Creative: Our Natural State

I've been hearing about creativity more and more these days. It's on a lot of people's minds lately - creativity is both desirable and elusive. And understandably, so. Creativity is one of the predominant joys in the world - the creative minds behind Harry Potter (J.K. Rowling), Pixar films, the fashion and culinary industries are fascinating to us. We love to consume and see what is coming up next.

Research has tried to understand what creativity is and how to get it. We often think of creativity like lightning bugs, something we have to track, stalk, pounce on, and keep in a jar all for ourselves. And isn't that beautiful?

But, what if we're thinking of it wrong. What if creativity is not a trait, not a skill, not an innate talent that some have and some don't. What if creativity is our natural state, a natural way of being, that we have unlearned through years of formal training in logic, reason, rationality, and "realism." What if instead of stalking, trapping, and voyeuristically consuming our own creativity and that of others, we tried on a new idea. What if creativity is a wild, whimsical, playful state or mood that is accessible to ALL of us? Instead of trapping the fireflies, we just have to recognize that we're in the field and creativity has been accessible to us all along.

 

What a gorgeous idea. 

So let's sit with that idea. And let's take some advice from others who promote that idea. One such gentleman is Mr. John Cleese, an English actor, comedian, and writer behind many wildly successful comedies, such as the Monty Python sketches and films. 

He gave a speech a while back which has been documented here. The footage appears a bit dated, but the material is spot on.

I'll summarize his ideas and you can feel free to watch the video if you like. He's got quick a few jokes to make it an entertaining learning experience. 

Anyways, creativity is a state. It is childlike, playful, and helps people to make associations where we didn't see them before. That's what humor is all about - helping us to make associations between ideas or concepts that were previously separate.

In order to get into that creative state, we have to help ourselves release the chains of the hyperevaluative logic mind.

Here are the necessary components, according to John:

1. space
2. time
3. time, again
4. confidence
5. humor

Space

We need a quiet place where we won't be disturbed. Where we can separate from the rest of the world and the "to-dos" of our everything life. Close the door, empty the house, get a little space from the things that may be goading you to work harder, faster, do more, do more, do more.

If you don't have a space like this, check out this article for some ideas on how to set it up.

Time

You need to give yourself enough time to disengage from your logic mind. It takes about 30 minutes to wind down from the to dos. Your mind will keep popping up saying, "you've gotta do this, you've gotta take the trash out. You forgot to do that. You need to call that person." That's ok - just let the chatter go on and tolerate it for a little bit.

Give yourself 1.5 hours to be in this creative state. That gives you 30 minutes to get into the state, 1 hour to start experiencing some of those creativity ideas and musings, and then gets you back into the rest of your life.

Time, again

You not only need to give yourself plenty of time to get into the creative state and stay there, you need to give yourself plenty of time to spend on 1 single problem or question.


John Cleese believed that another of his co-writers was more brilliant and talented that he was, but John saw that he continually came up with better ideas in his own writing. John realized that the reason for this was that he spent more time on each question he was pondering than his co-writer. He didn't rush to make a decision. That rushing to make a decision - that's caused by anxiety. It's uncomfortable to not know. It's uncomfortable to be experiencing uncertainty. But, it's ok - it's part of the process.

So, stick with a problem, delay making a decision until when it's necessary, and allow lots of possibilities to come to you.

Confidence

It is essential to postpone evaluative thinking while you are in creative mode. Thinking that you have to arrive at the "right" answer will only strangle your ability to think in unique ways. Think of this creative time as an experimental time. Play with thoughts such as...

• what if?
• let's pretend...
• what about...
• let's try

 Allow yourself to be spontaneous and allow yourself the risk of saying or thinking something silly, illogical, or "wrong". That's part of the process, too, and sometimes you have to play with 10 illogical ideas to find the 1 that will fit in the rest of your life.

Humor

John believes that nothing moves us faster from a serious, logic-based mindset to a creative one than humor. Laughter is an automatically playful state.

Even if you are making a serious decision, that doesn't mean that humor has no role. Serious does not have to equal solemn. You can make important, serious decisions that matter, while keeping your mind in a creative, humorous state.

Cleese gives the example of funerals - a very serious, almost always solemn, affair. The most moving, meaningful, and loving funerals he has attended have included strong doses of humor. Humor can be a tool to cleanse the mind and release strong emotions. To honor a dear loved one through humor, as well as tears, is not disrespectful - it can be extremely loving.

Humor is an essential component of spontaneity, playfulness, and creativity.

So, those are the components you need: space, time, time, confidence, and humor.

Creativity is a state separate from your regular life. It is unrealistic to think you can be in an imaginary, creative, associative place all the time, because otherwise you'd be unable to execute any of your ideas. However, give yourself some time this week to be creative. If you don't have the tools, yet, work on thinking about where your quiet space could be. If you don't have space in your home - could you find some space in a local library? Outdoor park? In your car, overlooking a quiet vista? There is a lot of room for flexibility here, so just get moving on one idea and play with it.

Enjoy :)