This is one of two topics that emerged from Step Two of our previous exercise on collaboration (the second on topic, which is on healthcare, can be found direclty below this topic). During that discussion, Anonymous offered some thoughts that resonated with most, if not all of the group. The comments were in regard to how we unconsciously limit our options regarding solutions by falling prey to the habit of choosing from artificially derived polarities:
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"My main concern is that we are all blindfolded, and ready to march to the beat of a drum which has yet to materialize. At this point I think we'll all march to ANY beat just to avoid the unpleasantness of our own discomfort, and that concerns me.
"My experience has been that when creativity is "led" and "guided" in ANY direction, the vacuum created by the polarization itself is enough to effectively kill any REAL and new way of thinking. And I believe we are finding ourselves in that kind of a situation as we are soliciting (or, as the case may be, solicited to supply) the already known opinions on an ill defined and ambiguous issue. "
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Anonymous had, in fact, unveiled part of the purpose of the exercise -- to allow participants in the exercise to have a direct experience of the futility that results from attempting to create solutions from polarized positions (which inherently limit our options -- see Step Three of the exercise below).
The response, however, to these comments showed a real curiosity and desire to explore what became referred to as "unguided creativity." I've referred to it in the topic heading as unbounded creativity, but whatever we choose to call it, the real opportunity I'd like to invite us to take with this topic is to explore the freedom of creativity... to describe what that's like for you... what do you create or innovate, and to explore how to more fully and more readily access the creative state (or perhaps be aware that it's always present). So jump in... create... explore... wonder out loud... share your perspectives and your perplexities. And thanks to Anonymous and everyone who responded with such enthusiasm and thus led to this topic.
P.S. As always remember that to see the comments in a separate window, click on the "Comments" link. To see the comments in the body of the topic, click "Links to this Post"
Views of those commenting have not been checked for accuracy and do not necessarily reflect the views of this blog publisher or his associates.
Friday, June 22, 2007
Tapping into Our Genius with Unbounded Creativity
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So, I've got a bunch of ideas about creativity and a lot of my own experiences around that, but first I want to understand where Anonymous was coming from when they were talking about creativity that's not "guided" or "led." Seemed like there they had a pretty strong deal going on about that, like some kind of purity of creativity... or something like that?
ReplyDeleteTo play off the questions asked here: "How does that show up in their life... what does that look like?"
You've got me curious about it (and I guess I'm wondering is there some process or something that I don't know that will let me be even more creative).
I'm sure Anonymous will share his/her thoughts on this topic when time allows (I'm aware, however, that they described their schedule as quite full... so we'll have to honor that and enjoy their involvement at the pace that works for them). What I'd suggest is that we let our ideas begin to season the topic here, and then, as Anonymous has time, s/he can jump in comment, add, re-direct, etc. Sound like a plan?
ReplyDeleteSo... assuming you said, "Yeah, okay." I'll jump in with a more of a quandry that I'd love your everyone's input on.
On the topic below this one, about envisioning a model healthcare system, BKO's comments led me to an interesting discovery... that when polarities are removed and there's nothing to create against... it seems that I must then start the creative process from the center of vast emptiness... (where to begin?)... and sometimes that leads me to be stymied.
The question then arises, so what initiates the creative process for me (or you)? When do we find ourselves being creative? Is their some stimulus? A particular time of day or place that I'm more naturally creative than others? Am I inspired by something? What triggers the creative process for you?
I find fascinating, the relationship between these two simultaneous blog topics (this one on unbounded creativity, the other on envisioning a new healthcare model). It would seem that, in order for those of us who are working on the healthcare model to generate a more effective model, we will have to first understand and apply the approach of unbounded creativity.
ReplyDeleteNow either this is a beautiful synchronous accident or Chris has again launched us into one of his wonderfully clever processes to see how quickly we would come to this realization. Regardless of the level of happenstance, however, I think each topic will serve as an interesting backdrop to the other.
It may seem like I’m veering off topic, in what I’m about to describe next, but I think that if you’ll proceed with me for a moment, you’ll see I’m not. Now to be truthful, as I considered adding this piece to the unbounded creativity discussion I wondered, will this be seen as trying to put boundaries on the topic? But then I sufficiently convinced myself that to not make this comment would be allowing restrictions to be placed on what could be said and thus not be unbounded.
But enough of my rambling pretext.
What I’d like to offer as a possible context is the thought that in science and engineering fields, there is often a somewhat artificial, but helpful distinction made between creativity and innovation (thus creating the step-wise relationship between research and development). I do realize as I say this that pairing the words creativity with science and engineering in the same sentence may dash certain stereotypes about scientists and engineers not being creative.
That said, it’s not that creativity is not actively accessed in both stages of the process of creativity and innovation, but rather that how the creativity is utilized is different. For example, if for the purposes of illustration, we place unbounded creativity on one end of the continuum; and practical application on the other end of the continuum; then what is often called basic research spends much more time at the unbounded creativity side of that spectrum.
Development, on the other hand is just the reverse (since development implies that the idea or discovery that was hatched in basic research must now transition from the realm of ideas and be applied according to certain parameters in order to become utilized in the material world). Neither activity, however, typically stays polarized, but instead accesses whatever position along the spectrum that is necessary to accomplish its desired outcome.
It would seem to me, drawing only on my own relative experience, that Anonymous’ statement about the dangers or limitations of creativity being led or guided, aligns quite nicely with the goal of pure research – a place and time where we try to actually insulate our people from outside boundaries, restrictions, limitations, and so on (this is usually done to such an extent that often those in basic research have very few metrics to judge their work – though some organizations try to set up measures relating to how many patents were generated, etc.).
My point is, and again I think it’s perfectly illustrated in action in the topic below, that in order for us to come up with anything truly original or ground-breaking, we must suspend (temporarily at least) the boundaries and limits we normally impose upon much of the creative process. In a very real way, a basic research lab is much like an artist's studio where true creative exploration and experimentation can take place without the constrictions that would inhibit it.
Bringing the wisdom of this process to everyday endeavors and day-to-day life is something I would be very interested to hear more about. Because I fear we march to the beat of any drum, as Anonymous analogized, because we’ve lost the understanding of how to live creatively and to regenerate new ideas and implement them. Instead, we tend to wait for others to do it, ask for permission, or convince ourselves its far too difficult and that we are not up to the task (and thus the status quo is maintained).
It would seem that reinvigorating our ability to access creativity naturally may be paramount to our ability to survive (or at least thrive) as a species.
I find JF's comments intriguing. I'm going to give some real thought as to how I can create more free and open space for my students to investigate, and do basic research (a wonderful use of creativity in an unbounded fashion -- something that could encourage them to explore something about which they're passionate).
ReplyDeleteThe development process is also a wonderful notion -- and something I'm afraid that education in most situations (or perhaps what I've allowed to persist) does not create a direct or relevant application of knowledge regularly enough to make it fully meaningful to a student's perception of the real world experience.
If anyone has any ideas in that regard to either of these applications of creativity in a class room setting, I would be truly appreciative of your input.
BV, I had a wonderful teacher in Middle School who taught history(which for most of us was the epitome of b-o-r-i-n-g). But she would give us some background about a setting and then do what she called the time machine exercise. For example she would say, "Close your eyes and imagine you were there... what do you see... what does it smell like... who are you in this setting... what are you feeling... what are you thinking?..." and so on.
ReplyDeleteShe would then have us write, freely, about our experience and then allow for people to share those experiences either to the class or in small groups. Her desire to make the history relevant and to have us place ourselves in that era, made it become important.
Not surprisisngly, history became, for many of us, our favorite class. I believe that what she was doing was genius... and encouraged us to access our own genius as well.
To this day, I can tell you about my experience in history as if I were there.
Hope that idea maybe sparks something for you.
Love is the Only Real Power,
Jonnie
Hey Jonnie,
ReplyDeleteI love your idea about the time machine visualization. I'm going to suggest we use that type of an exercise to move us forward in the healthcare discussion below.
Thanks for sharing it... you've sparked some inspiration for me (and I'm sure others too).
Oh hey... glad to see that creativity is being talked about. This is something I want to understand more about cuz it's like it's always in the back of mind... almost haunting me like I need to do something with it or about it.
ReplyDeleteI paint... but not when I want to... it's like creativity pops into my head and I see a picture and then I have to create it... or poetry... I hear words and I write them. And it's not that I do anything with my art other than put it up on my wall or give it to a friend... but it's like part of me that keeps struggling to get out.
In some ways it scares me cuz it's so powerful. Such a strong urge. I'd like to know how to... not control it... but work with it more so I feel like I'm in charge of it, not the other way around. I mean I feel like it’s all of our job to use our gifts to make the world a better place, but then I get hung up… I mean there’s no way I’m ready or good enough to try to sell my stuff… and that’s not what it’s about.
Do you get what I'm saying? Does anyone else have that experience?
Peace,
Lisa Lee
Chris said: “... that when polarities are removed and there's nothing to create against... it seems that I must then start the creative process from the center of vast emptiness...”
ReplyDeleteI am very curious about this remark, Chris. Are you suggesting that sans polarity there is nothing?
Sorry for the delay in posting several of your comments... I was out of town and didn't have easy access to the Internet.
ReplyDeleteBut alas...
I want to respond to Anonyomous' question directly above regarding an earlier comment I made in this topic (great question, by the way) .
The answer for me is, yes and no.
First, the no. No, I'm not suggesting that without polarities there is nothing... because polarities are just the artificially demarcated ends of an artificially created (or artificially limited) continuum of options that cover the ground in between the poles.
What I was refering to though, is that as someone who's first mode of formal learning was linear and sequential, the use of a model (like a continuum and poles) helps me begin to at least get a general grasp of a territory to be explored and identify the opportunities presented by each pole and the territory of choices between.
I then like to contemplate ways of creating an opportunity that incorporates the best aspects of all of the points along the continuum, including the poles and to determine which of those aspects are best applied when and with whom to accomplish what.
Attempting to state it more simply. A continuum (including the poles) are a model I use to help quantify (knowing it's laregely artificial) a really big territory to make it more manageable for my mind to work with.
But now for the yes.
Yes, sense of vast emptiness is an initial feeling I perceive when I'm without the tool of the continuum and its poles. And I actually perceive vast emptiness as a very useful space... because from the space of nothingness or as BKO stated at one point (referring to something you said, I believe), cluelessness, I can begin to explore entirely new possibilities without limmits or pre-conceptions... seeing what pops into my head or takes shape.
And, since learning to think non-sequentially, and holistically is my secondary learning process, that modality then kicks in and allows me to begin to create in a different way (kind of like learning to write with your opposing hand -- the one you don't normally write with). At first it's awkward, but as you continue to pursue it not only gets easier, but enables you to create in a different way.
For me it relates to my experience of Zen... learning how to utilize both the Absolute (seeing vast emptiness as endless potential) and the Relative (applying it usefully to fit whatever the situation is in this physical realm called everyday life).
Kind of to JF's point about R & D, above, it seems like creativity often involves managing that dance (betwen absolute and relative). Where to do that dance, and how to do it, with whom, is the part that keeps it all even more interesting.
Does that make sense to anyone?
In that same vein, Chris (I am referring to your Zen experience) I feel like making a "side bar" comment.
ReplyDeleteI think that rather than reasoning our way into creativity and evaluating our thinking ability and IQ (which, truly, is useless), maybe we'd fare better by feeling our way into our individual and collective creativity...
Anonymous... interesting thoughts. I'd love to hear more about what feeling our way into individual and collective creativity looks like or feels like for you... how it takes shape.
ReplyDeleteI certainly access feeling too, as part of the creative process (it is after all a very intuitive process, especially at the inception)... but I have a sense you may be accessing creativity differently still or in your own unique way (and I'm always interesting in exploring how people create... how they tap into that realm).
Also... a question... just for clarity... do you believe that thinking is useless in terms of accessing creativity? Is feeling the only means, from your point of view of accessing true creativity?
Or is it possible that the full spectrum of feeling, thinking, evaluating, not evaluating are all part of the holistic gifts that humans possess (as well as gifts beyond both of those)?
I'm just wondering if you favor one end of the duality (feeling) over the other (thinking)?
Or is there somewhere else you're heading with your evocative query? You've certainly provided a great couple of paragraphs for starters.
Well, for starters, I don't see feeling and thinking as parts of a spectrum, I see both as "dimensions" which concentrically circle around in my visualization of existence as a universe. Thus, neither thinking nor feeling holds special priority for me per se, although they are used as tools for very different tasks in my experience, and I tend to see feeling as a part of a wider segment of my concentric universe than what is the case for my particular placement of thinking in the same dimensional visualization.
ReplyDeleteClear as mud, right?!
I'm answering Lisa Lee's question... a couple of items up from here.
ReplyDeleteYes, Lisa... I know what you mean. I write music sometimes (just for me and the band I play in... which has no intention to become famous... we play because we love to). Sometimes a song comes into my head... could be while I'm driving, or sleeping, or walking. And I have to write it down... it's like it wants to get out and be heard.
So I sit down and write... and if I'm really in the zone... the song writes itself... I'm just the dude with the pencil in my hand capturing what comes out.
You're not a freak (it kind of sounded like you were worried about that)... you're an artist and a creative soul (at least that's what it sounds like to me).
You'd fit right in with the people I run with.
Thanks MM! Have to say, I'm happy and relieved that someone answered my question... kinda felt like that cell phone commercial where the line goes dead and the other person thinks something's wrong, you know?
ReplyDeleteI kept checking in... to see if anybody had answered. Then I thought maybe everyone was thinking, "Wow... that girl needs help." Glad to know I'm not alone. Funny the stories we make up in our head about stuff. Maybe that's creativity too... ?
I'm truly excited about so many aspects of what we've discussed here. This last week, while running a summer program for students who had difficulty with the normal school year curriculum, I utlized the imagination journeying that Jonnie described with wonderful results. These students, who came into the class dragging their feet (literally) and totally disengaged, were suddenly on fire with enthusiasm and ideas and the desire to share their experiences with the whole class.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Jonnie, for inviting me to become more creative in how I invite my students to learn, explore, and (perhaps most importantly) experience the subject matter in such a tanigble relevant manner.
And dear, Lisa Lee. I heartily agree with MM. From everything you described about your creative process, you are one who's not forgotten how to be creative. If what you do is considered being a freak, then count me in... I'd like to be a freak too.
Thank you all!
I've been thinking a lot about Anonymous' comment above where they describe that they see thinking and feeling not as parts of a spectrum, but as "dimensions" which concentrically circle around their visualization of existence as a universe... and that feeling is part of a wider concentric circle than is the case for them for thinking.
ReplyDeleteThat's just downright cool (excuse the lack of other superlatives, but it is). The thing I love about working with creativity and in collaborating with others (if we're open to multiple points of view) is that we get a chance to see the world/universe through such different lenses than our own.
Because of Anonymous's description, I've been thinking about a variety of other things -- that, in my mind for the purposes of modeling, I've placed on a continuum -- to see what else I learn by placing those aspects in a circular relationship.
Thanks, Anonymous for giving me a new way to explore my visualization of existence.
I'm new to your blog, but heard about it via MM. I'm really intrigued by the whole process of creativity and believe that all of the answers to our current problems are solveable, if we are willing to expand our thinking in new and creative ways.
ReplyDeleteI think it's interesting that Lisa Lee and MM both talk about creativity like it's something happening to them. I'm wondering if there's a way to have that same experience, but to be part of it (in other words, in surfing you can say there's the wave and you... and the wave catches you... or you catch the wave... or there's just the wave... you, in essence, disappear and become part of it for as long as the ride lasts... it's not happening to you, you're part of it).
It's kind of like lucid dreaming. You get my point?
ZEE, you and your surfer analogies!
ReplyDeleteNo seriously, I get your point... and I'd love to know how to let go more and feel even more a part of the whole flow of writing music or even like being with somebody, you know? Like creating a moment together. What if we looked at that as part of creativity too? That would be a pretty cool use of genius, I think.
So share some wisdom, ZEE (or anybody else for that matter). How do you keep from breaking the flow or being separate from it? I'm all ears.
Greetings! The ZEE-train picked me up and dropped me at this station and here's what I want to offer for your minds and souls to consider:
ReplyDeleteCreativity, my friends, is nothing less than the underlying essence of the Universe's very existence! Can you get that? Do you know the meaning of this?
The reason people feel overwhelmed by creativity... the reason that sometimes they're creative and sometimes they're not is because they think they're separate from IT. They think there's creativity "out there" somewhere... or "in here" locked away in my head somewhere... if I could only figure out how to access it.
People don't realize "IT" is what they breathe in and out... IT is what animates the plants, the animals, people... IT is at the heart of each atom... IT lights the sun.
IT (the very essence of all that is) is you... taking the form of a human named MM, or ZEE, or Lisa Lee.
You getting IT? I mean really... are you really experiencing this fully when you create?
Well you can be... everyone can... everyone has access to the big cosmic library of existing knowledge and the endless universal laboratory of everything that's yet to be created.
IT is you... so stop separating yourself from IT... and let IT be you.
Peace!
As I posted Rizzin's comments just now, an interesting notion popped into my sometimes devious head...
ReplyDeleteWhat you've said R is cool, and a wonderful philosophy (and perhaps it's also more than that). And where I'd like to go from here is to invite you to also step into the Wellness discussion (see the topic above this one) and access "IT" and let the creativity flow right into that discussion about new solutions to a very old problem.
I'm really interested to see what you might come up with... and what we could all build together.
If you take a look at the topic and decide it's just not your cup of tea, so to speak... that's totally fine too. Just wanted to follow the notion in my head, in case it led somewhere fun and productive.
First of all, Brother Christopher, you don't access IT... IT is you. There's no accessing... IT's right there in your mind, your body, your cells, your breath.
ReplyDeleteAs to accepting your invitation... time will tell. If IT directs me, I'll be there with the wisdom of the stars. Until then, I'll hang right here buzzing with the creative souls who are Unbound.
Peace!
That's perfect. Sounds like you have a good sense of where you're needed.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy!
I don't mean to be rude to Rizzin, but is he high or something? (or maybe her, I don't know)
ReplyDeleteBut to come in an act like they've got it all figured out cuz they're all one with "IT" really gets me kind of upset.
To me, creativity is something mysterious... and it's that magic that inspires me... I like to wait and wonder when it's going to happen "to me". It's like wondering when a lover will come, you know? And wondering what it will be like... and you don't know till it happens. And then you look back at it and go, "wow", you know?
And my art is the memory of that moment. I think that's just as real as your way.
Speaking my truth,
Lisa Lee
I appreciate how you experience creativity, Lisa Lee... you painted quite a beautiful metaphor.
ReplyDeleteRizzin' has their own unique take on the creative experience as well... that's the beauty of diversity.
But to your point, I do think it's helpful if we share our idea realizing that while it's valid for us, it's not necessarily valid for everyone else.
Furthermore, I know it helps me when I read someone else's idea or experience that I realize that their enthusiasm for their own point of view or experience doesn't invalidate anyone else's experience.
And, of course, finding what we have in common and learning how to be inspired by new and different ways of seeing, feeling, thinking is also an opportunity whenever it's appropriate for us to take it.
To quote Jonnie for our other current topic, let's all assume "good intent" on the part of those contributing and seek to share and expand upon one another's ideas with mutual respect.
Thanks!
Christopher
I'm not sure whether Anonymous still looks in on this topic or not becuase I have a question they might be able to answer for me.
ReplyDeleteI've been reading this topic mostly not sure how to respond or contribute much. I guess I've been waiting for something especially stimulating to occur. That doesn't make me too creative, does it?
But that's my question. I think I actually am able to be more creative or access that place if I'm given a direction or a goal or sometimes when someone does a guided image journey. Then I seem to be able to easily go to a really creative space and can come up with ideas or visions that are very inspiring for me and sometimes for other people too.
I can see how being led or guided, if the person leading has a specific agenda, could be manipulative or at least limit where you go. But what if the person doing the leading is just pointing you toward the entrance to your own creative space?
Love,
Jonnie
Hey to Jonnie... can't speak for the mysterious one who's anonymous (they write some pretty trippy, cryptic stuff), but for me anything that leads you to the sacred place of the gods is good. You know, as long as it doesn't hurt you or somebody else.
ReplyDeleteJust don't let people tell you what to think. Don't let them make your world small.
We're endless... eternal... connected to it all, you know? So find your way into that space... and if someone can point the way... go with it.
My only words of sage advice or something like that would be to say to also learn how to find your way there on your own too. What ever it is they're doing to lead you there... do that for yourself.
You'll learn it and then you won't have to rely on someone else to let you explore the stars.
You kind of get what I'm saying?
ZEE tells me it's clean up time for Rizzin. Time to make right what went wrong. I'm good with that.
ReplyDeleteSister Lisa... my truth is my truth, you understand what I'm saying? No apologies for that. It's like Brother Christopher says. And your truth is your truth. I get that... respect that... you listening?
But my words of apology go out to you if me expressing my passionate genius... as the blog man calls it... made you feel you had to defend yourself.
Not so... no, no need... no need at all. I'll just be over here... being with IT... and you'll be where you are doing your creative thing... dancing with the great mystery and all, being wooed, as the yogi tells it, by the divine romance. That's cool.
IT's all cool.
Peace!
Hey Rizzin, as I posted your comment I wanted to ask a geniunely respectful question about your last comment, just to be clear. Are you being "with" IT... or are you IT?
ReplyDeleteJust sending your own words back to you, from your previous comments to me, for the purpose of reflection. Maybe it was just poetic license... or maybe we all fall out of union with IT from time to time.
Your thoughts?
Yeh, Rizzin, it's all cool... let's just let it go, okay?
ReplyDeleteWhat I really want to know is kind of like what Jonnie said... and I'm hoping someone can really help me here... someone other than "IT" (sorry, Rizzin... that's just how it is for now).
So for real... What is creativity? That's what's supposed to be going on in here, right? Can anybody answer that for real?
Like I said at first in here... it's something so powerful... and it's like it's alive or something... feels like what the holy people say God is like.
I mean is that possible? Is that what's happening when I experience those times?
Or is it me... is it my power? Cuz if it's me... like some people are saying... and I'm that powerful... that kind of scares me... I mean it makes me wonder me a lot... do we all have this?
Cuz if we do, why don't we use it more to do something that really helps the world? Like what they're trying to do in the other group about health? But about other things too.
I don't mean to go off on everything... I just really want to understand creativity.
Peace for Love,
Lisa Lee
Hey, you guys are trippin' out on me!(Sorry, couldn't resist making that comment!)
ReplyDeleteIn answer to Jonnie, yes, I did just read the comment "string" on this blog. I am not certain, however, what your question for me is? Are you asking for a starting point?
The other blog (the health care system blog, I mean), appears to have jogged your creative gene quite a bit lately (and thank you for that, I enjoyed reading your vision as well as the reactions catalyzed by it). What was it that caused for you to feel creative there as opposed to here? The presence of direction (or rather, a purpose of the exercise) or some other factor?
I believe creativity is something that doesn't appear by force or coersion. It's against the nature of the phenomenon. Pick a purpose and you will become creative (and that's as cryptic as I am going to get today, Rizzin. Sorry.)
Thank you, Anonymous!
ReplyDeleteYou've described what I was having difficulty finding words for... the missing piece for me. Finding a purpose... something that I'm passionate about is what lights up my creativity.
And yes... that's exactly how my dream of wellness centers came to be. I think when I get stifled, it's because I'm trying to force it... to be creative with something I'm not really in to.
I appreciate you taking a moment to answer my question. It's going to be fun to pay more attention to where my energy naturally goes.
Love,
Jonnie
P.S. Thanks to you too, Zee... you made me think about how I'm too dependent on others to stimulate my creativity. I need to trust more in my own senses and ability to create.
While I’ve watched this blog with great interest for several weeks now, I’m new to it as commentator. I’ve been fascinated by the process and progress being made in the discussion on healthcare and have been similarly intrigued with the comments made in this topic on unbounded creativity.
ReplyDeleteI’d like to comment, at this point, on the topic of creativity. While some of the comments I make here will provide an alternative view to some of the previous comments on this subject, I don’t intend them as a refutation of anyone’s opinion or experience. I appreciate the tone of this blog and the effort being made by its moderator to maintain an open dialogue based on mutual respect.
As one who has spent the majority of my professional life engaged in the study of brain activity and its relationship to creativity, I have a different view of what creativity is and how it functions. My hope is that some of what I’ll share here might provide some additional answers or perspectives for you to consider. I believe it’s also possible that when you add the description of the process that I’ll detail here, it may enable you to utilize this remarkable ability we possess as humans even more productively and with greater satisfaction.
In my experience, creativity is a state of mind. By that I mean that when one begins to experience a creative state, one is accessing and therefore stimulating nerurons in certain regions of the brain. The electro-synaptic activity that is generated during this process also triggers and/or responds to a series of chemical activities (neurotransmitters) in the brain that enable the brain to induce heightened states of awareness and consciousness.
I want to be careful to state, however, that while all of this activity can literally be monitored by means of various means of measurement, this does not signify that the sometimes transcendental experiences that one may have during such moments of creativity are limited to the brain or are purely physiological. There is still far too much about the brain, the human mind, and consciousness that is unknown for us to limit our hypothesis to that extent.
What I do want to suggest, however, is that we do not have to wait for creativity to visit us. And while the creative experience certainly occurs as mystical, mysterious, and somewhat unpredictable, there are methods and techniques which one can practice which greatly increase one’s odds of accessing the creative state of mind. Regarding the most recent discussion by three commentators, Jonnie, Zee, and Anonymous, you have listed some of those methods.
For example, trying to force oneself into the creative state of mind is generally not very productive because intense focus and the activity of “trying” or “thinking hard” actually stimulates regions of the brain that are antipodal to those required to stimulate creative activity. Furthermore, pursuing a subject about which one is passionate induces a creative state because passion and the chemicals which accompany it are prime catalysts for also accessing the creative regions of the brain.
Now here’s the interesting piece for me. By understanding each of our unique triggers for creativity (this would include time of day, settings, mood, environment, music, certain forms of meditation, topics, people, etc.) that enhance one’s creative state, one can begin to purposefully set up the circumstances under which one is more likely to access the creative mind. In addition, we have found that the creative mind functions quite beautifully while we are sleeping. Thus numerous designers, inventors, creators, and others who must regularly, dependably create have learned to utilize sleep-state programming as a means of purposely inviting the creative mind to work at an unconscious level during sleep. The results of this process are then downloaded the next morning based on a pre-programmed cue that the subconscious mind responds to as a download trigger.
I’ve probably more than exhausted the acceptable length for a comment by now, so let me conclude with this thought. While the notion of accessing the collective zeitgeist or consciousness is certainly possible (who are we to say it’s not, since while it is difficult to prove that one is actually accomplishing it, it’s equally difficult to prove that one is not), generating the circumstances that enhance one’s ability and likelihood of accessing the creative centers of the brain (and whatever else might accompany that experience) is something that can be learned and practiced with increasing (though not unfailing) dependability.
Bottom line: the creative state is far more flexible, accessible, and… well, creative than we sometimes realize. The less we put limits on when and how one can be creative and instead pay attention to the factors that seem to naturally stimulate our own creativity, the more we empower ourselves to, as I believe Zee described, "be one with the wave."
I hope these comments provide, at the very least, some additional food for thought.
Thank you, to KBF for your thoughtful and nicely outlined explanation. I made an attempt to cover some of this territory in an earlier topic, but wasn't able to organize it nearly so well or concisely.
ReplyDeleteI also appreciate the fact that you left open the possibility that there's more going on during creative moments than pure physiology. Which while trackable may only present an important, but certainly not all-inclusive piece of the equation.
Definitely food for thought.
Kudos to KBF for providing us with the scientific view of creativity! I found your commentary to be truly envigorating and hope you'll enlighten us even more, as your time permits.
ReplyDeleteWould it be safe for me to assume that the guided journey I provided my students recently was a technique that, as you put it, "purposefully set up the circumstances under which one is more likely to access the creative mind?"
I would very much like to utilize an explanation such as the one you have provided as another step in supplying my students with an understanding of how creativity functions. I am, however, unclear as how to I might address the aspects that you referred to as more than pure physiology. Do you have any suggestions as to how one could approach this type of discussion without getting into areas that are controversial or yet unproven?
BV, I appreciate your expressions of appreciation, though receiving acknowledgement was not the actual intent of my contribution. (I hope that doesn't sound too pompous -- I simply mean to say that I offered another viewpoint as a potential resource, but as nothing more.)
ReplyDeleteIn regard to your first question -- Assuming that how you performed the "guided journey" included: providing a conducive atmosphere (including sense of safety, sensitivity to environmental aspects such as noise, voice tone, lighting, comfortable seating, etc.); utilizing an inductive script (that lightly guides as necessary, but more often relies upon open-ended lead-ins that encourage the mind to search and explore); and allowing ample time between lead-ins for your students to openly explore without excessive intrusions or instructions, then one might safely assume that you created a reasonable opportunity for your students to engage and thus induce a heightened state of creative consciousness (from your report regarding their experience, it sounds as if you performed these steps quite well).
There is also a point to be made here that has been repeatedly made by Anonymous on several occasions. And while I would not necessarily be as absolute or resolute about how creativity can be accessed or utilized as they seem to be, I would agree that trying to force creativity is most often a counterproductive exercise. Instead, we might consider metaphorically that we are courting creativity and in so doing are attempting to design or generate the circumstances under which the creative state is most likely to avail itself to us. That may create a picture that places us more at the whim of a capricious and fickle creative muse than I intended, but it hopefully is sufficient in presenting you with a sense of the process.
As to your second query pertaining to suggestions about how one might approach a discussion involving creativity, brain science, and non-ordinary states of consciousness (of which creativity could be considered to be one); I do not believe that there is a way to field such a discussion without the potential for controversy. Since none of the aspects I described in my contribution are thoroughly proven (at any conclusive level that would meaningfully solidify any particular position), the topic is, by its very nature, controversial.
If you choose to embark on such a topic, I would suggest that you simply state that while much learning is taking place in this field (and here's what we think we know), there is much more that we do not know (and here are some of the theories we are exploring as to what might be happening).
Controversy, I believe, is best avoided by not pretending to know what one does not know.
I hope this is helpful.
KBF, I really enjoyed reading your commentary and see it as a very substantive contribution to the discussion.
ReplyDeleteI was struck by a thread in both BVs questions to you and in your response related to getting into areas of controversy. I understand absolutely why you are being careful about not making unfounded statements from the standpoint of being a professional that has to base statements in evidence and for that matter, BV, why you have to be careful about what you say to students. That said, I have a question for both of you. Isn't creativity something that by its very nature has to stay "unproven" and a process that by definition lacks solidity, specifically BECAUSE of what it is? Creativity itself implies that you're making something that hasn't been before, and that's a very UNsolid place to be. It's one thing to recognize the requirements for statements of "proof" in evidence-based pursuits when you're trying to understand the commonalities of a process, but when we're just talking about the creative process itself, isn't is SUPPOSED to be really messy? Isn't that its nature? And isn't that the FUN of it? I, personally would like to see this discussion going head first into those "messy" areas. I don't think that needs to be controversial. How can it be? We'll be making it up from scratch!:)
That got me thinking, and I wondered whether that might be the case with you guys as well. Again, thank you for your comments. I got a lot from reading them.
Rizzin says... YES!
ReplyDeleteCreativity is dark and messy... enlightened... sublime... supreme order... utter chaos... a moan, a gutterly gurgle... a sob that turns to laughter. IT is all of these and more.
Because you see, my friends... my brothers and sisters of the soul, when we allow IT to express... IT is the truth of who we are... nothing hidden... the shadows are revealed... beauty is found in every dank and dusty corner of the mind... in every hidden crevice of the heart... the soul.
YES... let it happen... like the Mystery of the Universe which ignites us into motion… one solitary moment at time... like the still quiet of the morning mist... that is quickly shattered with the sound of sirens in the sky.
Creativity... seeking to emerge. Let IT be... simply surrender, my brother... cry out, my sister, if you must, but please... please... let IT be.
Ahhhh.... YES!
Rizzin... dude! You are so utterly cosmic... I don't even know what to say.
ReplyDeleteI think you are high, my friend... but on the ethers of your mind. Thanks for being your continually tripped out, deep, poetic self. Don't know whether anyone else gets you, man... but I do.
Peace,
ZEE
Well, this topic has taken a wonderful new turn in a great direction. Which means that we'll be asking you post any comments about creativity in the new blog topic area.
ReplyDeleteThis time our topic will be entitled, "Genius Gone Wild... The Messy, Unpredicatble, Beautiful World of Creativity."
Meet you there!
Christopher Harding