An apple dropped on Isaac Newton’s head and he went on to unlock the Laws of Motion. Creativity is the act of turning new and imaginative ideas into reality. It is characterised by the amazing ability to perceive the world in order to discover hidden patterns, to recognise connections between seemingly unrelated phenomena and to thereby generate solutions.
Edward de Bono writes, ‘Creativity involves breaking out of established patterns in order to look at things in a different way.’ Path breaking scientists, philosophers, artistes, writers among other creative individuals stumble upon infinity, the eternal truth, the beauty and the cardinal principles of the universe when their minds are imaginative and receptive to new-fangled ideas.
Such talent needs to be nurtured and encouraged by all stakeholders. Make no attempt to kill any idea however outlandish or weird it may appear on the surface. For who knows what treasure lies in its bosom?
Interestingly at the nucleus of such works of science and art lie silence and solitude. And this is for some solid reason. When creative and imaginative people are all alone they delve deep into their selves. It has been observed that noted scholars and philosophers in the midst of their long walks keep the company of only nature and the universe.
Creative people benefit from being in solitude. It is fodder for their thoughts. While being alone they get to know themselves, they deal with the demons of their minds and banish all Sisyphean thoughts, they generate space to create something out of the ordinary. Isolation helps them to insulate themselves from the cacophony and results in finding their own voice and create something radical.
Revolutionary ideas dawn on people through their unconscious mind which is nothing but a storehouse of memory. Several perplexing problems get resolved by such individuals when they go by their gut feeling or hunch as guidance emanates in the form of inner awareness. For this to occur, creative individuals need to have immense faith in the miracle working power of the unconscious.
It is a seemingly paradoxical situation where in creative minds, creative habits require collective participation too. Solitude helps in germination of an idea while participation and collaboration embellish the product. A visionary gets inspired by reading, connecting with others and even by the works of fellow travellers.
It is quite possible that an individual unlocks his creativity by getting the inspiration and picture from within but frames it with the assistance of technology, say using an i-phone, or listening to a podcast, a YouTube video or by attending a seminal lecture. The creative individual is on the razor’s edge and needs to balance solitude with mindful interaction.
Chase Jarvis, an award winning American photographer and fellow countryman, Ali Edward, a scrapbook story teller, devour magazines, visit museums, and interact with families and children to stir their imagination when not in solitude.
On several occasions there is a brain-freeze when creative juices do not flow in an artiste and they tend to stagnate. Many a time even the most perspicacious of creative people are entrapped in the whirlpool of symbols, signposts and apparent contradictions of knowledge. A creative person through relentless practise needs to transcend these insignia and totems to get to the source.
Anyone can unlock and develop creativity; individuals need only transfigure their minds from the shackles of boredom and keep evolving by treating themselves to retreats of silence and decoding the signposts.
Creative individuals need to harness the potential of their minds by living and leading a creative life everyday unfailingly. Creative artistes need to overcome what is known as a writer’s block or a painter unable to wield the brush on the canvas of imagination. Such people need to navigate their minds by tempering and moderating expectations. One cannot be a Shakespeare or a Da Vinci every day!
Creative citizens have to necessarily build creative teams seeped in the culture of creativity. They should be surrounded by members who bring with them unique ideas to the platter. It is important to acknowledge such individuals for it will enable an uninterrupted flow of ideas. The creative individual would then be in a zone of happiness and exciting new ideas.
It is important for creative people to banish negative thoughts from their minds. Thoughts like, ‘I am no good’, ‘Nothing special is being produced from my stable’, drain the mind. The idiom and vocabulary of a creative individual should be of innovative strategies and unique ideas.
Comfortable individuals merely make statements, whereas creative people queer the mind by searching questions. Such a process opens the vistas for varied perspectives, possibilities and amazingly new patterns to emerge. This breaks the status quo and something original emerges in the process.
Creative individuals keep perfecting their craft by embracing new technologies and approaches, keeping their tool-box full.
