A puzzling experience…
A friend of mine has recently taken up working puzzles on a whole new level. She’s talking about shapes of puzzle pieces, print quality, different types of matching and fitting, different types of problems or concepts in the puzzle picture, and speed puzzling. I’ve been over to her place working on puzzles a couple times this winter, and because puzzles are in the air for me I’ve put together a couple at home on my own. As I searched myself trying to describe the experience of creativity to write about in this blog I found mostly abstractions or experiences that were too particular or too personal to generalize. But then it occurred to me that the experience of seeing a puzzle piece and knowing it instantly as a match for a spot yet to be filled then fitting it perfectly into place, that’s the feeling of creativity. It’s the click of an idea. Not exactly an “aha” or “eureka”, but rather the sudden association of things coalescing into a new, surprising, or unexpected thing.
Passive creativity…
Everyone is creative. I know some people don’t think they’re creative, and maybe they are genuinely less creative, but no one has been completely left out of the creativity – it’s part of being human. Plenty of creativity is completely passive. It’s something that just happens to you. In the life cycles of plants we see emergent leaves and blooms become fruit and berries and seeds which become plants that shoot up leaves and blooms. Everything alive possesses a kind of reproductive creativity. And while that may be true and worth considering, it’s not exactly what most people mean when they talk about creativity. Other forms of passive creativity arise from mistakes and errors. Think about language. When people are learning a language, or a child is learning to speak, they will often make charming creative errors because they don’t know all of the rules or haven’t made all of the associations to speak in predictable patterns. Plenty of passive creativity comes from that “oops” moment. Don’t let a good mistake go to waste! Notice the creativity and put into action. People will think you’re a genius, but really you just learned to put your funny and funky and odd errors to goo use.
Active creativity…
More commonly, creativity is thought of as an active or dynamic process. Active, like passive, creativity occurs for everyone in everyday circumstances. Problem solving is a creative act. Maybe you’re making a recipe and you don’t have a particular ingredient, what do you do? Do you stop cooking even though you’re part way through or do you improvise? What if you’re driving somewhere and your usual route is blocked or your GPS fails to inform you about construction? Sure, maybe you ask your GPS to reroute, which isn’t very creative, but often you’ll get creative and try something different or something new on your own. Active creativity happens so frequently it’s almost mundane. You just need to notice that it’s happening to tap into the essence of creativity.
Need a little help being actively creative, use exercises or prompts. My puzzling friend (I think she would like that title) gave me a little box for Christmas that says “Spark Adventure” on the top. Inside it contain imitation match sticks that have a prompt into action like “think of some rules you usually follow, then break them” and “create an alter ego and be that person for a day”. Little exercises like these are inherently creative. Even if you just explore them as a fantasy you’re engaging in creative thinking.
Explore hypotheticals, what if scenarios, on a regular basis to practice active creativity. What if human beings had long tails like monkeys? What if plants could talk? What if a new floating nation was created in the middle of the Pacific Ocean? What if you were legitimately born as a nocturnal human in a world of diurnal humans? What if you were fearless, what would you do?
Inspired creativity…
Another way to access creativity is through inspiration. Julia Cameron’s book, The Artist’s Way, does an excellent job of bringing inspiration into a creative life. In it, she advocates for “artists dates” where you go by yourself to do something that inspires you or stimulates your creatively. I’m not sure you really have to go alone, although I think it’s good to do sometimes. I still get inspired when other people are present. My favorite easy access activity to feeling inspired is to see an undersea documentary at the IMAX. Something about that alien world that’s here in our terrestrial domain fills me with wonder and ideas. I immediately go into hypotheticals without even trying, like “what is it like to always float – always?” Here’s a great exercise, make a list of everything that inspires you. Here’s mine:
-under sea documentaries at the IMAX- -the sky- -cars- -driving- -architecture- -museums- -snow- -birds in flight- -bravery- –trains– -paths I can’t see the end of- -walking and running- -Gregorian chants- -the Chef’s Table series on Netflix- -wise words- –a clean space– -hardware stores- -mountains- –putting on shoes– -seeing a friend try something new or overcome a challenge- –critters– -learning- -hunger- -reading- -playing certain video games- -etc.
Winter’s creative opportunity…
Creativity thrives in openness. In the Big 5 personality traits, the trait of openness is most strongly associated with creativity. Regardless of how much trait openness you have, there are ways to facilitate openness and use it to a creative advantage. Schedule long open-ended stretches of time to be creative where the end is far enough away that you can forget about it. Clear a room. Push everything to the sides or remove objectives, or otherwise find a big clear space. Be in that space. Go outside. Be creative outside or get inspired outside. Make the most of the winter dark. The long dark nights of winter naturally open a creative space by removing the light from painting color and visibility over the world for long stretches of time. Embrace the seeming infinity of darkness in the winter night. There is opportunity here to experience something new, something inspired, something creative.
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