creative tension

British  

noun

1. a situation where disagreement or discord ultimately gives rise to better ideas or outcomes

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Example Sentences

“She is one of the few people to combine training in couples therapy, which is about intimacy and sharing and openness, with sex therapy, which says that creative tension is required for eroticism,” said the couples therapist Terry Real.

From New York Times

That skill has continually drawn Elfman into Burton’s world, even if both have acknowledged creative tension in the past.

From Los Angeles Times

It’s an interesting creative tension between historical accuracy and the needs of cinema.”

From Los Angeles Times

The last time Dr. West clashed with Harvard’s administration was in 2001, when Mr. Summers, a former treasury secretary in the Clinton administration, took over as the university’s president, vowing to imbue the place with creative tension and to curb rampant grade inflation.

From New York Times

The nonstop protests ignited by the horrific murder of George Floyd, to say nothing of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and now Rayshard Brooks, have constructed a moment of what Martin Luther King Jr. called “creative tension,” where real and substantive change suddenly feels possible.

From Seattle Times