Category: Think

I’m reading about creativity, and decided to answer one question posed by Brian Johnson in his review of the book Art and Fear.

How can you make a 5% improvement in your life?

Brian then followed this question with a numbered list of five blank lines. This is what I decided would improve my life as a writer.

1. Cut distractions. Add emphasis.
2. Ritualize the creative act.
3. Research and experiment.
4. Publish or perish.
5. Remember that ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny.

1. Cut distractions. Add emphasis.

De-clutter. Practice the life changing magic of tidying up. Leave only what supports creative work or the general practice of life.

• Reminders go in places of prominence, ie. one’s implements should dominate the center of an otherwise clean desk.
• Chocolate and energy drinks should be kept nearby to your work space.
• Join a food subscription service.
• Cancel video streaming services.
• Generally, use what you have and only add what you need.
• (However, do consider getting a ChromeBook because wow they flicker on in 0.4 seconds and will run for 11 hours on a 55% charge.)

In other words, create an environment that will support the work you want to do. The writing of architect, Christopher Alexander, comes to mind. Architecture can support life by creating a space where life is naturally drawn. What environment and daily practices will encourage writing or drawing?

2. Ritualize the creative act.

Write and draw every day. Follow a pattern–a pattern that can evolve–but, still, a recognizable pattern that will trigger creativity.

• Carve out specific times and places to work.
• Light a scented candle or switch on a playlist of relaxing sounds like white noise, binaural beats, nature recordings or ASMR.
• Visualize a successful session and the steps ahead.
• Give thanks to your implements. Did some poor badger die for your brush? Express your appreciation.
• Relax by reading until a thought occurs and the will to express yourself surfaces.
• Practice the pomodoro method of staying focused without burning out.
• Design the stopping point. A time limit? A word count? What happens at the end of a session?

3. Research and experiment.

Shape the creative ritual by reading about creativity. What do researchers write? What have artists done? Through trial and error reshape the ritual. What works for you?

• Dig through Google Scholar for papers on the neuroscience of creativity.
• Find summaries of books on creativity, for example, Philosopher’s Notes by Brian Johnson.
• Listen to podcasts, vlogs and audiobooks during downtime: commutes, lunch breaks, postprandial walks.
• Look for measurable results. What are your Key Performance Indicators?

4. Publish or perish.

Creativity is a form of meditation. It hones your mind and perspective, and that should always be the primary motivation. But, with every step towards enlightenment, how can one not wish to share the insight? Ultimately, by sharing you attract the attention of good people who will support your work.

• Finish fast and start fresh.
• Create commitments and respect them. At work we call these Service Level Agreements.
• What new channels can you use to deliver your work?
• If you’re saving something as a draft, it’s probably going to wilt and wither. Can you hone the draft into something whole that will live on its own?

Ultimately, you want to create a social environment that will nurture your creative spirit.

5. Remember that ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny.

A writer and artist must develop through all the stages of human, mammal, vertebrate and so on. From a tiny embryo, you develop a spine, drop your tail, until one day you finally pick up the pencil and the stooped posture of a creative. Ask yourself, from where do writers and artists come from?

• Dream and remember your dreams.
• Learn how to solve problems and the problems those solutions create.
• Speak openly and discover what grows or seethes in the hearts of others.
• Which stories agonize people and which stories shift perspectives?

Life enriches art and art enriches life. It would be great if I could earn a living from creating art, but my forty-hour work week is not a distraction. It can enrich my life and my creative work. I am developing as human society has developed through the ages.

What does it take to get a good night’s sleep? Sadly, a good night’s sleep is the product of a whole day’s worth of decisions.

Beneficial habits and sound decisions aren’t always made in the moment. For example, the final revelation that helped me quit smoking for good was realizing I did not choose to smoke when I lit each cigarette. I was choosing to smoke each time I bought cigarettes.

So now I’m trying to get a good night’s sleep. For that I need a set bedtime early enough in the evening to allow about seven hours of sleep. For that I need to start winding down about an hour earlier. I’ll don my blue-blocking glasses and listen to something relaxing like birds chirping in a rainforest. I find that to be easier if I feel like I’ve had a good day as opposed to one that is unfulfilled. Otherwise I stay up late trying to accomplish more.

It also helps to have a healthy dinner and to exercise after work. If I get home and eat fast food while sitting in front of the television, I fall asleep early and then I won’t be able to sleep normally that night. So it is important for me to have energy after work and for that I need to be able to work productively rather than burning myself out. But if I eat out of the vending machine rather than eat just what I packed, I will likely have a sugar crash that will decrease my efficiency.

Why would I eat out of the vending machine? Brain fog that comes from not eating a healthy breakfast because I didn’t wake up early enough in the day. And why did I keep hitting that snooze button? That’s right. I didn’t get a good night’s sleep.

It is a viscous cycle with many more cascading effects feeding into it than I outlined here. A tidy bedroom helps me wake up refreshed. Meditation helps. Many other little things contribute to a good night’s sleep.

A good night’s sleep is hard to find. Metaphysical grandmas will send you down the wrong road and then their cats will jump and claw until you run into a ditch. Next thing you know ruffians are marching you and your family off into the woods, and there goes your good night’s sleep.

The heat these past few weeks has drained me of energy. Even if I wake up early, eat a healthy breakfast, go into work with a clear mind, eat a healthy lunch and work productively, I find I am still exhausted by the end of the work day. All I want to do at that point is find something cold to drink, something convenient to eat and then do (in the weakest sense of the word) something sedentary like watch television. This invariably leads to a cycle of bad sleep.

If I am aware of these cascading effects, it can help me achieve my goals. I don’t get a good night’s sleep, so I must follow the moment back to the point when I fell off the path. If the heat drains my energy, then I can follow my brother’s suggestion and take a cooling shower after work.

I would write more on these cascading effects, but now it is time for me to start winding down. I have done enough today. I want to get up early and go have breakfast with my parents and from there see if I can get a good start on my work week.