“Diving into creativity with giddy excitement and fearlessness!”
*THE UNKNOWN*
“Creativity is piercing the mundane to find the marvellous.”
Bill Moyers
How exciting and adventurous and totally fearful is the UNKNOWN?
But it’s also where we can lie in a ‘comfortable knowing’ that it’s ok to ‘not know’ what we’re doing - especially creatively.
Seeing how things develop, and adapting as you go along, is a brilliant creative tool to have in your toolkit for life.
Adaptability is a skill which is increased by creatively thinking on a daily basis.
The more we explore the world, the more ideas and solutions we can draw upon when we meet the unknown in a dark alley with no other obvious options.
We will be ok. And that ‘knowing’, is brilliant! ✨
Creative Thinking Prompts (w/c 29 July 2024)
This week, think about the following points in relation to:
‘How much do I know?’ and
‘How much do I feel I HAVE to know?’
PREPARATION
Being prepared is not always a good thing, creatively speaking. Planning what you’re going to do is useful yes, but it doesn’t always end in the best outcome. Sometimes being totally unprepared, and not fearing the unknown, is absolutely the BEST way to play it.
PRESUMPTIONS
We naturally make presumptions, especially when it comes to creativity. Our brain will do ‘what it thinks’ we want to do, based on past experiences, existing knowledge of the world, and always wanting the best for us (obviously!). But this can lead to a lack of experimentation, lack of diversity, and lack of opportunities for novel creativity. So try as best you can to fight off your presumptions.
If ever you want to forge a signature(!), here’s a tip from my late Grandad!
➡️ Do it upside down.
I don’t mean that YOU need to be upside down while you do it 🤸♀️ (although it’s an option I’m likely to encourage!), but I mean turn the signature upside down and then copy it.
When it is the right way up, your brain automatically ‘guesses’ which letters you’re writing and you’ll automatically write them as you think they should be.
When you do it upside down this eliminates any guesswork and your brain simply looks at the shapes in front of you, meaning you’ll get a more realistic version of the signature!
(Obviously I’m not encouraging you to go and forge signatures, but it illustrates the point well I think!)
THE RESULT
Not caring what the result is is another crucial factor at play here. It is NOT about the outcome. So not knowing is not a problem.
Sit with this for a while and think about it in relation to your life and your creativity.
Then try and implement the same thoughts when you come across a situation in which you feel yourself worrying about the result of your actions or your creative activity.
Consider also the language you use.
It is very hard for us not to ‘judge’ our own work - “Oh mine’s not very good”, “Oh I can’t do this!”, “Oh your's is great, I wish mine was as good!” Try to avoid saying good/bad in relation to yours or anyone else’s creativity.
Instead, assess how it’s made you feel, or ask how someone else felt while doing it. Maybe you got lost for a few moments in the flow, or maybe it meant you were able to think about a solution to something else that’s been bugging you! Both of those are also valid ‘results’ of your creativity.
“It (creativity) requires an inclination to step into the unknown, as well as the ability to persist when there is no end in sight.”
Shaun McNiff
As you read this, I’ll be heading into my own unknown - just like many of you will be doing over the next month - TRAVELLING TO NEW PLACES ✈️🌍.
Why do we travel? In order to see new things, discover new people, experience new experiences. All of which are usually unknown. But it’s all very exciting, right?
So please see your creativity in the same light as travel - an adventure into the unknown!
P.S. Make sure you get your post-summer come-down sorted by booking your spot on our next Inspiration Day… 27 Sept in Central Leeds.
I've shared a bit about it in emails, but let's face it, YOU'RE GONNA LOVE IT, so why not just book it anyway and trust in the UNKNOWN!?
👇Click below👇 to grab your spot - USE CODE ‘WONDERCLUB15’ to make sure you get your Wonder Club Discount of £15!👇
“Wonder makes us more creative and more desirous of studying the world around us. It makes us humble, less materialistic, more generous, and better community members… Wonder makes us less stressed and feel like we have more time… Wonder quite simply makes us want to be better, more tolerant people.”(Parker, 2023)
