“Evidently, then, the ability to learn something new is based on the general state of mind of a human being. It does not depend on special talents, nor does it only operate in special fields, such as science, art, music, or architecture.”
David Bohm
Lately I’ve been thinking about creativity a lot.
I think a lot of us have held the belief (or still do), that creativity is something within the brain and, therefore, reserved for only a few who are lucky enough to have been born with brains that are inclined to seeing the world different.
I think one of the main reasons why we believe this is because of the belief that the brain is where the mind is held. That all of our thoughts and insights come from within the physical brain. However, there is plenty of the evidence to the contrary. But I’ll save that for another post.
This post is about what I think are three very important requirements for being creative that are rarely talked about. Things you may not think are directly related to creativity, but are essential for allowing creative ideas to emerge and to share them with the world.
So here we go.
BE COMFORTABLE WITH LOOKING WITHIN YOURSELF
“…we fear to know the fearsome and unsavory aspects of ourselves (what Jung aptly named “the shadow”),
but we fear even more to know the godlike in ourselves.”
Harman and Rheingold
This one seems counter to what I just said above about the mind not necessarily being within the brain, but looking “within” is slightly different.
It is allowing ourselves to be open to our thoughts, feelings, and ideas no matter how repulsive or dreadful we think they may be.
In Higher Creativity: Liberating the Unconscious for Breakthrough Insights, Harman and Rheingold assert that although we desire to discover what is within ourselves, we resist looking within for fear that we will break long held illusions and see ourselves truthfully.
This is largely because we are culturally taught to mistrust our own minds through interpretations of Darwinian theories of evolution that imply our true nature is animalistic, dark, and out of control.
But without allowing these thoughts to surface, it is pretty much impossible to move past a state of compulsive rumination.
Our thoughts just go around and around in our minds because we keep shoving them back to that safe closed circle.
If we are able to feel a little safer, we may be able to move from rumination to reflection, but insight requires a lot more from us. It requires us to look at the things within us that make us uncomfortable. Nothing innovative came out of staying within the safe parameters of thought.
BE COMFORTABLE WITH THE PROCESS
If you try to stick to the exact vision you have of your creative project, you won’t be fully satisfied with how it’s going or the end product. That’s because your project will never live up to your vision.
This is not an indication that you have failed in some way, it’s just part of the process. This is why even when your creative project is “done”, it never feels done. You can always add, tweak, or edit more. At some point you have to just call it done.
The tendency to focus on outcome rather than process is discussed by Carol Dweck in her book Mindset. Essentially, one who is outcome focused may be preoccupied with “success” and “failure” because they have a static view of themselves and anything they produce. Whereas those who are process focused are more inclined to improvement and learning because they have a more dynamic view of themselves and things they produce.
In terms of creativity (or life!), we need to recognize that all things are in a continuous state of flux. Even a creative vision.
So it will be what it will be.
We have to believe there are no mistakes, and that trying new things means the possibility of going down the wrong path sometimes.
We have to be willing to let some of our vision go to allow the universe to make it what it will be.
This idea is related to the Taoist concept of wuwei or “not knowing” which I will most definitely talk about more in a future post.
For now, know that your vision will change, the bigger your project is, the more it will change, and it’s all good.
BE COMFORTABLE WITH BEING ALONE
“If one will not try anything until he is assured that he will not make a mistake in whatever he does,
he will never be able to learn anything new at all.”
David Bohm
I mean being alone in both the figurative and literal ways.
To allow creativity to surface, a strong sense of self is required.
This is because you have to be comfortable with public failure.
You have to believe that opinions are opinions and that is all.
In On Creativity, theoretical physicist David Bohm writes about the role of fear in creative insight by explaining that the free, experimental way a child learns diminishes with age as we are socialized into developing a fear of mistakes. He gives the example of how a child learns to walk through a process of trial and error until they are finally able to walk.
According to Bohm, this innate type of learning (which is essentially the creative process) is replaced with “habits of mechanical perception in terms of preconceived ideas and learning only for specific utilitarian purposes”.
You have to be able to continue to work on your creative endeavors even with the world is telling you it sucks.
I mean, why do you pursue any creative project in the first place? It’s for yourself.
Steven Pressfield alludes to this when he says, “What we don’t know is how to be alone. We don’t know how to be free individuals.”
I think what he means is free of opinions so we are then free to fully pursue our creative projects.
I don’t know if you see a theme with these points, but here it is:
YOU NEED TO BE COMFORTABLE WITH BEING UNCOMFORTABLE.
That’s what it comes down to.
Well, just like anything else, we have to keep reminding ourselves of these things.
What else is new?