Charles Dickens didnt just have a great mind, he had great calves as well.
This post originally appeared on theCrew blog.
In fact, many moments from Dickens solitary walks later ended up as fodder for his work.
But what is it that happens when we allow our minds to dive deep into our subconscious?
And how does it help us break through creative blocks?
Is being alone the key to creativity?
Just What Makes Us Creative?
To understand how creativity works,we need to first understand how creative people work.
They show tendencies of thought and action that in most people are segregated.
They contain contradictory extremes; instead of being an individual, each of them is a multitude.
Inside Your Creative Mind
Years after Barrons studies, technology and research would further support his observations.
when were trying to imagine what someone else is thinking).
And while we still dont know exactly how it all works together, were getting closer.
In other words, you want to block out the external world and retreat inwards.
Even more recent research onjazz musiciansandrappersshows this is exactly what happens while improvising.
Our creativity flourishes from mental isolation.
And Im sure this is something we can all agree on.
Weve all felt that shock of sudden enlightenment when our brain wanders.
But how does this work into the creative process as a whole?
Wallas process involved four steps:
Preparation:This is where the creative problem is investigated in all directions.
The final stage of the process is where your unique insight is verified by others.
Eliot celebrated the near mystical quality ofidea-incubation.
Alexander Graham Bell spoke of the power of unconscious cerebration.
While Lewis Carroll advocated for the importance of mental mastication (chewing on a thought).
Without incubationthat space away from direct thoughtthere is no Eureka!
But is this a skill we can actually train?
Practice Mindfulness Training
Thecurrent trend for mindfulness trainingand the rise in meditation isnt just for calming our inner mind.
The purpose, as Lynch describes it, is not to get more creative.
But Transcendental meditation is only one of numerous forms of meditation that you could practice.
Schedule Disruptions to Your Day
Taking breaks is nothing new.
His method involved building interruptions of concentrated effort into our workflow.
Its why people like designers Dann Petty and Jeff Sheldonstart multiple projects at once.
Multitasking may kill your brain, but having multiple things incubating at once can have real benefits.
Many of the greatest thinkers of our time have been outsiders in some aspect.
Think of Einstein moving from Germany to Switzerland, Italy, and then the US.
Gandhi in South Africa.
Eliot settling in England.
Freud as Jewish in Catholic Vienna.
Or Picasso leaving Spain for France.
For most of us, those darker thoughts are filtered and tucked away.
They dont serve us as good, law-abiding and moralistic citizens.
And the more we experience these thoughts, the more were able to control them.
Its why its so common to hear creative individuals say that inspiration comes from within, not without.
While Thoreau exclaimed, I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude.
Yet when we search inside ourselves, we become more open to the ambiguities of life.
And there, nestled among the chaos, is the birthplace of creativity.
Image byDiana Hlevnjak,LvNL, andmusicman(Shutterstock).
