The Art of Creative Flow and Inspiration
In many moments of our lives we desperately need inspiration and creativity.
We need a flow of new ideas to open up new opportunities or create novel solutions to persisting problems. So where do you tap into this flow of inspiration and creativity? And what is the formula to find it?
Have you ever noticed that your greatest ideas often come effortlessly? They come when you are not even trying to think. But often times when we need those great ideas the most, and we sit down trying to find them – the ideas stop flowing. Therein lays the dynamic of creative flow and inspiration.
Your greatest ideas and your most vivid inspiration come from a state of intuitive flow that occurs most abundantly when you shut your mind off. As contrary as that sounds, you truly have to shut your mind off to let your creativity fire up. In our minds we have a lot of chatter getting in the way. Behind all that chatter is the less pervasive type of thinking that can get trampled on by a chattering mind. By purposely silencing your mind and letting your consciousness drift into answers, solutions, and creative thought – you will more easily be accessing your creative abilities.
Receiving inspiration seems kind of like dreaming doesn’t it?
Absolutely! Look at James Watson (co-discoverer of DNA with Francis Crick) who correctly conceived that the structure of DNA is a double helix. How did he gain this insight? In a dream of course. Watson had a dream about two snakes spiraling up together. From this dream he accurately perceived the notion of DNA’s molecular structure. It just came to him.
Our mind has more solutions than we give it credit for. The more you try to pry those answers and creative thought out forcefully, the less flow you will access. Perhaps creativity is a lesson in patience. It comes when you are truly ready and patient enough to let it flow through you.
Is there anything you do personally to get into creative flow? Leave a comment.
I hate articles that are deliberately wrong. It wasn't freaking James Watson, it was his partner Crick that came up with the double helix. And it wasn't in any dream, it was on an LSD trip, which he believed at the time gave him the power to be creative. It was still legal then and scientists around the country were using it for the same purposes.
I hate articles that are deliberately wrong. It wasn't freaking James Watson, it was his partner Crick that came up with the double helix. And it wasn't in any dream, it was on an LSD trip, which he believed at the time gave him the power to be creative. It was still legal then and scientists around the country were using it for the same purposes.
[...] Let the flow come naturally – Being uptight and trying to force any kind of flow in your day is going to chase it away. Relax and let it come on its own. [...]