As I have sought to invite the feeling of creativity into my life this year, I have encountered a lot of advice on “how to be more creative.” In truth, I have been reading such advice for years now, typically in the search for enhanced “productivity,” which I as an overwhelmed graduate student saw as a panacea to all my ills. In fact, there is a great deal of overlap between creativity and productivity advice. There are good reasons for this, but they are a bit beyond the scope here.
Read moreFeeling more creative, part 1: The role of rest
I wrote recently about different models of the creative process and how remarkably similar they all are. One of the most important similarities among them is the importance of rest in the process. On the surface, it seems obvious: generating novelty, like many other activities, is easiest when well-rested. But at a deeper level, creative insights appear to be born from idleness.
Read moreModeling The Creative Process, Part 2: The Rock Tumbler
As I wrote last week, James Webb Young once described the creative process as using the “production line of the mind” to generate ideas. This metaphor for the creative process is useful because it specifies a mental technique that can be learned. The technique is not esoteric, mysterious, or romantic, but rather consists of a few simple principles and methods that you can train yourself to use in your daily life. Young’s enduring insight is that the “production line of the mind” is the source of all ideas.
Read moreIntellectual Work as Spiritual Work: or, Liturgies for Living
Last week, I wrote about finding flow at work in 2020. Really, I spent a lot of last year thinking about work and my career trajectory. A lot happened—between finishing my dissertation, “going on the market” without an affiliation, and beginning to explore a career outside of academia—and it all gave me plenty to reflect on.
One of the reasons I had sought more flow in work was because I felt like was somehow necessary to developing expertise, something I felt lacking in my life. On the one hand, I recognized the importance of being an expert on something that matters to career advancement in academia; on the other, I was frustrated with my first attempt to really become an expert in something. It didn’t really go how I was expecting it to and has not led me to the kind of place that I wanted to be. So, naturally, I sought solace and guidance to address this conundrum where I often do: in essays and books.
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