The following was taken from an electronic newsletter published by Dr. Firestien, on July, 2002.
Welcome to Insights From The Road, the e-newsletter of creativity from "The Gold Standard of Creativity Training," Roger L. Firestien, Ph.D. Enjoy!
Use Your Vacation Time as Creative Time
Let's daydream for a minute. It is summertime. You are sitting on a beach soaking up the sun, or canoeing on a mountain pond in the Adirondacks, or hiking in the Colorado Rockies. All of a sudden, it hits you. The breakthrough! It's the idea that will really make that new project work, the idea that will significantly reduce the cost associated with your new business line, the idea for how you can spend more time with your family, or the idea for exactly how to start that book you've been itching to write.
It is the perfect solution. You MUST remember it. Better yet, you think, I'll write it down. But wait. You don't have a pencil or paper with you. You don't have your trusty cell phone to call and leave yourself a message. Your breakthrough daydream has turned into a nightmare.
Wake up! Here are a few suggestions to make your relaxing vacation time an effortless creative time as well.
Wait a minute, you might be thinking. I don't want to think about work on my vacation. The fact is, you probably can't help thinking about work. Even if you're not thinking about it at a conscious level, your subconscious mind is turning over challenges, re-sorting your thoughts, and actively seeking solutions to the obstacles you face. When a creative thought finds an opportune moment, Eureka! It pushes a breakthrough idea to the surface of your consciousness.
The reason why most of us don't get our best ideas at work is because when we are at work we're in the implementation mode, the action mode, the make-it-happen mode. When we get away from work and our mind relaxes, new ideas begin to flow into our consciousness. Everyday activities like driving, walking, bathing, or falling asleep are so automatic that we relax the judgmental part of our thinking, thus allowing creative thoughts to break through.
Let me provide a personal example. My first book, the creativity fable entitled "Why Didn't I Think of That?", came to me when I least expected to have any creative ideas whatsoever. I was in the process of completing my doctoral dissertation, as well as teaching at the university full time. I thought there wasn't any "space" in my brain for anything fresh or unexpected to grow.
I went to Washington, D.C. to visit a friend of mine. We decided to go out for a relaxing dinner. I certainly needed a break from my intense work schedule. When I went to bed that night I fell asleep immediately. About three o'clock in the morning, I woke up and the book was there -- the characters, the plot, and the story line. Fortunately, I had packed my microcassette tape recorder. I began to dictate the book into the recorder. I filled the entire tape. The next morning I had to go out to buy another tape. I filled about half of it as well.
When I returned home the next day I started to transcribe the tape recording into my computer. Over the next several weeks I managed to get all of my early morning ramblings into electronic format, but I was still in the process of finishing my dissertation and didn't have time to work on the book. That Christmas I went to Colorado to be with my family. I printed out what I had in the computer and spent an evening in a cabin in the mountains rearranging paragraphs and creating chapters. Several weeks later my dissertation and my first book were completed! That book has since been translated into Spanish and Hebrew and has gone into its fourth printing. If that tape recorder hadn't been with me, the book would not exist today.
So, be ready to catch those new insights whey they come to you. This summer as you're packing your suntan lotion, make sure you also throw in at least a pad of paper and a pen. Or grab a tape recorder (with extra tape and batteries!). Who knows, you might get that breakthrough you've been waiting for while you are charging up your internal "battery" on the beach.
Sincerely,
Roger
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