As I have sought to invite the feeling of creativity into my life this year, I have encountered a lot of advice on “how to be more creative.” In truth, I have been reading such advice for years now, typically in the search for enhanced “productivity,” which I as an overwhelmed graduate student saw as a panacea to all my ills. In fact, there is a great deal of overlap between creativity and productivity advice. There are good reasons for this, but they are a bit beyond the scope here.
What is important is that people who give such advice typically advocate for a total life-system of some kind, wherein you reorganize your way of living according to the value that you most want to express, whether that be creativity, productivity, or whatever else. The idea is that if you change your habits and adopt a certain lifestyle, increased creativity or productivity will result naturally. If there was a slogan, it might read: Arrange your time and tasks according to [x], and you’ll be a [y] machine!
There is something to this, of course, and I would argue that this kind of advice is not essentially different from that given by fitness gurus who advise aspiring body-builders to batch-prep meals of brown rice, chicken breast, and steamed broccoli. At any rate, what I have learned from sampling different systems for productivity, the best approach is to adapt bits and pieces from different sources, see what works, and toss what doesn’t. I’ve brought the same approach to getting in touch with creativity.
Here are a few ideas for inculcating a creative lifestyle I found most valuable over the course of this year. First of all, it is a daily commitment:
I almost feel like I’m always writing music. I guess it’s less like I feel limited; it’s more like I’m always thinking about it, and always writing it and recording and thinking through things. It’s nice because it becomes less of a sacred thing. It becomes a part of my everyday life. (Taja Cheek)
A writer, like an athlete, must ‘train’ every day. What did I do today to keep in ‘form’? (Susan Sontag)
Second, it involves developing or amplifying certain character traits:
From David Ogilvy “Confessions of an Advertising man” (39):
The following are the traits of creative people. All have to do with powers of discernment, observation, and retention of novelty. To the extent that you can adopt these traits, the more creative you will be.
Observant and value accurate observations
Point out the usually unobserved
See things as others do, but also as others don’t
High brain storage capacity, specifically, strong short-term memory
Vigorous constitution, with a fund of psychic and physical energy
A penchant for complexity
More contact with the life of the unconscious than the average person
Third, it involves changing your mindset and your routines.
From David Lynch “Catching the Big Fish: Meditation, Consciousness, and Creativity”
By voicing what you know, it becomes clearer to you that you know more than you think. Talk to your friends (20).
Ideas are like sparks, little fragments, puzzle pieces that indicate the rest. Fall in love with the first piece and the rest will come (23).
Where the attention is, that becomes lively (75).
It is good for artists to understand conflict/stress, they can give you ideas. Too much stress of your own though and it is difficult to create. The more the artist suffers, the less creative they will be. Less enjoyment means less good work. (93)
It is crucial to have a “setup” or a studio, so that when you have an idea you have the place and the tools to make it happen (125).
Listen to your inner guide; express yourself and fuck the haters; never turn down a good idea, never take a bad one; meditate and expand your consciousness; experience the joy of doing (159).
And, at the end of the day, it involves doing things deliberately to replenish your creative reserves and adopting certain principles:
Activities
Make lists
Carry a notebook
Free-write
Mindfully drink coffee/tea
Listen to new music
Go somewhere new
Watch foreign films
Count your blessings
Read a page of the dictionary
Create a framework
Got an idea? Write it down
Clean your workspace
Finish something
Principles of Doing
Be otherworldly
Get away from the computer
Take breaks
Surround yourself with creative people
Get feedback
Collaborate
Practice, practice, practice
Allow yourself to make mistakes
Take risks
Break the rules
Do more of what makes you happy
Don’t force it
Principles of Being
Quit beating yourself up
Know your roots
Be open
Don’t give up
Get lots of rest
Have fun
Next week, I’ll get into what Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi has to say on the subject of “increasing personal creativity.”