Learn about your creative process
Starting in March 2024, moving to Substack. But check here for blog posts on creativity, the creative process and how to hack creative growth.
Start here: Starting concepts
Procrastination, marination, freezing and the Inner Critic
Creativity and interoception (physiological self-awareness)
The ‘Third Layer’ process itself
The Creative Foundation and Creativity Pyramid
Having a creative barrier? Enter in a search term (emotions, procrastination, etc) here:
Safety, Bravery, Aha!: The Creativity Pyramid
If the foundation is the tangible, safety is the intangible. Do you feel safe expressing yourself? Have you faced your Inner Critic? Do you have any nopers in your life who shit on your creativity?
Creativity’s shove of necessity
The missing piece — that boring, lonely second corner — is the invisible barrier that stands in the way of 99.9% of people’s creativity.
Mini-c creativity
To progress your own creativity, think about how mini-c creativity shows up throughout your day. Those step-by-challenging-step blips of insight, hard work, or creative joy that. Are. Everything! to our creative lives. The silly songs you make up, or the recipe workarounds. You are pulling off dozens of improvisational creative genius moves every day of your life.
TTS: Ten True Statements
Write down ten statements that are currently true about creativity.
These statements can be anything: “My grandmother was so creative,” “I need a messy/clean desk in order to be creative,” “I like the color yellow.” Anything.
They can be about your creativity, creativity in general, creative thinking. Seriously; anything.
The creativity of traveling locally
In many ways, travel in a foreign locale is easier. You don't have to do anything, the creativity and newness is everywhere. Travel nearby -- especially to places not over-popularized -- *takes* creativity. This is one of the reasons I loved being a guidebook author. You can't cover a place if you look at it on the first layer only. What's the second layer? How about the third? What can I learn about my own backyard that's different to my preconceptions?
Guidebook writing on the third layer
But sometimes you triangulate your travels. You read a book. You ask around. Or you, you know, go there.
In these layers, you uncover a destination later by layer. You draw the dots between your preconceptions (the first layer of creative thinking) with more research (second layer) and more in-depth analysis and insights (third layer).
Calming the Nervous System through Creativity
… meditation and breathing are like staring the parasympathetic nervous system straight in the eyes and daring it: ‘Calm, dammit! Right now! Now now now!’ While creativity is more like dropping a hankie in its general direction coquettishly: ‘I’m just gonna be doodling or playing air guitar over here, if you don’t mind and … Sure, I’d love to go on a date together!’
The Inner Critic Comes Knocking
Even the names you give them bring a smile to my writerly heart. I’ve met the Sludge Monster, Doctor Doom, California Barbie, The Bird, Shapeshifter, Wicked Witch, Fuckface, Professor Von Fancypants IV, and many delightfully, creatively-named others.
The. Pre-Creativity. Foundation. Is. Everything.
Learn your creativity rules so you can break them without breaking you.
The Creativity Ladder, safety and primordial soup
Why is it important we know our unique Creativity Ladders?
Because we are radically different people creatively/artistically/problem-solvingly when we’re at a layer 1 vs a layer 6. (Not to mention vs the surprisingly elusive layers 7, 8 or 9.)
Because, as the ladder shows, if we push creativity when we’re below a 0, we can — and often do — lasting damage. To our own creativity and mental health, but also to others’ creativity without us realizing.
The Adventure Gift
There are rules: 1) He must use [the money] for something challenging and 2) the challenging thing must be at least a +6 on a 0-10 scale.
Creativity vs Creative Thinking
What is the difference between self-expressive, artistic creativity and problem-solving or strategic creative thinking? And which one is ChatGPT and AI already able to do?
Creative frustation (and why it’s a good thing)
Creative frustration (or fear, envy, boredom, et al) is a treasure trove of information.
Why go horizontal before you go vertical
So go ahead and get creative. Get a second opinion. Or a third. Come up with five horizontally equal ways to ask your boss for a raise, before you pick one to go vertical on. If you’re young, it could make the difference of a million dollars over your lifetime.
Self-expressive vs problem solving creativity
Self-expressive creativity: fuck what everyone else wants, thinks or says. Who are YOU? What do you want to say? What makes you come alive? What unique part of you do you want to offer the world?
Creativity on the Quarter System
In the same way that our brains like containers for physical objects (i.e., books instead of piles of paper), our brains like containers for intangible concepts. Like time.
Inner Critics and the Inner Muse: Intro to the Creativity Ladder
Layer three: I go into an Inner Critic death spiral at a level -5 and my Inner Muse comes in when I go from about a +3 to a +4.
Creativity = Chaos, Order, and the Salience Network
The Salience Network loves to come out in the shower, on a hiking trail, first thing in the morning, on a smoke break, while washing the dishes — anywhere but wherever the Central Executive Network is watching with its scary hyper-focus on productivity and competence. (Or where the Default Mode Network is choreographing an interpretative dance with scarves of the wildebeest migration … bless its DMN heart.)