Monday(ish) Mindset
Creative Connections
Hello, my friend.
Now that we’re firmly into the start of the week, I can no longer say “happy Monday.” So let’s just call it Mondayish, shall we?
I hope that you’ve been experiencing some fresh creative energy as the spring brings new life. I know I can certainly use some!
Okay, let’s dive into the last focus of this month’s theme on Creativity:
Creative Connections
“Creativity involves breaking out of expected patterns in order to look at things in a different way.”
~Edward de Bono
Creative connections are made when unrelated ideas, experiences, or people are linked. This can happen in our brains (thinking) or through collaborative effort (conversations with others). ¹
The more diverse our interests, the more options for creative connections we have. Though we can’t control when or how we will experience creative insights (the sparks of ideas that come to us seemingly spontaneously), we can actively expand our experience and knowledge by learning new things.
One way to do this is by changing up our routines, even if only a little.
When we regularly challenge ourselves to learn a new skill, take a new route on our run, or read a book with a different perspective, we expand the scope of possible unique connections that could be made.
Our minds are great at pattern recognition. When we expose ourselves to new ideas, a different way of doing things, or new terrain, we give our brains the opportunity to make connections between the new and familiar.
Have you ever traveled to a place that was vastly different from where you live? Perhaps you flew overseas and were surrounded by the sounds of different languages, smells that you weren’t used to, or views that made your jaw drop. Time seems to slow down while your brain takes in all the colors, scents, and sounds you aren’t accustomed to experiencing.
You don’t have to travel outside of your country to experience this phenomenon, though. You just have to go somewhere new to you.
When we look around, it’s clear to see that creatives of all kinds blend distinct ideas to create something unique.
It’s apparent every time a musician mixes different genres. Jazz was born from a blend of blues, ragtime, European harmony, spirituals, and more. Its roots come from many different places, and that’s part of what makes it so distinct.
Pointillism, the artistic technique founded by Georges Seurat, “is a style of painting where many small strokes or dots of paint are applied to a canvas. From a distance, these blend together to form a whole image. Up close, though, a viewer can see all the individual marks.” This scientific approach uses color theory to trick the eye.
It’s truly amazing how connections of unrelated fields can create something fresh. It can even lead to breakthroughs.
How many times has a poet been walking through the woods and an idea was sparked by birdsong, an animal in the path, or the way dew clings to the grass before the sun burns it off? (Let me answer this for you in case you don’t read poetry: countless times!)
Being open and aware, paying attention, will help us grow in curiosity. Creative connections happen when we take our curiosity and put action behind it, trying out new ways of creating and letting things cross over in unexpected ways.
So, how do we set ourselves up for making these creative connections? Simply put, by expanding our interests, whether through learning or experience.
There are always new possibilities to find. So let’s prime our brains to find them, shall we?
How varied are your interests?
When was the last time you learned something new or attempted to do something in a different way?
Many of us already have more interests than time to give to them. If that is you, pick up something you already have (and thank past you for the intention you had) that you have yet to read, explore, or make.
If you are a creature of habit and predictability, don’t feel like you need to change your whole routine. Simply pick one area (the genre of books you read, the workout you do, the place you normally shop) and expand it (or change it up) a little bit.
Your mind will do the work of creating connections—you don’t have to worry about that part. Simply expand your world (or your mind) a little this week.
Whew. Let me tell you that creativity was a biiiiig topic to take on this month. There was always more to write, to think about (and that will remain true).
Tell me what stuck with you this month—or perhaps this theme wasn’t quite up your alley? I want to hear about that too.
This is always a permissive space to take what serves you and leave the rest. Even if it’s just a spark of an idea that moves you into a new way of thinking about something, can that be enough?
Sending so much grace to you today.
~Sara