Project Model which is the primary model of the Project Engagement approach.
The top half of the diagram is a map of the toolkit. The bottom half of the diagram highlights five knowledge frameworks:
- The Thematic Curation Framework
- The Creative Identity Engagement Framework
- The ARCH Framework
- The Professional Square Framework
- The Professional Chain Framework
You can find more details in Project Engagement and Professional Knowledge Engagement.
As mentioned above, I used “Grid of Elements” to compare a set of knowledge frameworks. The “Flow—Story—Model” model is part of the set.
The comparison inspired me to update the “Flow — Story — Model” model.
On May 10, 2024, I made a new version of the “Flow — Story — Model” model and renamed it “the Curativity of Mind”.
You can find more details in The Curativity of Mind (v1, 2024).
3. Thematic Analogy
If we put Oct 2022 and April 2024 together, we see a Thematic Analogy.
From the perspective of Thematic Space Theory, a person’s creative life can be seen as Mental Moves and Social Moves between a series of Thematic Spaces.
Each thematic space has a primary theme and a set of secondary themes. It also has unique structures.
A “GAP” Project corresponds to a Thematic Space where the Course of Actions has a unique Time Structure.
Moreover, my “Before” project in 2022 and my “Before” project in 2024 are similar.
In this way, I realized that there is a Thematic Analogy between Oct 2022 and April 2024.
This Significant Insight encouraged me to take an Anticipatory Analogy:
I expected that I could make great outcomes as I made in Oct 2022.
This Anticipation guides me to make a decision:
I paused the Mid-career Curation project and moved to the Creative Life Curation project about the 5-year creative journey.
The “GAP” Project has its unique timing.
It is a Structural Choice to run a GAP project or not after closing a creative project or a creative journey.
This article will be collected as a case study of “Structural Choice” for the Strategic Moves project.
