The Creativity State

by Dr. Denise A. Trudeau Poskas

Whenever a blank stark white piece of paper is placed in front of me, that fundamentally is the amount of creativity that is stimulated; literally blank. No matter what genius, creative thought that might be there its inaccessible. My mind flows with waves of whiteness reciprocating the feel and look of the blank stark whiteness of the paper. At times, I will write one sentence. It seems to end abruptly at the period and then nothing.

Feeling this abruptness, I resort to changing the font hoping that might encourage movement of thought beyond that little black period. Instead, the period’s unexpectedness end only appears to grow larger until that little dot looks as large as the 11 font I am using.
    
So there I am with a blank piece of paper with one sentence, a large dot, and stark white emptiness. Any feelings of inspired creativity then begin to evolve into shear pain of looking at that one meager sentence in the middle of that stark white dessert known as a blank word document. The pain causes me to find distractions. Suddenly the tree outside becomes a point of interest, or the impulse to clean my desk grows, or I find the cover on my flash drive (it’s a wonder woman flash drive) becomes of great curiosity. It is at this point, I know I will have to have to change my strategy entirely or that blank stark whiteness will well into desperate feelings of creativity inadequacies.

As individuals, at times we actually play out this scenario metaphorically in our leadership or followership journeys.  A situation appears that is uncomfortable or a barrier which moves us to realize that we desire to address it and suddenly it is as though we “open a blank word document”. At that moment, we stare into the abyss of the situation as though it were a stark white dessert and in return our creative resourcefulness ends abruptly as the period at the end of the sentence. We may resort to trying old strategies used before and of which are as helpful as changing the font, cleaning our desk or finding an interesting tree. We may even talk to someone about the fact that the situation is intolerable and something needs to be done; yet still we are working with that blank word document.  The situation is unresolved, tension arises and days, months or more can go by without solutions.

So how do we as individuals, leaders and followers prevent this from playing out in our lives?  It really comes down to this; instead of focusing on a strategy, we need to focus on the state.

Let us go back to my initial story of how I react to the blank word document. I have come to realize that it is essential to understand that the brain has a way about it. Our brains hold our thoughts and reactions that create our state. Thus, instead of using a strategy, in this case, changing the font or giving into distractions, I realize that my brain is simply responding to a white piece of paper. Thus, my state essentially becomes that white stark dessert.

 To change my state, I surround myself with pictures, music or thoughts that inspire me. I center myself on what excites me (my passion and purpose) considering how what I write will contribute to empower others. Then, I place these ideas or pictures close to the paper, shrink the size of the paper, add color and suddenly my brain gets that I desire this… a new creative state. This new state activates the reticula activating system (place between our ears-center of our creativity) which results in creative thoughts, ideas, and things I want to share flowing out onto the wonderful creative canvas that was previously a blank white word document.

We can apply this same change of state to a situation that is a barrier or an issue.  When it becomes apparent you are faced with one; instead of focusing on fears, strategies, and barriers realize you start with changing your state. Change the “blank white word” document by writing down your purpose, values and what you desire to feel and see. Breathe it in, close your eyes, and see it. Anchor yourself in this positive, resourceful state, vision and what you desire to feel. From there ask yourself a few questions:

•         What would/is possible here?
•         What am I curious about learning?
•         How might my strengths empower others or myself in this situation?
•         What benefits are there to addressing this situation?
•         What is my next step to take to move through this situation?

Seems simple? It is in many ways. After all, we choose our state at any time in our situation. It takes practice however to choose a resourceful, energized one. We must choose to anchor on positivity and resourcefulness instead of focusing on the problem, barrier or issue. That takes practice. Yet, if you choose to stay curious, adventurous, and refrain from the blank word document metaphor, you will notice how easy it becomes.

For more information about Unleashing Your Purpose and Passion, or other coaching strategies, read more of our blogs.  Or contact us through BlueEggLeadership.com for a coaching session.