The brain is an exquisite pattern-making machine. And the more I learn about creative pioneers, the better I understand how important it is to challenge those reflexive patterns regularly.
While roaming through Taliesin West, listening to an audio narration describing architect Frank Lloyd Wright's creative process, I was simultaneously inspired and disheartened. The inspiration compelled me to take notes in the hope that small pieces of Wright's process might find a way into my own.
The disheartening came as I reflected on how easily the brain can box us into reflexive thinking. For example, when you envision a swimming pool, what shape does your mind's eye see? Because most of us see a rectangle does not mean we are not innately creative. My years of studying creativity has taught me that our brains, having seen many rectangular swimming pools, will reflexively re-create a rectangle. If we want to harness our creativity more completely, we must intentionally force ourselves to see different shapes, hear different sounds, use different textures, i.e., break patterns.
Wright envisioned a triangular swimming pool. This happened in part because while looking at the spot he'd selected for the pool, he let his eyes take in the background. Consequently, his design for the pool mirrored the triangular shape of the Arizona mountainside behind the spot he'd selected. This is an elegant example of someone challenging the exquisite pattern-making machine that is the brain, a machine that reflexively warns when a saber-toothed tiger is nearby at the same time that it boxes in the innate creativity residing in us.
Sit in a different place each time you're in church. Park in a new spot on each visit to the gym, favorite coffee shop, friend's home. Put your pants on left leg first instead of right for two days or weeks or months, and then return to right leg first. Notice how breaking any mindless pattern makes you feel. After trying that, move next to breaking patterns as you paint, take photographs, write songs. Then after trying that, return here and tell me and others how doing so opened a creative door for you.
Hello, Pat. This has got to be one of my favorite posts. I first read it a few days ago and have honestly been thinking about how to respond since then. Not so much for the suggestion of trying things differently, although that is intriguing and I do plan to try. But more to the fact that it has reminded me, or made me more focused to the fact, that I am a creature of habit. Most of what I do in a given day follows a routine. From how I take care of my dog in the morning, to what I do after he’s all fed and has gone back to bed, to my own morning rituals, and what follows throughout a day. Not every day of course, but … a lot. I know that change is inevitable. And that change always will occur no matter what you do … even if it’s the slightest change. But I am also curious to see what things look like from a different perspective. Thanks and Be well,
ReplyDeleteBob
Bob; Thanks for the comment and the nice feedback about how this specific post really got you thinking. I'm thrilled when anything I write provokes someone to a deeper level of thought. BTW, you and I briefly spoke of this subject in one of my recent classes when I pointed out how choosing the same seat in a classroom is part of that "pattern-making" phenomenon the brain is so good at. Being a "creature of habit" - as you say you are - is a trap the brain lures all of us into. And there are both good and not-so-good side effects to that. It's the latter that I'm constantly working on to enhance my creativity just as Wright did with his bold architectural designs.
DeleteI too enjoyed this post. I have played around with this breaking of habits on and off for quite a few years. When I got my Nia Brown Belt in 2016, I was introduced to a practice: pick something that has ~50:50 chance of occurring in your daily life and depending upon which it is, #1 do the following actions the same way and #2 do it another way. For example, if I wake up on my left side, I brush my teeth one way (the creature of habit way) and if I wake up on my right side, I do it another way. Definitely good for the brain!
ReplyDeleteInes; Thanks for the positive feedback. It's gratifying when any reader benefits in some small way from what I reflect on here and even more so when a faithful reader like you lets me know. Helps to make my efforts more worthwhile.
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