“I am inspired”.
Do creative thoughts differ from regular thoughts? Can it help us to be creative or more creative to understand any possible differences? Quite possibly! The creative process is one which is fraught with danger. Some don’t want to think about it in case the fragile magic gets broken. Others want to nail down exactly what it is. Most of us exist somewhere in between. We know if we want to be consistently creative, we need some kind of habit or routine (dare we call it a ritual?) but recognise the process can be elusive, the same thing doesn’t always work… a creative block would be SO much easier if we could simply unblock it!
To start let’s look at thinking. There are three broad types of thinking. These can be characterised by 3 types of objects. This could get tricky without some ‘visuals’!
A ladder. A tree. A spiderweb.
The ladder is the analogy for logical and rational thinking. One thought or step leads to another, taking you from where you ‘are’ to where you would like to ‘be’. We don’t necessarily need to know where we are going (although it certainly helps) as each step builds on the previous one and includes it, reducing everything down to the simplest version of the thought(s) before moving on. This builds a strong thought tower BUT it also means we are rejecting all other possibilities at each step. If we hit an obstacle… the tower falls.
The tree is the analogy for lateral thinking. Starting at the roots, we draw in all the information we need until we have the trunk, the solid understanding of what we are doing or want to achieve. This can be seen as the problem-solving approach, the more we know about the problem, the easier it becomes to solve. Once we have gathered all the roots of information we can then start moving up through branching possibilities. Although this mode of thought has advantages over logic, it is still ‘hierarchical’, in that the thoughts build, and the branches mean that thoughts become binary nodes (something is either ‘this’ or ‘that’) and while exploring more possibilities than the logical approach there is very little to connect all the branching possibilities.
Finally, there is the spiderweb as an analogy for rhizomatic thinking (a rhizome is a botanical term for subterranean stems such bulbs or tubers) as identified by Deleuze and Guitari in 1980. Each node can connect with each other, there is no hierarchy, so you can enter the web at any place within it and easily orient yourself and progress. No thought is more important than another, no idea resonates more strongly. The web allows easy travel through out it, building itself where It needs to and allowing multiple cycles of travel around the nodes you want. The downside here is that there is no start or end, structuring and prioritisation becomes an issue.
Creative thinking requires all three modes of thought. As creatives, rhizomatic thought might feel the most comfortable for us and where we can almost effortlessly draw ideas by making new connections. Lateral thought allows us to filter the web, creating some priorities and structure while logical thought allows us to rigorously develop a process while also communicating our intent through language.
Yet other disciplines can also benefit from the different modes of thought. Scientists, mathematicians and engineers all require these modes of thought to truly become masters of their field.
And perhaps we as creatives, just need to shift our mode of thought when we come against an artistic block!
More thoughts on Creativity