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!