creativity is relaxation
on the inner work of genius
The essence of creativity is making novel connections between existing ideas. Here’s how Steve Jobs put it:
Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That’s because they were able to connect experiences they’ve had and synthesize new things.
But “just seeing something” is harder than it seems. To make a creative connection, we need to sense the wide variety of existing ideas, and the potential relationships between them.
In part, this sense of possibility comes from diverse life experience: meeting interesting folks, going to inspiring places, reading nourishing books, etc. But another part of it is somatic: how we feel in our body & mind, and how that affects our ability to perceive the world around us.
the bird in the field
In The Master and His Emissary, neuroscientist Iain McGilchrist describes how we have two different kinds of attention. One is wide, open, searching, and another is narrow, focused, grasping.
He uses the example of a bird searching for berries in a field of grass. At first, the bird is taking in the whole scene, the whole field, scanning with a sort of “zoomed out” unfocused attention. But when the bird spots a berry, or something that could be a berry, it switches to a narrow, “tunnel vision” attention.
The bird switches from seeing the whole to seeing the particular, from searching to examining.
You can practice this “switch” right now. Lean back and try to take in the entirety of the room around you, all at once. Wait until something “catches” your attention, and then focus on it. Notice how the former encapsulates the whole scene, in an inclusive way, while the latter is exclusive, taking in one piece at the expense of the rest.
Switching between these two modes is part of life. We need both. But one of them is far more useful for making creative connections.
the purpose of attention
The “wide” mode of attention is about context. It notices the whole. It is patient and receptive. It’s associated with the right hemisphere of our brain, which emphasizes relationships between things.
As I write this, I’m looking out at the park next to my apartment. When I use my wide attention, I’m taking in the entire ecosystem: the trees, the wind moving through the leaves, the squirrels scurrying through the branches.
The narrow attention mode is about analysis. It is rigid and exclusive. It’s what allows us to manipulate the world, by allowing us to focus on what we’re doing. It is associated with the left hemisphere, which deals with what we can do with what is. It cares less about connection, and more about execution.
When I switch back to writing, I zero in on the words on the page. I’m not interested in an ecosystem anymore, but in a microcosm. In doing so, I “tune out” the world.
Narrow attention is for when we’re putting our ideas into practice. It’s for making our vision manifest. It’s functional, but not necessarily creative. Ideally, as we work, we’re switching back and forth between these two modes: searching for a novel connection, finding it, and then articulating it.
But it’s easy to get “stuck” in the narrow attention mode, when we’re trying really hard to make new connections but can’t seem to see any. That stuckness comes from fear in stored in our body.
attention under stress
Stress, anxiety, and fear put our bodies and minds into problem-solving mode. They put us into “how do I figure this out” mode, or “how do I escape this” mode.
When we’re trying to escape from the source of our fear, we need a solution. That means focus. Tunnel vision. Get it done, deal with what’s there.
The more stress that exists in our body, the harder it is to access that wide attention. In a state of anxiety, we don’t have time to make novel connections: we need to solve a problem, and we need to solve it now.
As long as we stay in that mode, we’ll struggle to see the field of possibilities. We won’t feel like we can be creative, and worse, we might even blame ourselves for not being creative “enough”. Now there’s a feedback loop: stress takes away our ability to see connections, which causes us more stress.
We want to exit that feedback loop, by focusing less on the output, and being more mindful of our inner ecosystem.
state before systems
Most advice on the creative process focuses on routine and technique: how we create time for creative work, how we find inspiration, and how we put words on the page.
But what matters more is how we’re showing up. How much fear is in our body? How hard will it be for us to break out of “focus mode”? How safe does our mind feel to relax and start viewing the whole context of our lives and our project?
Instead of focusing on the right routine, the right idea, or the right note taking system, we can ask: how do I feel inside? How does my attention feel? How much openness and curiosity do I have access to? What do I need in order to feel safe and relaxed?
Inner work thus becomes the prerequisite for creative work, and that’s the most important connection to notice: including ourselves in the context of our work, and nurturing an internal environment that lets us feel safe and relaxed. From there, we have the space to see something new, something that no one has seen before.
questions to consider
when I show up for my creative work, what’s the dominant feeling in my body? Do I feel tension or relaxation? Positive, or negative?
what would my mind & body need to feel 10% more relaxed in this context? What seems to be in the way?
how can I approach creative work in a way that increases the amount of relaxation in my body? What would my thought process look like, my routine, my attitude towards the work itself?
do I feel like I’m “allowed” to be relaxed with this work? Why or why not?
With love & appreciation,
Scott