Now, here’s a reblog that isn’t an oldie but it is a goodie, in my humble opinion. Meaning . . . I originally posted it on December 31, 2019 (not too terribly long ago), and it didn’t get much attention. Hmmm . . . I wonder why? Well, the last day of the year has historically been known as New Year’s Eve (in the United States anyway) and I’m guessing that a lot of peoples’ agendas probably didn’t include looking for a blog post from Degrees of Maternity. And, that’s perfectly fine, because I have no problem in reposting it in hopes that I can catch some inquiring minds this go-around.
Anyway, there are just some topics that I intimately connect with and today’s reblog highlights one of those topics. Since I’ve come into the realm of creating content, it’s been a goal of mine to keep great ideas coming. And now that we’re in 2020, it almost feels like I have a fresh slate to experience some new creative movement. So, without further ado, I’d like to reintroduce the following piece that has everything to do with creative flow . . . ⇓
What I’d like to do in this blog post is give you a sneak peek into my top secret process for creative thought. So, all you Creatives out there get ready for it . . . get ready for it. Here it is — take periodic moments of time to rest your mind from all the mental gymnastics required to manage the countless, incoming activities that need to be managed on a daily and weekly basis. That’s it, folks. Simply stated (in black and white), take a well-deserved mind vacation of sorts.
To give you an example of what I mean, take this blog post, for instance. Today’s post was inspired by a leisurely trip to the bathroom shower, a place where my mind was able to engage in a task that required very little cognitive exertion. Over time, I’ve managed to stumble across a noticeable pattern in my ability to organically generate new ideas. And, it only required that I give the good old mental faculties a break every once in a while, temporarily mind dumping the old “regular” stuff to let in the new. Kind of sounds like a New Year’s resolution in the making, wouldn’t you say?
Well, it’s simply amazing how mindless tasks open the door to creative free flow thought.
And, I guarantee that if you take these momentary opportunities to just “chill”, you’ll experience this same organic phenomenon start to take place in your very own life, as well. It’s mental clarity at its best. Just try it some time.
If you free your mind, the thoughts will come.
Ideas (some probable and some not so probable, but all within your creative make-up) WILL start to pop up in your mind without you purposely forcing them into existence.
And, you don’t need to shoot down any of your ideas. Let them come. Just like the process you take when you’re forcing creative thought in brainstorming, let the ideas flow. (You can always weed out the “highly unlikely” later on.) JUST BEEEEEE FREEEEEE.
Now, you might be wondering how to get into that head space where you’re in complete (or at least partial) free thought mode. Well, I can’t tell you which one of these times or places for mind dumping will work best for you; but, I’m quite certain that at least one of them has a high probability of getting your creative juices flowing. Here are my tried-and-true times/places for generating new ideas:
- Showering and getting dressed
- Grocery shopping
- Watching something on tv or the Internet or reading a book (more for the entertainment value than to learn something of significance)
- Resting in bed, on the couch, or in the favorite comfy chair (not sleeping but just resting and taking a mind nap)
- Washing the dishes, cooking, and picking up around the house (where I’m doing repetitive tasks that are more routine-based and don’t require me to think outside the box)
- Listening to other people engage in their creative process (has helped kick start mine)
- Going for a leisurely walk
- Doing an exercise work-out routine (outside of walking)
- Driving or riding in the car
- Some of those mundane and tedious activities that you wouldn’t want to do day-in and day-out, but don’t mind doing when you need a little break from thinking so hard on those things that suck your mind energy on a regular basis
Unfortunately, some of these activities don’t lend to easy note-taking opportunities. I mean it is going to be quite difficult for you to jot down your creative genius when you don’t have access to pen and paper, computer, or recorder (like your trips to the shower).
During those particular times (when the ideas are coming and won’t stop to wait for you to get to a place where you can capture them somewhere besides the old noggin), just do your best to keep them locked up in your memory bank. And then, let those ideas out on paper, computer, or recorder just as soon as you can.
NOTE: get those ideas recorded right away. Don’t rely on the memory to keep them tucked away for safekeeping, because those ideas may not come back out when you want them to, may not come back at all, or may get replaced by totally different ideas. AN IDEA OR A CREATIVE THOUGHT IS A TERRIBLE THING TO WASTE.
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