Preparation:
What is Creativity?
Being creative means you are creating. You are producing, not consuming. Many of us know what creativity feels like. It is often a spontaneous thought that seemingly comes from nowhere at an unexpected time. Creativity may apply to writing a terrific article, creating a beautiful piece of art, or simply solving a problem. In these senses, creativity is best described as your brain connecting two or more unrelated pieces of information, and creating a unique new viewpoint. In fact, your brain is full of a lot of information. It is expanding its database constantly as you sense new information. It does this quietly and without your direct instruction. Are you allowing it to sift through this data on occasion? Or are you simply a receptacle of information?
Separate Mind from Brain.
Imagine for a moment that your mind and your brain are separate entities. Separate your conscious and subconscious thinking. See your mind using your brain as a tool to interact with the outside world. As you visualize this, go ahead and close your eyes, and see your mind separating out from your body. You may imagine yourself looking down upon your body and your brain. To form an analogy, you might see your body as a computer. Your brain makes up the user interface to the outside world. Your brain consists of the keyboard, mouse, and monitor. Your mind, now separate, uses your brain to interface with the vast array of otherwise unintelligible information that the computer can collect from everything around you. Separating mind from body and clarifying the role of each is a fundamental step to understanding the creative process.
Creativity and the Senses
Now that you can imagine the separation of mind from brain, you should begin thinking about the interaction between the two. Sensory input, in terms of site, taste, touch, vision, and hearing, make up our perception of the physical world. This information is passed from the brain to the mind, and is the basis for much of the conscious information flow between the two. As you close your eyes once again, seeing your mind peering down upon your brain and body, add in another visualization: a colorful flow of information coming from the outside world into your body and up to your brain. Watch the brain process and filter this information, before it passes some of it up to your mind. Your mind responds, sending information and orders back down to the brain. This flow can look like a swirl of colors. This is a busy flow! Visualize your brain burdened by input and response—a computer running at 100%. If you are able to see this visualization, you are prepared to begin igniting your creative potential.
Reach Your Creative Potential:
Method 1: Overload your senses.
Have you ever been in a shower when out of nowhere, you solve a very complex or long-lasting problem, even though you weren’t directly thinking about it? Many people have reported this experience. This is a creative spark. Part of the reason this occurs is because in the shower, you have overloaded your senses to the point that your mind has drifted away. During this state, information is flowing from your brain to your mind—uni-directional. Your mind leaves your brain alone and allows it to work through and process information it has been storing for a long period of time. You are allowing your brain to do its work rather than consciously directing it. This is similar to how computers used to “defragment” during down time, performing better once complete. Does this mean you should take showers constantly? No! You can invoke this feeling in other ways. In fact, freshness and novelty are key. Light up your senses. As you enjoy the experience, expect a creative spark. Here are some suggestions:
Sight: sit in a candlelit room. This causes a standard environment to look new, different, and exciting. Sound: listen to interesting, rhythmic music or sounds, preferably without words. Smell: use scented candles, incense, or aromatic food. Touch: bring something of unique texture to hold onto as you sit. Beads, jewelry, and antiques can be great to run your fingers around. Taste: bring a small snack that you normally do not eat. Wine, juice, fruits, and unique cheeses are excellent choices.
Placing yourself in this situation of sensual overload will cause you to become lost in the moment. You will stop thinking about work, your to-do list, and other stress factors. Your mind cannot help but get lost. Your brain is now free to make wonderful new connections and provide you solutions to problems that have been queued up. So how does this relate to your morning shower? Showers tend to excite your senses. You see body parts that are normally covered, the rhythmic sound of water hits your ears, your soaps bring unique scents, and there are different textures to touch. You can place yourself in this situation for as long and as often as desired. You may try 15 to 20 minutes at a time, and several days per week to start. The more you do this type of activity, the more easily you will be able to achieve a wandering mind.
Method 2: Shut off your senses.
This method is a bit more challenging, but will ultimately allow you to most completely disconnect the flow between your mind and brain. Put simply, this is meditation, which has been used for centuries to help people solve problems and arrive at unique conclusions and spark creative genius. Meditating for creativity is not easy. To start, go back to our visualization. See your mind floating over your body and brain. See the information exchange. As you hold this image, start allowing your mind to drift further and further away, until you can no long see your brain. The flow of information fades until it has been temporarily stopped. You are not providing input and direction to your brain. You will return, but you will understand the importance of letting your brain alone to do its work. Your mind should continue to drift into blackness, reaching a state of calm. You may float in this state as long as you like, ultimately working your way back to your brain, re-engaging the information flow, and opening your eyes. Upon doing so, it may be good to sit down with a journal or instrument, and write, draw, or play whatever is at your finger tips. Let your brain communicate to you what it figured out while your mind was away. If you’re having a hard time with this visualization, try starting out by focusing on a rhythmic bodily function, such as your breathing or heartbeat. Accept thoughts as they come to you, but then turn back to your body. As soon as random thoughts become less intrusive, begin the visualization.
Conclusion
If you are like most people, you probably operate in a near constant state of information overload. The Internet, TV, smartphones, and more all work to make you an information consumer—perhaps to beyond the degree we’re capable of handling. With this in mind, take time to unplug from your brain. Assign it a problem to solve. Then allow it to sift through and sort its database. Use your senses as the tool to do this. The results will be surprising. Featured photo credit: Photo Credit:
