Are You Nurturing Your Creativity?

Picture this: You’ve got a big final essay coming up, and you read the rubric along with the professor’s announcement to prepare to write. There's only one problem— your assignment calls for a standard 2–3 page essay, and for the prompt you’re told to “get creative.” Suddenly, what seems like a pro is actually a con as millions of ideas swirl around in your head and you get overwhelmed, or worse, draw a complete blank. Zilch. Nada. Nothing rattlin’ around in the ol’ noggin’. Maybe you’re even guilty of saying something like, “I’m just not a creative person.”

Well, like anything else in life, creativity is a habit that must be practiced. As an artist and self-titled creative person, I’ve heard that phrase a lot, often in comparison to me. “You’re just so. . . creative,” they’d say admiring my work, as if maybe it was some disease that they might catch if they were in my presence too long. At one point in my life, I baked and frosted cakes. I was also a photographer for a few years. When I got bored of that, I started my own business- handmade polymer clay earrings. Throughout all that time, I wrote songs, painted, sang and danced, I tried a little bit of everything. And do you know what I found? You can be good at anything with a little bit of practice, enthusiasm, a willingness to learn, and of course the most important thing, a pinch of delusion.

Can You Generate Creativity?

First, what is creativity? According to the Salem Press Encyclopedia of Health, creativity is defined as “The ability to generate novel ideas, as well as the ability to think in original ways” (Riley, 2023). The definition alone should provide some sense of relief, because nowhere does it say that someone is either born with it or born without it. Creativity is an ability, one that can be learned, if nurtured properly, and once grasped, is able to be worked like a muscle.

“The Shower Effect”

If you’ve never experienced a “Eureka!” moment in the shower, then are you even human? So many of my writing prompts come to me when I’m mindlessly scrubbing my hair in the shower, literally massaging my brain. In this empirical study conducted by the Psychology Department of The University of Virginia, scientists investigated this phenomenon, known as “The Shower Effect” (Irving, 2022). They found that activities that were considered easy and familiar enabled a person to let their minds wander, effectively generating more ideas. In contrast, if the activities were too complicated, the brain would be too active to think about anything besides the task at hand. That’s why if you need to generate ideas, showering or going for a walk would be your best option, versus doing something like a puzzle.

Bigger and Better Ideas

Personally, I know whenever I have a big deadline coming up and I need to write, I will purposefully not write. That is, I will avoid writing and not think about it entirely. By avoiding the ideas, allowing my mind to think about other things and make new, more intelligent connections, I actually am doing the very thing I’m trying to avoid. I’ll work on a different project, or write something else entirely, or read a book. I get my best inspiration from reading great writing. If you want to be inspired to create, then you must surround yourself with creativity. Absorb as much of it as you can. Give yourself ample opportunity to be creative, without judgment from yourself. Allow yourself to be bad at things, with time and practice you will get better.

Practical Exercises to Generate Creativity

Lastly, one of the best things I know to generate creative and out of the box ideas is to meditate and journal right after waking up. Your subconscious does a lot of thinking while you’re asleep, and upon waking you can access those unfiltered thoughts while you’re still in that mediative state. Next time you wake up, try setting a timer for fifteen minutes, and allow your mind to drift during that time, even if you fall back asleep. Then, when your timer is up, wake up and begin a fifteen-minute meditation or journaling session about what you dreamed or thought about. You’d be surprised by the things that will come to mind or solutions you were able to work out in your subconscious. This article by Adobe Express also outlines some practical ways to improve creative thinking: Adobe Article.

So, what are you waiting for? Go out there and create!

-Kelly

References

Irving, Zachary C., Catherine McGrath, Lauren Flynn, Aaron Glasser, and Caitlin Mills. 2022. “The Shower Effect: Mind Wandering Facilitates Creative Incubation during Moderately Engaging Activities.” Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, September. doi:10.1037/aca0000516.

Riley, Gina. 2023. “Creativity.” Salem Press Encyclopedia of Health. https://search-ebscohost-com.ezproxy.snhu.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ers&AN=89404789&site=eds-live&scope=site.