Practicing Creativity
Thinking about my last post, I had so much to say (longest article, by a mile) and in reflection, had very little actions that people could actually take. Since that is what I initially set out to do, I wanted to address that error — and my own internal feedback — by providing specific examples of what I’ve found (through interviews and research) that you can to practice creativity.
Steadiness
Mostly about steadying the mind, getting into that alpha headspace, readying yourself for the ideas to flow. In my research and my own experience, steadying the mind kind of fits into a couple categories.
Movement
I shared one of my specific methods and for me it's dancing a bit before I get into something. Be it a big meeting or getting ready for some deep work, doing a little dance helps get my butterflies flying in formation.
Walks are so incredible. There’s nothing like a walk. From Thoreau, to Charles Dickens, Beethoven or Steve Jobs and even more recently; Cal Newport talking about how he uses walks to mull over a particularly difficult problem. Simple walking and either thinking deeply about the thing you’re working on or nothing at all seems to be able to really help quiet the noise.
Maybe adjacent to walking, but exercising, maybe a little more effort than a walk can help idea emerge in the moment, but also seem to have lasting effects on the rest of the day. Japanese author Haruki Murakami credits his running routine with helping him maintain a rhythm in his writing process and other prolific writers like Tim Ferriss credit their productivity and creativity to their rigorous workout regiment.
Stillness
When we think of stillness these days, mindfulness meditation comes straight to mind. And for good reason, it really is one of those really small daily things that can have a huge impact on creativity, but also on general mood. In addition, a similar practice of Yoga Nidra, which many may have come into contact with during Savasana at the end of a yoga class, can help connect to deeper awareness and bring about alpha waves in the brain.
I feel like I’m starting to become a boredom advocate. Famously, people like Einstein loved being bored to let their mind wander, and others like Agatha Christie and Nicola Tesla talk about similar moments of boredom helping them work through difficult plot points or tough technical problems. Furthermore, when I wrote about the crisis of creativity, a lack of this type of idleness seems to be a root cause, especially in kids.
Active Curiosity
I spoke about a ravenous curiosity that Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi calls a "curiosity and interest in life,” in his book “Creativity.” He found that being curious is a foundational element that drives the rest of a person’s creative thinking and pursuits. While there is a large component of intrinsic motivation in curiosity, there are some activities people do to stay curious and interested in the world.
Noticing
In maybe its most fundamental form, simple noticing is something we can all practice every single day. For me, I love to think about the choices that go into the things that I interact with daily, and I feel like it helps notice the subtle things around me. Artists talk about spending large amounts of time just watching how light changes, exemplified in Monet’s Rouen Cathedral series.
Study
One of the artists I spoke to, Tug Rice, an Illustrator, intentionally studies period fashion, immersing himself in the colors, fabrics, silhouettes of different eras to pull in to his drawings, saying, “I love researching before doing a project…it’s my favorite aspect, maybe even more than drawing.” Looking at his work you can see the inspiration from that study on the page in the way he captures a sense of style and period, almost like you’re in the room with them.
Intentional Randomness
When Brian Eno and collaborator Peter Schmidt would get stuck they would use something they called Oblique Strategies, which was a simple deck of cards that had them take a random, different approach to a piece of music. Injecting some randomness into their work would help them discover something new that would then kickstart the flywheel of their curiosity and creativity once again.
Action Bias
Lots of fun walks, deep rest, noticing new stop signs or deep study only get you so far. They certainly help people stay creative, but at some point you have to do something, take those ideas and turn them into something. What I think people get wrong is that you have to be painting, making a movie or designing a wardrobe. For many of the creative people I spoke with its also kind of a way of life, trying new things constantly and using that to learn new things about themselves, the world or their craft. .
Everyday Creativity
I was first turned on to this by a colleague, Erin Lamberty, in an article she wrote, outlining how we can all be creative in our daily lives. Erin puts it well when she wrote ”We’re all inherently creative: We synthesize information, make connections, and make choices in life that reflect a personal style and point of view.” From this view, the hurdle to “being creative” or thinking of yourself as creative becomes much lower. Reframing the small choices we make like what we want to wear or where we want to go to dinner as creative acts then helps enable bigger choices, and gain the confidence to make more and bigger creative choices. In the people we see as “creative people” they practice these choices and the making and creating that comes from it regularly, but very rarely do we talk about how just the little daily things we do everyday can help us also be creative people.
Everything’s an Experiment
An artist I spoke to, Taylor Shaw (AKA Lazerchef), is the definition of a Polymath, a modern renaissance man. He’s primarily a muralist, but is also a chef, Street Artist and maker of all things from clothes, to decals and (delicious) hot sauces. When I spoke to him a couple months ago, he said something that has stuck with me since, “I just want to be an amateur at everything.” From looking at and tasting his work, I feel like he’s quite good at quite a few things, but in speaking to him it really seemed like this momentum of learning, and applying it to the next project not only makes him a great artist, but a constant creative. And I think only a chef/artist could create one of his recent pieces, a Guy Fieri mural he made using Ketchup and Mustard bottles.
Intentional Play
While maybe not an activity with a clear output. Intentional play can be a powerful force for creativity. It's one of those things that I had a hard time fitting into these categories because, depending on the game, people (not just kids) can get so many different things from play. I put it here, because for me, Play is the ultimate safe space to fail, and a crucial aspect of being creative is understanding that failure is learning. Classic books like Play outline the incredible benefits of playing for any age and Gamestorming, the facilitators handbook of a variety of games to play in groups, but solo-play, a little like my little dance routine, can be equally as impactful.
In studying creativity, especially individual creativity, it comes down to a little bit of you are what you eat, or maybe you are what you do. Learning creativity is just like that, the level to which you can make space for thoughts to wander, follow your curiosity and do and make things, is the level to which you’ll learn creativity. While there are “hacks” to get yourself in a creative frame of mind or to notice things in the moment, however, practicing some of those small things that may seem like hacks over time is how people learn to “be creative.” to be regularly noticing, learning and doing things in the world.
If you have any questions, would like to chat more about creativity or any of the other topics discussed here, I’d love to hear it. Send an email or a note on LinkedIn and let’s start a conversation. Also, a few folks I’ve spoken to missed the last few posts, so I’ve also added a section below to follow along in your email inbox.
