I've been pondering the proceses of creativity and inspiration lately...and happened to stumble upon the excellent brainpickings.org - where I found these two gems:
John Cleese on the 5 Factors to Make Your Life More Creative [link]
...which ties in nicely with this quote...
"A wise man once said that all human activity is a form of play. And the highest form of play is the search for Truth, Beauty and Love. What more is needed? Should there be a ‘meaning’ as well, that will be a bonus?
If we waste time looking for life’s meaning, we may have no time to live — or to play."
- Arthur C. Clarke [link]
Some of the 'triggers' I usually find helpful in stimulating my own creative thought processes:
- A long drive. Some of my best thinking - and innovative breakthroughs to problems - have occured while driving along the coast, or through the countryside
- Walking through a museum or gallery. When I lived in the Washington D.C. area - a favorite Sunday activity was to walk through the National Gallery of Art - where I fell in love with one particular painting [Ships in Distress off a Rocky Coast], by Ludolf Backhuysen, a Dutch painter who lived from 1631-1708.
- Quiet Contemplative Meditation after a vigorous workout or
- A long run.
- A long hot shower
- A professional one hour massage, followed by a sauna
- Reading deeply on a complex, subject completely unrelated to the problem at hand. Somehow the mind finds the tangents and serendipity spreads her magic dust - and Viola! - inspiration arrives with a grand entrance.
- Music. Vivalidi's Four Seasons, for some reason, has the power to inspire me in ways that are hard to describe.
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