3 ways to get your creative juices flowing again
Blank page syndrome. I think every creative at some point or another has experienced creative block. One day you’re on a roll and the next day your brain’s empty.
I won’t go into why a creative block happens. There’s a myriad of research detailing the causes. Just Google it.
What I want to share, though, is a proven method for pushing past it. One that many creative minds say cures a creative slump.
Find a new muse – and my muse is in the form of urban bathing. To those of you unfamiliar with this term (I made it up), urban bathing follows the same principles of forest bathing except that the practice refers to spending time in an urban environment (rather than in nature).
Urban Bathing: The conscious and contemplative practice of being immersed in the people, sights, sounds, and smells of a city – including urban parks, shoreline, and other elements making up a public space.
Walking with purpose
I’m not against forest bathing and will gladly venture into the wilderness for a mindful walk in the woods. But urban bathing is how I get my creative juices flowing. My mind wonders better when I wander through a city and take in the vibe.
And science has my back. Walking does indeed recharge your creative battery. In a Stanford University study, researchers found that a person’s creative output increased by an average of 60%, and as high as 80% when walking. What’s more, the study revealed that the positive effects of walking continued even after the participants sat down. A further study revealed that there was no difference between walking outside or on a treadmill. It’s the act of walking that makes the person more creative, not the environment.
How then does walking open up the free flow of ideas? When we walk, the heart pumps faster, improving oxygen flow to the brain, which helps provide mental energy.
And as I hinted at earlier, many a creative had a penchant for walking as a means to spark creative thinking. The late Apple founder Steve Jobs was an avid walker as were Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, and Charles Dickens.
Try these hacks to give your mind some space to break free while strolling around town. I recommend tooting around for at least 30 minutes because (between you and me) it does take time to get into your groove.
Listen with curious eyes. Make a game out of your walk. Come up with a prompt – it can be a word, a color, a concept – and then tune into your surroundings with mindful curiosity. I like to capture the moment on my phone to document my thought process.
Daydream. According to a study in the journal Psychological Science, psychologists discovered that daydreaming allows certain ideas and problems to “marinate” in our unconscious minds, which then allows us to think of new possibilities and solutions even when we aren’t working on that problem directly. For me, walking is clearly one task that elicits mind-wandering.
Bring a pen + paper. You may be tempted to use your phone to jot down those bright ideas that pop into your head, but it’s actually important to stop and smell the flowers by writing down things on paper. Somehow this makes your ideas more vivid and visual because you can play around with words, illustrations, drawings, you name it.
So, you ready to seek inspiration from outside sources?
