6 ways to stimulate your curiosity

Curiosity, not necessity, is the mother of invention! Your creative brain reaches out into the world, sees something that surprises it, and that kick-starts the creative process. 

As we get older, we learn to screen out surprises and focus on the patterns that help us to succeed at basic tasks.  That's very practical--and awful for our creativity.  So here are a few ways you can get your curiosity up and running again.

1. Find three things to ask "why" about, every day.  Remember how you drove the grownups crazy with this question, way back when?  Drive yourself crazy with it, and you'll regain some of that childhood wonder.

2. Use more of your senses to observe the world.  If you're a primarily visual person, use your ears.  If you're a primarily auditory person, use your nose.  You get the idea.  By bringing new information to your brain, you will automatically stimulate its curiosity.

3. Take your head out of the google-verse and start learning from your own experience.  Doing it yourself means no more fast answers; instead, you'll have to live with ambiguity.  Since ambiguity can be frustrating, that puts your curiosity in the driver's seat.

4. Ask other people what they think about the world.  You may be surprised at the diversity of opinion around you.  If so, you will become more curious about your options and the way different people think.

5. Change a habit.  If you always take the same way to work, choose a different route.  Be curious about it.  If you always eat the same kind of food, try a different kind.  Be curious about that!  The point is to change something and let that stimulate your curiosity.

6. Learn something new.  This is just plain good for your brain and your personality.  Take up the guitar, and then get curious about the history of guitars and guitar music.  Study a language, and then get curious about the history of its native speakers.  Learning is fun, it makes you smarter, and it kick-starts your creative brain.

The problem of boredom

Have you ever spent a couple of hours (watching TV, say) being passively entertained, yet when it was over, you feel more bored than ever?  That's because passivity and boredom are closely linked.  The entertainment may have been fun while it lasted, but it doesn't satisfy your need for a vital, engaged, expressive life.

Boredom occurs when people are not challenged by their activities. A person has many facets, from talents to personality traits, and when too  many of those are underused, boredom is the result.  People are bored when they can't or don't intentionally change their activities to make them more challenging. 

In some ways, boredom is actually a good sign; it means that you care how your time is being used.  Unfortunately, it's also an uncomfortable, frustrating, and (sadly) sometimes necessary experience.

My solution to boredom is observation.  Even if I can't actively engage in the activities I find most fulfilling, at any point in time I have a mind and the ability to observe the world around me.  Standing in line, doing a repetitive task, politely listening to someone repeat a story I've heard a hundred times--all of these are times when I can devote a piece of my mind to observation.  Even a fly on the wall is interesting if you are curious about it!

The bonus is that those observations, from time to time, lead to ideas that I can use in my creative projects.  So while I haven't eliminated boring activities from my life,  at least I've made boredom very rare. 

The creative energy of the universe

Do you know why you are creative?  Because the universe is!  Every being, and even substance, around us is part of a vast process of creation.  All of that variety, the sheer extent of the universe is proof of that. 

Led by the natural processes of the universe, our brains evolved a Creativity Department because that helps us to make ourselves more successful at... being ourselves.  Each of us, by becoming stronger and smarter, helps the human race to survive and thrive. In the particular case of human beings, that doesn't just mean our bodies, it means our minds and ideas. People will fight and even die for an idea; we know that our legacy isn't just locked up in our bodies.

The book The Evolving Self by Mihaly Cziksentmihalyi describes this in some detail; here, all I want to say is that your creativity is the part of you that helps you to be part of the universal process of change, experimentation, and invention. Even stars do it, so why shouldn't you? 

If you need to find energy for a creative process, open your eyes, look around you, and see how extraordinarily creative your world is.  From the tiniest mite to the huge stars in the sky, creation is everywhere.  All you need to do is unleash your personal spark.

Competing creatively

Both co-operation and competition are natural social impulses--just watch any group of animals; each behavior has its place.  In fact, because the need to surpass a rival can be very motivating, competitive impulses are often at the root of creative behaviors.

Despite its bad reputation, competition can generate positive ideas and behaviors. For one thing, people "compete" not just with one another, but also with tired assumptions, scary forces of nature, oppressive governments, or biased beliefs. 

Competition becomes destructive when it degenerates into reactions: merely repeating what the "other side" does but doing it more aggressively.  Instead, use your creativity to find more effective ways to compete. 

Start by going beyond "I want to win!" by defining your goal creatively.  For example:

• Instead of just trying to beat the fastest runner on the team, set a goal of developing a smarter, more effective training regimen that both helps you win, and also sets you up to keep increasing your personal best over time
• If you wish you could "shout out" the old ideas that are keeping your company or community from being effective, use your creativity to find ways to engage and persuade others to discuss new ideas with you

And don't forget about co-operation: the ability to get others on your side by co-operating with them can help you to compete much more effectively.

The three stages of letting go of your creative project

Say you've hit an impass.  You've tried everything: gone back through the creative process to fix what's wrong, stayed motivated, tapped into the expertise of others...  You realize you're at the end of the road for this project.

After the time, passion, and effort you put into this, that can hurt. You may be tempted to hang on and refuse to give up, even when you know in your heart that it's all over.  You also may be tempted to indulge in "sour grapes", and pretend you just don't care about it any more.  But if you do either of those things, you'll be missing a valuable opportunity to learn and grow from this experience.

Instead, try the following three steps:

1) Take a short break to calm down, then go back over what worked and didn't work.  What can you learn from what went wrong?  What can you learn from what went well?

2) Get feedback from those you trust, just to be sure you're seeing it from other angles.  Ask for positive feedback as well as their critique. You don't have to agree with them, but be open to their perspective.

3) Then, when you understand what happened, take that understanding and acknowledge it as a new strength.  What can you do with what you've learned?  Where could this new perspective lead you?

If you are able to get past the two traps of hanging on and throwing the good out with the bad, your experience will actually make you better at being creative.  And that was worth everything you went through.

Hearing the still, small voice of creativity

Sometimes the creative flow is high-energy, even a little manic.  Other times, creativity requires a very calm, quiet mood.  In that latter case, it's very important to be able to clear your mind and "listen" to quieter inner thoughts.

You will have your own ebb and flow of energy.  Personally, I find that my body helps to tell me which mode I am in.  If I feel energetic, I end up typing fast and furious, having lots of ideas.  At other times, ideas come more slowly.  Yet these slower times can produce deeper, more sustained creative insights.  To take advantage of that quieter energy, I like to clear my mind and let it move at its own pace.

My favorite exercise for clearing my mind is actually an ancient one from India (there are many and you should choose one that suits you):

I sit at my desk and choose any object on it, and then really observe its physical qualities.  For example, now I am looking at a glass jar. I notice everything about it, from how big or small it is, to how it reflects the light, to any dust on its surface.  Then, when the picture is really clear in my mind, I say to myself:  "I am not that [thing]."  The moment that I do that, my mind sort of snaps back into itself and I become aware of my mind in a very sharp way.

Whatever exercise you use, clear away the cobwebs of your mind when you need to capture a deeper, quieter creative flow.  Still waters really do run deep.

Creating a fresh start

When I complained about one of my siblings, my mom used to tell me "it takes two to tango," meaning that I should also take a look at my own behavior.  I didn't like hearing it then, but as I went out in the world, I realized she was right.

The reality is, we have very little control over other people; our scope of influence is about 99% limited to ourselves.  Achieving a fresh start in a bad situation requires us to re-think how we respond, from a negative job relationship to a conflict with a loved one.

I am not advocating that you endlessly adapt, seeking to just change your attitude.  Conforming and "going along" with something that's wrong is neither creative nor effective. 

Instead, use the creative process to ensure that you perceive the problem insightfully, formulate specific goals for changing it, and be willing to test and discard ineffective solutions:

1)  If you're experiencing a repetitive conflict, look at all of the repetitive things you say and do; jot them down, then take a step back and try to understand why you are reacting that way--it may have little or nothing to do with the present situation.

2) When you come up with an insight about your own behavior, formulate an "insightful challenge": because of [this insight about the situation], my goal is to [make a related change].  Example: "because my fights with my teenage son are bringing up my anger at my ex-husband, my goal is to ground myself in the present and make sure I am really listening to my son."

3) Try to achieve your goal, and if it doesn't work right away, remember that the person on the opposite side of the conflict is probably stuck, as well.  Be patient, persistent, and willing to try, try again.  If you are really committed to your goal, you won't give up.

It isn't easy!  But at least when you focus on your part of the problem, you can actually do something to end it.

Healthy exercise for the brain

Brains are amazing!  They grow and change throughout your whole life.  Every single time you are creative, play with ideas, or learn something new, your brain grows. 

Of course, the other side of that is that your brain won't grow unless you keep on learning, creating, and playing.  Unfortunately, brains are also prone to locking you in to repetitive patterns.  Those unquestioned assumptions? those daily patterns you can't break? all of those characteristics you defend by saying "that's just the way I am"? Those are mental habits.  They keep your brain smaller and, let's just say, flabbier than it ought to be.

Looked at that way, our creativity is the engine of brain health.  It's creativity that lets you learn, that encourages you to explore and form new ideas, all of which are excellent brain exercise. There's even evidence that exercising the brain can help prevent loss of brain function later in life.  If you nurture and enjoy your creativity, you could have a happier, healthier life long into your old age.

So get out there and play!  It's good for you.

The silly stereotype of the tragic genius

Have you ever had an idea pop into your head, for example when you woke up after an afternoon nap?  As cool as that is, it can be disorienting when ideas just come out of nowhere.  But what's really scary is those stereotypes of tragic geniuses, mad artists and suicidal poets…  So, does creativity really demand a dangerous surrender to mysterious forces? 

In a word, no.  Because creativity uses so much of you (mind, will, imagination, emotion, and so on), dedicating yourself to a creative project enables your unconscious mind to jump in and help out.  That's unusual for many of us, and it can feel strange.  It can also look strange to others, because focusing so intently can make us seem spacey. 

But in fact, creativity is healthy.  It energizes you, builds your self-esteem, and just in general makes you better at living.  It also makes for healthier cultures, capable of growth and adaptation in the face of challenges. 

That said, don't overdo.  If you're working hard on a creative project, make sure you take the time to eat, sleep, and care for your body.  Treat the people around you with respect, asking for their support instead of pushing them away.  Smile more, worry less.  Be persistent, and also patient. 

And when you complete your project, take the time to be proud and happy!  That sounds pretty sane, to me.

Choosing creatively = choosing well

Do you ever find it hard to make choices? It can be stressful: choices are super-important to defining your life's path.  How do you figure out what choices to make?

One answer is that how you make choices is important.  If you're the kind of person who dives right in without ever looking back, you're not really choosing, which doesn't always turn out well.  On the other hand, if you're the kind of person who endlessly thinks and re-thinks, you could get stuck in indecision. 

Luckily, our creative brain is designed to help us strike the right balance.  When we fit our choices into a creative process, we have a method that will help us to both think things through, and also move forward without regret. 

Here are the steps I recommend:

1) First, be really clear on what motivates you to make this choice at all.  If you don't know why you are doing something, you will never know what you should do. Imagine and visualize where you want to end up, and be sure that it's important to you. 

2) As you consider your options, first think, then feel.  Brainstorm your options, then get the information you need to build a "choice picture" that tells you what each option might end up looking like.  After you've done that, tap into your feelings--how much do you like each of those choice pictures?

3) Clear out the distractions so you can tune into your deepest self.  Listen for your inner voice. If it's in turmoil, you're just not ready to choose. Don't stop or run away, ask yourself "what's missing?" and solve it.

In the end, you will simply make a choice.  However, if you've gone through this process, it will be a conscious choice that brings you closer to understanding yourself and the world.  And that will keep your life's path pointing forward, not backward.

Motivating your commitment to create

Motivation for creativity can come from surprising places!  I have a great real-world example for you.

One of my favorite creativity stories is about the founders of Kiva.org, a charity that lets individuals lend small amounts of money to people in developing countries.  Kiva was created by a young couple who had gone to business school together.  He wanted to be a successful California high-tech entrepreneur, she wanted to help small businesses in Africa.  How could they make their marriage work if they couldn't agree on a continent?

The answer was Kiva.org, which uses his high-tech skills and her development skills to make an enormous difference to people all over the world.  So... what was the motivation for Kiva?  I'm sure there were many, but essentially, their commitment to creating Kiva sprang from their need to have a fabulous marriage.

So ask yourself: what in your life is worth the effort and commitment to be creative? Your answer will both help you succeed and tell you alot about who you are. 

Creativity makes you special

As my son goes off to his first big city job today, I can't help but remember when I first started interviewing for jobs, after college.  I remember looking up at those huge skyscrapers, and around at the thousands of other people and feeling really, really small.  In such a huge, crowded city, how could I be unique?

Well, we are all unique, special, and (if we keep our creativity) able to make a difference in the world.  Yet when you're going through the rounds of interviews, tests, comparisons with other people, it's easy to lapse into self-doubt.  So here's how to use your creativity to overcome those feelings.

1) Identify your personal goals.  If you have a vision for your life, you will keep a sense of yourself as an individual.

2) Entertain and inform yourself by really perceiving the world around you.  Those unique perceptions will ensure that you don't just follow patterns and make assumptions.

3) When you have an insight, take it seriously. Those moments of extraordinary clarity that characterize an insight could open a unique path for your life, or at least blast you out of a rut. 

So embrace the new, knowing that you have what it takes to live with creativity, purpose, and individual flair.  You are you! And that is wonderful.

Four ways to kick-start your creative brain

Even if you're in a creative profession, or have creative hobbies, you can get bogged down and lose your creative "juice".  As we head into the summertime, I thought I'd share a few ideas for how to re-energize creativity, and take full advantage of those long summer days.

1) Give up a habit or two. Breaking your patterns will kick your brain out of a rut.  For example, if you always turn on the TV when you get home, try leaving it off.  If you always have tuna salad sandwiches for lunch, try something new. Yes, it will probably be uncomfortable, so embrace the discomfort and focus your energies on your creative projects.

2) Put a moratorium on complaining.  Complaining is addictive--and destructive to your mental state.  Repetitive complaints, especially, solve nothing, making you feel powerless.  Face it: the traffic is always going to be bad on Friday afternoon; your little sister will continue to be annoying. Instead of complaining about things, focus on your project.

3) Clean your workspace. (This idea came from one of my Facebook followers, and it's a great one.)  Clutter distracts you and creates anxiety.  I am a terrible "clutterer" myself so I say that with no judgment--cleaning up your space will help you to focus and re-energize.

4) Listen to some new music.  Music provides deep stimulus to the brain.  Today, we have access to all kinds of music online, so take advantage!  Try something entirely new: if you always listen to techno, try Mozart, or Chopin--and vice versa.  You'll find some interesting synergies, and that might get your creative juices flowing again.

...Or come up with your own ideas!  You know what gets your energy flowing.  So kick off your summer by kick-starting your creative brain.

Creativity and positivity

This morning a Facebook friend posted a story about how Grand Rapids, Michigan, dubbed one of America's "dying" cities, responded energetically, creatively, and positively to declare themselves very much alive.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPjjZCO67WI

Boy, did I love that story.  Last summer, I took a working vacation to a region of New York state declared dead somewhere back in the seventies, when industrial jobs left their area.  What I found was a community of positive people who formed home businesses, grew food, and enjoyed the beauty of their region. Yes, they were comparatively poor; but no-one could say they were living desperate lives.

The people I saw there were part of my inspiration to form Actively Creative.  I don't mean to romanticize poverty or dismiss the serious issues around economic hardship here or anywhere in the world.  But acknowledging all that, people and communities often find extraordinary solutions by focusing on how they can create their futures, rather than mourn the past.

When shared in a community, creativity is exponentially more positive and powerful.  So bravo, Grand Rapids!  You rock.

Creativity, patience, and hope

Creativity is a learned trait, or in other words, a behavior that you practice until it becomes part of who you are.  Some of us develop it young, and others develop it as adults.  Whichever is the case with you, the creativity trait carries with it certain characteristic attitudes.

One of these is patience.  We've been taught that "patience is a virtue", and that's certainly the case in creative projects.  In order to persist, the creator must be patient both with him/herself and also with difficulties that arise.  Being patient, creative people can rise above frustration, self-doubt, and failure, keeping their eye on the long run rather than the short. 

Another important attitude is hope, the close cousin of patience.  Hope is not starry-eyed or blind, but rather the will to seek solutions rather than give up.  Hope is knowing that though you are not perfect or completely prepared to succeed, you have what it takes to get what you need and go on.  Hope underlies your firm commitment to the goal you have set for yourself. 

Often, patience and hope are learned by facing obstacles and overcoming them.  But even when you're just starting out, knowing that these two attitudes are necessary will help you to avoid defeatist attitudes.  Keep hope and patience alive, and your chances of succeeding are excellent.

Creativity balances optimism and criticism

An article by Tali Sharot in Time Magazine describes research on the human bias toward optimism. The study shows that when people are asked about the future, they tend to assume that things will turn out better than they actually do.

That positive attitude is crucial to creativity.  As the author of the study points out, if we were pessimists, we'd still be living in caves. Doing anything for the first time, let alone anything truly new, requires confidence that you can achieve it.  

On the other hand, the optimism bias can lead us to take foolish risks, like running up our credit card balance or accepting a bad deal on a mortgage.  Without critical thinking, life would be a string of disorganized experiments, leading nowhere.

Creativity harnesses the optimism bias, but it also needs to put our expertise to work.  The trick is to do so without shutting your creativity down.  The five-step creative process achieves that balance across two phases: an open phase in which you delay your critical thinking, and a (partially) closed phase, in which you apply your expertise to critique your idea.

As we've said before, being creative uses the whole person.  Love your optimism and your expertise.  Both will lead you to success.

Truth and creativity

Creative flow is a beautifully focused openness that can't be interrupted without being destroyed.  When a creative flow has hold of us, all of our faculties (perception, intuition, analysis, energy, motivation, and so on) are in sync with one another.  In that state, we are tapping into a more unified, complete "self".  Productivity can skyrocket; the power to create is multiplied by the synergy.

Why on earth is that so rare?  Wouldn't it be better if we were always able to apply more of our talents and personal attributes to the various tasks and problems we face every day?

Of course it would.  However, most of the time, people are pretty fragmented, cut off from parts of themselves.  One reason for this is repression--the unconscious or conscious avoidance of our own thoughts, memories, or feelings. That's why today's blog post is about truth. 

It's a fact that consciousness is naturally fluid. Our brains are actually a composite of different and sometimes conflicting processes, and our conciousness and perceptions are spread across those processes.  So complete unity is never going to occur.

However, and it's a big however, you certainly have alot more of your self available at any given time when you are not repressed. For example, if you are trying to avoid feeling angry, you could cut off a whole realm of memory and perception because you're afraid that it might get your blood boiling.  And that is going to stop you from entering a state of flow.

There is a piece of truth inside each of us, made up of the sum of our perceptions, memories, feelings, and dreams.  Being in touch with that, even for a moment, is one of the pure pleasures of creative flow.  Remember that what's inside your mind is not your enemy--it's you!  Open yourself up to your truth, and use your creativity to face it. 

Unchosen paths of creativity

One of the hardest parts of working on creative projects is committing to one choice, and casting aside another.  In the middle of a process, you usually won't be able to prove that your choice was the right one.  It's just... your choice.

I take two approaches to dealing with that uncertainty.  The first is that I don't rush my exploration.  Deadlines or not, it's important to let the intuitive process take place.  Letting ideas slosh around in my brain, exploring and researching are all crucial to my ability to make choices.  Sleeping on an idea (and waking up with an insight) has saved me from mistakes more often than sticking to a perfect project plan.

Second, I have come to understand that no choice will ever be perfect.  All preparation aside, a choice is just a choice.  It's your choice because you chose it.  If you feel inspired, motivated, insightful, and then make a choice about your project, that's as good as it's going to get.  Someone else, or even you on a different day, might have made a different decision.  So be it!

Never be careless. Your project is too important for you to make choices lightly.  But choose you must, and that takes will and character.  Continue on down your path; if obstacles should arise and you need to go back and re-choose, do it with the same purposefulness and commitment.  Your attitude toward making choices will drive your achievements.

Passing on the gift of creativity

Corporations, schools, community groups all try to encourage creativity in different ways.  Mostly, they try to provide stimulation in the arts; that works for those with the right talent and inclination, but not for most people.  Actually, creativity applies to anything that can be encountered, perceived, learned, or done, whether that's art, science, politics, or human relationships. 

Instead, we need to understand that creativity is a set of skills and behaviors that tap into a specific part of the human brain.  Each skill needs to be inspired, encouraged, and sustained for it to become part of the normal behavior of a person. 

Parents can help by enjoying a child's imagination and supporting them in undertaking projects of their own devising; schools can do this too.  Corporations and community groups may need to actually bring in educators to teach the creative process, encouraging the sometimes disruptive process of creativity.

The question I asked myself a few years ago is, "What can you do to pass on what you've learned about creative thinking, problem solving, and living?"  Today, I'm passing that question along to you.  Can you be slower to judgment of another person's idea?  Can you smile more or use humor to get people you work with to relax and explore solutions?  Can you just be an example of enjoying creativity to those around you?

Share your creative skills, and make the world that much better for those around you!

Get out there and play!

In my book, I talk about how important play is to creativity.  For me, a big revelation about creativity came from noticing that children are better at it than most adults.  Play is a huge part of how they engage their creative minds in learning about and adapting to the world around them.

If we grownups want to be creative, we need to get off our fuddy-duddy, overly serious butts and have some fun. Does that mean we should waste precious time or energy just messing around?  Well, yeah, that is what it means.

The kind of play I'm talking about is active, smart, alert, and imaginative.  I'm not talking computer games, folks.  I'm talking goofy, imaginative, self-created fun.   It means asking yourself questions that make no obvious sense, maybe just to make yourself laugh, like "how fat is that sound?"  I once spent a productive hour with a four year-old making up disgusting food mixtures (pickle ice cream had us both in stitches). Hey, you had to be there.

If you're feeling burdened, stuck, overwhelmed, or just like a boring old you know what, take a break.  Get out there and play!

Coping with problems, creatively

Yesterday, just three weeks out of warranty, my computer crashed.  Although I have a backup system, some important documents and downloads hadn't yet been picked up.  Worse, my stream of thought and invention was interrupted!  What had been a beautiful, exciting flow of ideas was sacrificed to the slog of repair.

But don't cry for me, creative people. Hiccups, problems, even disasters are sure to occur on any path, but on a creative path they have meaning.  If we weave our disappointments into the fabric of our creative process, they can actually become creative fodder.  Reframe the problem as a creative challenge, use your intuition to explore a full range of solutions, evaluate them... you know the path.

I don't suggest that you should feel happy about it! Of course, any loss of your work or effort is painful.  But if your creative brain is turned on, you can still use it to find solutions (like going through my e-mail to find a few precious thoughts) or even work into the thread of a story I'm writing.

Life is a challenge, and we should be grateful when the challenges are fixable and meaningful.  It all helps us grow, creatively and as people.

The shifting sands of the creative path...

Bedouin tribes knew that the desert sands would move in the wind, changing the landscape; yet they somehow found their path and their destination.  Creative projects sometimes shift as you work on them, but you can still be true to your goal.

Creative flow is one of the most exciting experiences; when musical ideas just come out of your instrument, images shape themselves under your pencil, characters in your story tell you what they are going to do next. Achieving creative flow means a higher level of productivity and a deep, visceral enjoyment of your project.

Sometimes, though, the flow takes you to an unexpected place; the path shifts under your feet.  Do you try to force your way back to the planned path, or do you "go with the flow" and continue on from where you have ended up?

Knowing what is essential to your goal (for example, the purpose that motivates you) will help you to decide.  If the new path will carry you toward your ultimate purpose, you are much better off trusting your creative brain and continuing on.  Only go back if the new path is definitely a road to nowhwere.  At the very least, it may lead you to a new creative project, once you've finished your current one. 

Most of the time, flow is your friend.  Go with it!

Setting your creative goals

The foundation of a creative project is your sense of purpose.  For that reason, a positive, specific, and realistic goal is in many ways your most important creative asset.

• Your goal is positive if you can go from "X should be different" to "I intend to achieve Y." 

• It's specific if you know what success would look like; if you can envision your endpoint in some detail, and describe it to others.  

• Your goal is realistic if you or your partners are able to take the real-world steps necessary to achieve it.   

Getting to a positive, significant, realistic goal usually takes pre-work, where you explore and consider different types of goals before you settle on one.  In the actively creative process, the first three steps out of five (identification, incubation, insight) are about defining a creative goal.  

For more about how to develop a creative goal, please check out my book:  Actively Creative: A Guided Process.

The choice to be creative

Answering life's opportunities with creativity instead of habit is a choice.  Even people who are persistently creative in one area of their lives (for example, in a hobby or in their work) need to make the conscious choice to be creative in other aspects, such as relationships, career decisions, or community.

That choice is the reason I insist on using the world "active" next to "creativity".  When (instead of acting on reflex) a person weighs options, prioritizes, decides, and commits to a choice, they are already being more creative.

I can speak for myself: the choice to actively seek creative solutions is life-changing.  I have been stunned by the difference a moment of creativity can make to my path.  Pausing, considering, exploring, perceiving, opening my mind to new ideas--all of these have saved my spirit, in addition to making a real-world difference. 

I urge you to choose hope and creativity!  In my opinion, there's no better way.

Creativity and the farms of Detroit

We all learn that change is the one constant of life, but long-term changes can still hit people hard.  In Detroit the changes were so massive that the city once called "the Paris of the West" became a dangerous ghost town littered with burned-out buildings.  The city seemed to be dying.

And yet... a few years down the road, if you went to Detroit, you'd see an amazing feat of creativity.  With the help of a few visionaries and many, many determined, hard-working individuals, Motor City is becoming the largest urban farm on the planet.  Abandoned houses have been knocked down and turned into garden plots.  Markets for local farmers are being set up everywhere. "Michigan asparagus" is gaining fame.

When I read about that this morning, I was reminded that reinventing is, at least emotionally, harder than inventing.  Envisioning a new future for something so familiar requires not just a leap of faith, but a complete undoing of your memories and beliefs about it.  The wrenching loss of the familiar can either destroy your hope, or inspire you to build it anew.  

The people of Detroit are showing all of us how to turn sad loss into a hopeful path forward.  May we all take that lesson with us as we go through our lives.

Sweating the small stuff... creatively

No-one's life is perfect; it is full of aggravation as well as beauty. The ability to live with a certain amount of stress and irritation is important to being a healthy person.

So here's a way to live with these little aggravations: use them as a playground for your creativity! There's probably lots of small stuff that you could solve without too much effort; you've just been overlooking it in favor of the big stuff. 

Grossed out by how bad the food is in the school or office cafeteria?  Driven crazy by someone's irritating laugh? Bored by your commute, or by one of your work tasks? What could you do to make that one thing better?  I don't mean to say you can make it go away completely (especially the irritating laugh). But what mental or physical tricks and tools do you have that can make these irritations less intrusive in your life?

First, name the problem.  Next, decide that you want your life to be just a little smoother, and commit to finding a solution.  Third, come up with ideas about how you could solve it (if you ask a friend or family member, they may be able to help).  Found a solution? Give it a try.  Did your it help? If not, well, tomorrow is another day.

Lastly, remember that humor and hope are close cousins.  If you can smile or laugh about even annoying things, you have a much better chance of moving forward.

The actively creative life

Many different qualities characterize a person's life: how kind or unkind they are, how hard they work, and things beyond their control, like where they're born and to whom. One crucial quality is often overlooked by others: how actively creative a person is.

Being actively creative is a life path, not a hobby.  It's the choice to try to change the things you don't like, to face the risk that you will fail but go on anyway, to make stuff your way instead of always just settling for what's offered to you.  Active creativity has to be a choice because your whole self is involved--will, personality, quirks, faults, talents, luck.

The stories of tragic geniuses who hurt themselves or those around them show us that it's quite possible for someone to be creative in a single area of their life, for example in using a talent they were born with, yet still be operating habitually in other areas. Operating habitually, or driven by impulse, is passive, not active, and often destructive.

The insight that inspired Actively Creative is this: where we are not active and creative, we are victims of luck and circumstance.  For me, active creativity is a great way to live with will and purpose. Being actively creative means reaching out to the world and engaging with it. Only out there, in the real world that surrounds us, can we actively be ourselves.

What's a creative insight?

Most descriptions of the creative process include an insight, which we typically think of as some kind of amazing new fact or observation.  There's no doubt that insights are important to creativity, but insights are not just facts, however amazing.

A recent article pointed out that business people frequently label as "insights" what are really only long lists of observations.  The problem is that just describing something is not the same as understanding it. Could Van Gogh have painted one of his famous orchards based on a 500 page research tome about apple production?  I think not.

Facts by themselves are not insightful; we're surrounded by noisy, distracting, observable facts at all times.  Instead, the insight is an experience which belongs to the perceptive person who picks one out of a million available observations, connects it to a challenge, and sees how important it could be to a creative process.

So how do you know when you've had an insight?  The personal, inner experience of "aha!".  "Aha!" means that you have experienced a revelation; if it's new to you, that's enough.  And of course, it could be wrong, so you'll have to evaluate it.  But when, amidst the thousands of observations you make every waking hour of your life, you experience an "aha", treasure it.  You may be on to something big!

Creativity and conflict

Since we humans are both individuals and members of social groups, conflicts are bound to arise.  What I want, what the other wants, what's expected of me; needs are not always easy to reconcile. Usually, conflicts are resolved amicably thanks to social norms about what's polite and ethical.  Sometimes, though, solutions are hard to find. Creativity may be what makes the difference.

The costs of conflict are huge, even on a small, local level. Simple disagreements about little things (like whether that boundary-line tree is in my yard or in yours) can degenerate to violence.  Within families, the cost of unresolved conflict can be damaged or destroyed lives.

If I had to name a single reason that active creativity is so important to me, it would be my conviction that a combination of good will and creativity could reduce interpersonal conflict.  Your creative brain can help you reformulate points of difference, imagine new solutions, and adapt to necessary compromises. Where there was anger, you can create hope.

Every conflict, no matter how small, is an opportunity to envision a more inclusive world for all people.  Actively creative people, if they choose, can make a huge difference just by using their vision and persistence to build bridges between human beings.  What a wonderful world that would be!

Creatively coping with change

Someone very dear to me is going through big life changes right now, and I'm getting an up-close chance to see how difficult it is to make life decisions in an unfamiliar set of circumstances. There's almost no way to be "expert" or secure in your choices when you're changing so many things at once.

What I'm learning from all of this is how important it is to continue to try new things throughout your life. If you've practiced challenging your patterns all along, you will be much more confident when big changes are "forced" on you.

But even if your creative brain is functioning well, you're probably still going to face a sense of unreality and insecurity. So when that happens, use your actively creative process to figure out how to reduce your stress. If you're just scared, what would soothe you? If you have concrete questions, how can you get them answered?

As long as you keep moving forward, you will pass through the stress and out the other side. Use your creative imagination to envision that day, and you'll have optimism to draw on during the diffucult patches.

Sticking with your creative project: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4

If all of the creative ideas anyone ever had were actually pursued to completion, the world would be a truly amazing place. Maybe a little weird here and there, but amazing.

What goes wrong, much of the time, is that the creator gets discouraged or distracted. Either life kicks in and you have to devote all of your time to mundane tasks, or you hit an obstacle and give up.  So why do some people find a way to find the time, or find the strength to struggle until they overcome a barrier?  What's the difference between them and us ordinary mortals?  Super-human ego strength?  A trust fund?  

No.  Persistence, you see, is a skill.That's good news, because if it's a skill we can learn it. People who complete projects instead of losing steam have learned to persist.  And here's how you can, too, in 1-2-3-4 format:

1.  Consciously commit.  Write your goal down, say it out loud, share it with those around you.  Hold yourself accountable for sticking with your vision.  

2.  Commit to the goal, not the process.  The process will be bumpy, uneven, and unpredictable; remember that your goal is what matters, not how you get there.  

3. Use deadlines strategically.  If you need deadlines (and most of us do), set them for short-term, intermediate steps, not your final achievement.  Never use missing a deadline as a reason to quit.

4. Clear obstacles creatively.  If you face an obstacle, use the actively creative process to overcome it:

• Declare the intention to overcome it
• Use your intuition to mull over possible solutions
• Identify an insight about what is underlying the obstacle; it could be an attitude as much as a real-world problem
• Evaluate your insight: can it be used to develop a useful idea for overcoming the obstacle? If not, go back and review.
• Realization: form a plan to overcome your obstacle

For more on the actively creative process, please check out my book!  And persist, persist, persist.

Creativity, surprise, and all that jazz

A great way to stimulate creativity is to make surprising connections.  Historically this sometimes happens on its own, in places where different cultures meet and surprise one another.

At the turn of the century, in the port town of New Orleans, people from diverse African- and Carribean-American backgrounds mingled with one another, as well as with everyone from Irish sailors to Native Americans. In their shared leisure time (often in local bars and bordellos, where a free spirit energized invention), a mix of blues and sappy parlor songs gave birth to jazz.

Of course, no-one back then knew that their curiosity about each others' "pop" music would lead to the invention of a cohesive, complex, and honored art form.  At the time, it wasn't high art but low entertainment.  Even the name jazz is very rough in its origins; those who first used it would be very surprised to see it on a sign at Lincoln Center! But the musical genius of a few was stimulated, and art was the result.

What this history has taught me is that surprise itself is an ingredient of creativity.  Seeking out the new, focusing on the perplexing, and mixing different types of things to see what they could do together are all ways of sustaining the emotion of surprise. Surprise leads to curiosity, and curiosity energizes creativity. 

Mothers of invention

Possibly the scariest responsibility anyone can have is that of raising a child. In addition to your conscious choices, things you can't control--the words that just slip out, your facial expressions, your energy level--also shape your child.

So over the years mothers (and fathers too, of course, but it's Mothers Day) have discovered the creative part of their brain and used it to ensure that whatever they do, however they respond, whatever happens in the outside world, their child is shaped primarily by love.

Creativity turns a harsh word into a warm, "I'm sorry" moment. Creativity takes a bad year at school and turns it into a way to see family conflicts through a child's eyes. In a mother's hands, creativity turns milestones into memories, fear into courage, sadness into hope.

You could have replaced the word "creativity" with love in all of those sentences.  Love is the motivation, creativity is the engine, and a strong, hopeful child is the vision.  For Mother's Day, let's all express our gratitude, and also gain inspiration from our unique, persistent, and creatively willfull mothers. 

Thanks, mom; we love you, too!

The astonishing creativity of the real world

Creativity is not (necessarily) about fantasy; in fact, the real world is the most astonishing creation anyone will ever encounter.  From gorgeous nebulas, the birthplace of new stars, to the mysterious micro worlds of quantum physics, our minds are simply incapable of taking it all in.

What we can do is use our creative minds to perceive, explore, and invent.  When we embrace our confusion and use it as fuel for learning, we are both humbled and exalted.  Reality is so much grander than anything we can imagine!

Even when we create fantasy worlds in fiction, film, or daydreams, we are using the miracle of our brains to do so. And everything we dream up has been sparked by something real.

The awesome depth and scope of reality is all around us; even a speck of dust is a world if you look through the right lens. Look for inspiration even among the minutiae of your life, and you will never run out of creative ideas.

Mirror, mirror: what you create defines you

(A somewhat serious topic for today's blog, inspired by events of the past days and months.)

Creativity is a capacity, but what you create is entirely up to you.  In fact, one reason I believe so strongly in active, intentional creativity is that being passive can lead to unintended consequences.  We are moral beings, so at least when we form intentions we have a chance of shaping our impact on the world.

And yet, it is always possible for someone to choose to create pain, suffering, aggression, or injustice.  They can easily do so in the name of goodness, believing in their own cause to such an extent that all morality is left behind.

The creative process uses all of your varied abilities to perceive, imagine, plan, and execute your vision of the world.  The only consistent element will be you--your vision, your ethics, your will.  When you create, you express who you are in the most profound way. 

My own values teach that the end can never justify the means, and that shapes every aspect of my creative process.  Whatever you believe, be sure you are conscious of how your values mesh with your vision. Only then can you create a world you wish to live in.

Creativity and the White Queen

'When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast." (The White Queen, Alice in Wonderland)

Using your imagination requires a little bit of madness, perfectly exemplified by Lewis Carroll's characters in Alice in Wonderland.  Not coincidentally, Carroll was a mathematician; sophisticated mathematics can create seemingly impossible scenarios, where 2 + 2 only equals 4 on alternate Tuesdays, for example. So he knew that believing impossible things was an indispensable creative skill.

The idea is to imagine what the world would be like if the impossible were actually possible.  In general it's best to treat this as a thought experiment--out of concern for my readers I wish to emphasize that you can't really sprout wings and fly.  On the other hand, you can use your creativity to find a workaround; inventing the airplane, for example, is a real-world way of sprouting wings and flying.

Here's a quick example of how you could use this as a creative exercise.  How could it be both cloudy and clear at the same time?  Come up with imaginary or realistic scenarios, it doesn't really matter.  The idea is to force your brain through the looking glass to a world where more things are possible.

Creating a habit

Did you know that, linguistically speaking, you create when you "construct" things, as well as originate something new? In other words, if you have a creative hobby--like landscaping your back yard, building bird houses, knitting, playing an instrument, baking exotic cookies--that's defined as creating, even if you are just learning and following ideas originated by other people.

From your brain's point of view, what really matters is that what you are doing is new to you. If you are learning a new skill or technique, your creative brain is operating.   

That's why creative hobbies are important.  When you use your creative brain on a regular basis, you form a habit of creativity that is very good for you and the world around you.  Sooner or later, you may need to use your creative skills on something riskier or more stressful. Your habit will give you the confidence that you know how to use your creative brain to learn new things, solve problems, or just make lemonade out of lemons.

Another possibility is that while you're using your creative brain to learn a pattern or skill, you may come up with an original idea or solution.  Why not?  Your creative brain is really good at all things new.  The key is developing the creative habit.

Using creativity to cope with change

Whether change arises from a choice we've made, or is forced upon us, it is stressful (if you don't believe me, check out this Wikipedia article). Then again, stress can be managed.  When you take on a rigorous exercise program, for example, that's stressful.  Yet, if you eat well, stretch well, and rest up, the stress you put on your body will actually be beneficial. The way you handle the stress makes a big difference.

The mental version of eating well and resting up is using creativity to manage change. Even if an unwelcome change is forced on you, if you know that there is a defined path to follow, and even better, a path that is pre-programmed in the human brain, you will not be overwhelmed by change-related stress.  You may even learn to see change as a fresh chance to get more out of the talents you were born with.

When faced with an unwelcome change, take a deep breath, accept just a little consolation, and then prepare to ride the wind:

1. Frame the change as a creative challenge: e.g., go from, "X just ended" to "what next?"

2. Mull things over for as much time as you have.  Don't make any sudden decisions, because if you act too soon you will still be locked in past patterns of thought. Widen your perspective. Let your imagination roam free. Capture any insights or ideas that arise without judging them, and discuss your ideas with people you trust.

3. Define an "insightful challenge". Sketch out what challenges you, your insights about the challenge, and what motivates you to move forward. Try to narrow it down to a simple sentence: Based on insight X, I choose to do Y, motivated by Z.

4. Mull over your challenge, applying your expertise and that of others you trust.  What resources will you need? How can you overcome obstacles?

5. Make a plan--don't just dive in, get organized. That way, you can see your progress and identify potential problems. If problems arise, get creative and solve them!  Don't give up.

For help in managing change, please see my book, Actively Creative: A Guided Process.  It's short, practical, and rooted in real-world experience.  I wish you all the best!

Tom Sawyer and Creativity

When I was a kid, one of my favorite stories came from Mark Twain's Tom Sawyer. Tom, a born politician, was given the boring task of whitewashing a fence. Clever Tom decided to act as if it was the most fun task in the world. Laughing, whistling happily, he intrigued the other boys into wishing they could be the ones painting the fence.  Within a short time, they were--while he watched.

Though they don't have to pretend that what they're doing is fun, creators need a little bit of Tom Sawyer's salesmanship. Getting support from those around you, whether experts in your field, your colleagues, or your family, is a crucial skill. Positive feedback, helpful critiques, and emotional encouragement are all important elements of successful creative projects.

It is, of course, possible to create entirely on your own.  It's just harder, scarier, and (without feedback) often less successful.  Here are a couple of ways you can be more like Tom:

• Smile while you work.  I know, I keep saying that.  But it is honest-to-goodness true that if you share your happiness and excitement and let people know when things are going well, both you and your social circle will be more energized by your project.

• As you plan your project, think about what others care about or enjoy.  Make some space in your plans for everyone from your boss to your pet; what could they get out of it?  It doesn't have to be much more than a sense that they are important to you.  But it is important that they have a stake.

• Learn to distinguish between positive and negative criticism, and help those around you to learn the distinction as well.  Frame any request for feedback to increase your chances of getting the right kind!  For example: "Based on your experience, what's one thing you would change to help this be more successful?" is a much better question than, "Do you like my idea?"

Go out and share!  We humans thrive on attention and support. Embrace your social environment and you could be much more successful with your project.