Post-Musecon Musings on Creativity

[acmespaceship]

I spent so much time writing a reply on the Everything Dulcimer forum, I figured I might as well post it here on LJ.  The OP asked:

1. How do you define creativity?
2. Do you consider yourself to be creative? Yes, no, why or why not? If not, do you want to grow in that?
3. Do you think everyone is creative or has the capacity to be creative in some way?
4. What can people do to develop their creativity?
5. How does creativity function in your life? (how do you draw on it? Is it sporadic or always involved, etc.)
6. In what ways would you like to develop your creativity?
7. How are creativity and imagination intertwined?
8. Other thoughts, ideas, frustrations, questions, etc.?

My answer covers The Second City, cat boxes, and black holes.  I'd like to hear your responses, too.
I just got back from a weekend at a convention focused on creativity in the arts and sciences. My head is still swimming with ideas (and caffeine... and lack of sleep) and there's a woven bracelet around my wrist that I know I made but I no longer quite recollect how. So I'll give this a try, but I can't guarantee it'll be coherent.

1. How do you define creativity? The ability to think something you have never thought before. I suspect this involves neural pathways and lateral thinking (when your train of thought jumps the track and winds up on a different track). The more tracks your brain contains, the more opportunities there are to open new routes, and that is why creative experience in one field can lead to new ideas in another. Creativity might be the defining characteristic of homo sapiens (although I think our kitten is creative at disobeying me).

2. Do you consider yourself to be creative? Yes, no, why or why not? If not, do you want to grow in that? I consider everyone to be creative (see below). People often tell me I'm creative, in a dismissive way, as in, "oh, you're so creative, I could never do that." This drives me crazy.

3. Do you think everyone is creative or has the capacity to be creative in some way? I studied comedy improv at The Second City with Don DePollo, one of the towering greats of the field and possibly the smartest person I have ever met. He always said he wished he had a time machine for people who say "I can't improvise" so he could take them back to see themselves playing pretend when they were 3 years old.

4. What can people do to develop their creativity? You have to give yourself permission. That means permission to fail, permission to act weird, permission to try stupid ideas. Some folks are too vested in trying to fit in and act normal and behave like they were taught. You can't be creative without rocking the boat. Also, and I hate to say this, but it's really hard to be creative if you spend all of your time with negative people and creatures of habit. You know who they are. Every time you try something new, they criticize you and tell you to stop joking around. Sometimes these are people you can't remove from your life (parents, spouses, children) so seek out other people when you can. Go take a class, join a workshop, watch TED videos, anything that makes you think "wow, I didn't know that." At your next dulcimer festival, take a class that is way over your head but keep your mind open and see what happens.

It is a truism among writers that, when you write, you first have to turn off your internal editor. The editor can come back later when you're revising. But to get that first draft written, you MUST NOT allow any critical or negative voice to enter your head, not even for an instant, or you'll be spending the next several hours staring at a blank page wishing you could go clean the cat box instead. Do not ask me how I know this.

5. How does creativity function in your life? (how do you draw on it? Is it sporadic or always involved, etc.) I first recognized this problem years ago and I bet I am not alone: I can manage detailed linear tasks (filling out expense reports, updating a project schedule, helping my son register for Fall Semester classes) or I can do creative work. What I can't do is easily shift between the two. If I spent the morning filing my quarterly tax return, there is absolutely no point in me trying to write something immediately afterwards. I need at least a couple of hours to exercise, read, make small talk, play music, or something before I can make the transition to a more creative thinking style. I have clients, usually corporate managers, who complain they aren't creative and I am sure their problem is that, in their line of work, the linear tasks never stop long enough for their minds to recover. I do know a very few people who can make the shift quickly, and I want to learn their secrets.

6. In what ways would you like to develop your creativity? I need to spend more time creating and less on everyday routine (sound familiar?) Housekeeping, filing, errands, bah humbug. Child care used to sap me of energy for anything else. Now said child is in college and worry can do the same; I really need to stop that. I've enjoyed being a dilettante in music, but maybe it's time to focus and build some serious skills so I can actually play. There's creativity and there's skill, and they are both important.

7. How are creativity and imagination intertwined? There's a difference? Hmm... maybe that's where the skill comes in.

8. Other thoughts, ideas, frustrations, questions, etc.? This came up in a workshop on vocal energy: according to string theory physics, everything vibrates. Which means everything creates music. There's a black hole in the Perseus Cluster that's humming in B-flat. 57 octaves below middle-C, but B-flat nonetheless. My husband, the tenor sax player, is smug about it.

ETA: Removed an unnecessary comma, because my editor came back.