How to foster creativity

Let's take a minute to explore creativity.

If you feel like you're in a rut and can't "think out of the box," then go some place you've never been before.

New evidence suggests that creativity flourishes most when we place ourselves in situations we've never experienced. New faces, new places, new thinking.

Why is this? Researchers say the brain's natural tendency is to be somewhat lazy. The mind prefers to take shortcuts and rely on established images and ways of seeing things. To jolt the brain into creative mode, it apparently helps to jump into something you have absolutely no experience with. Take away the "safety net," break your historical mental connections and see what happens.

In an article entitled "Neuroscience Sheds New Light on Creativity," FastCompany.com reveals that when it comes to seeing things differently, Mark Twain may have been right when he said, "Education consists mainly in what I have unlearned." When the brain confronts different situations, it reorganizes perception. It pays more attention to all of the senses. It lives in the moment. The more radical the experience, the greater the chances of acquiring new perception.

If scientists are right, then what a wonderful supporting argument this makes for the benefits of travel and for changing the scenery once in a while.

Just remember to bring a pen and paper with you. You may find solutions to your problems when you least expect them -- on the top of a pyramid, learning to ski or on a hike in the woods.

Willlam James:

"Genius means little more than the faculty of perceiving in an unhabitual way."

Albert Einstein:

"You can never solve a problem on the level on which it was created."

....and my favourite....

Buckminster Fuller:

"There is nothing in a caterpillar that tells you it's going to be a butterfly."

Yes, indeed.

Other links:

Ten Steps for Boosting Your Creativity

The Astounding Power of the Brain

Take a 5-minute test to compare your Right Brain vs Left Brain Creativity (from the Art Institute of Vancouver).

Photo credit: Thanks to Robert Russell for his shot of a Florida sunrise.

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The astounding power of the brain

"It was this incredible, seductive, magnificent experience of the present moment which was pure euphoria."

Imagine being completely focused on the activity of the right hemisphere of your brain, the side that relates to creativity and consciousness. This is what it feels like when you can shut off the left hemisphere, the analytical side, the hemisphere that controls speech and tends to dominate our existence.

The description is remarkable, because it's what happened to Jill Bolte Taylor, a neuroscientist, as she was experiencing a stroke.

It happened in 1996, when a large clot disrupted the left side of her brain, leaving her severely incapacitated. After many years of therapy, Jill Bolte Taylor has returned to work and is reviewing what she learned during that experience. She has written a book called "Stroke of Insight" and was recently interviewed by Maclean's magazine (where her remarks quoted in this post originate).

The analysis of a stroke by someone who studies brain function offers a unique perspective, not only on how the body responds during such a traumatic injury, but also on the power of our often suppressed right-hemisphere brain functions.

Staying in touch with the right-brain means being able to tap into a deep reservoir of consciousness, of connecting to the universe at a different level. During her stroke, Bolte Taylor describes how she didn't feel fear, pain or worry; she no longer felt separate from her body: "...I was nothing more than cellular molecular life, if you will. When you stop and think about you as a living entity, a conglomeration of trillions of little cells, then you're very aware that you're 80 per cent fluid. I was a fluid in a very fluid environment. Everything was in motion."

She tells people that peace is within reach of everyone: "...I think both hemispheres are always functioning and deep inner peace is always present. It's always a choice. If' I'm attached to my drama, the pain in my past, and I'm not willing to put it aside, that's my left brain interfering with the purity of having that right-hemisphere consciousness."

These words echo those expressed by many ancient and modern philosophers. Bolte Taylor's insight provides some scientific support for them.

Her conversation with Maclean's magazine is a revealing read. The description of her stroke, as seen from her perspective is unique. You can find it here.

She has lectured also at various international conferences. You can watch her presentation at the prestigious TED conference.

Two related posts in this blog were "The present is the only thing that's real" and "Can humanity evolve to a new level of consciousness."

The treasure chest that opens when we sleep

The more researchers study the human brain, the more impressed they are with the findings.

When we sleep, it appears that our brain, freed from the demands of bodily motion and conscious thought, switches into a new form of activity that is surprising scientists with its unique powers.

We've heard this before, but now the results of a rich body of studies is pointing to some important conclusions about learning and memory.

In an insightful article in the New York Times, Benedict Carey writes this about our slepping brain: "Once seen as a blank screen, a metaphor for death, it has emerged as an active, purposeful machine, a secretive intelligence that comes out at night to play — and to work — during periods of dreaming and during the netherworld chasms known as deep sleep."

It's great reading because it highlights our body's potential.

The New York Times website lists the article as one of it's most e-mailed this week.

You can read it here.

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