“Gestalt” is a German word, from Gestalt psychology, which was founded at the Berlin
School of Experimental Psychology. Simply defined,
a Gestalt is a something of attractive importance, an urge that
emerges from what we could call the field of our unconscious mind and lived experience; the Gestalt then comes into our
immediate awareness. It is experienced in the ‘here and now’, and usually
important or attractive enough to act on. A Gestalt has more energy, and different from an urge that says “I
have to” or “I should”.
Simple examples of Gestalts are the urge for a nap, or a glass of water, or a cup of tea
that ‘hits the spot’, or an urge to visit the bathroom. Sometimes a Gestalt emerges as a great idea. In 1966 Richard Branson had an idea to launch Student magazine with sales of advertising; he is now a a multi-billionaire. One result of fulfilling this something of attractive
importance is satisfaction, energy, learning, and increased confidence. In the case of a
good nap, there is usually increased energy, dreams, and perhaps some insight. Acting
on an important urge is known in applied Gestalt
psychology as “making contact”. There are other ways of making contact but this
article is about contact through awareness and action. A Gestalt, if we act on
it, leads us somewhere, and provides us with a result and some learning. Action and realization
do something for us. Achievement cultivates a personal psychology of further
achievement and adventure. When we act from inspiration and don’t get the
result we want, or are frustrated by what we encounter, we often make
creative adjustments to our strategy. Even when I give up from frustration, and back away from my project, a new idea to improve the process later emerges into my awareness space.
Example of a creative adjustment: I become aware of an
emerging urge for a grilled cheese sandwich. I open the refrigerator, and discover
there is no more cheese. I experience frustration, but an other idea emerges into my awareness space. Rather than go to the store, I decide to make a
chicken stir-fry, something I have never done before. The stir-fry tastes
pretty good, and I am pleased. My wife thinks it’s a great meal and praises my
cooking. My creative adjustment satisfied my hunger, and I also discovered how
to make a decent stir-fry. Even better, my wife is impressed with my cooking.
Life just got a lot better for our relationship as well. Sweet. In another example of a creative adjustment, in 1969 Richard Branson opened up a mail-order business called Virgin to help fund his Student magazine. He made enough money to expand and opened his first record shop, Virgin Records, which I visited in 1971.
Take-away from this essay: much of our learning comes from contacting and working with the subtle
inspirations that Gestalts provide us. When we encounter challenges in realizing a Gestalt, we will make creative adjustments, and we will have new discoveries
and experiences. Gestalts are naturally occurring, and ensure our survival,
growth, and constant movement toward health. It's also important to keep our personal awareness space uncluttered, but that's another article.
Copyright 2013: Dr. Earon Kavanagh. Readers can use and repost as long as they cite source.
Copyright 2013: Dr. Earon Kavanagh. Readers can use and repost as long as they cite source.
