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(i) Start Here!
(ii) Creativity
More: See all creativity posts
(iii) Creative Thinking and Innovation
(v) Procrastination vs. Marination
(iv) Neuroscience and Psychology
The ‘Third Layer’ process itself
The Creative Foundation and Creativity Pyramid
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The Creativity Ladder, safety and primordial soup
Why is it important we know our unique Creativity Ladders?
Because we are radically different people creatively/artistically/problem-solvingly when we’re at a layer 1 vs a layer 6. (Not to mention vs the surprisingly elusive layers 7, 8 or 9.)
Because, as the ladder shows, if we push creativity when we’re below a 0, we can — and often do — lasting damage. To our own creativity and mental health, but also to others’ creativity without us realizing.
The Adventure Gift
There are rules: 1) He must use [the money] for something challenging and 2) the challenging thing must be at least a +6 on a 0-10 scale.
Creativity vs Creative Thinking
What is the difference between self-expressive, artistic creativity and problem-solving or strategic creative thinking? And which one is ChatGPT and AI already able to do?
Creative frustation (and why it’s a good thing)
Creative frustration (or fear, envy, boredom, et al) is a treasure trove of information.
Why go horizontal before you go vertical
So go ahead and get creative. Get a second opinion. Or a third. Come up with five horizontally equal ways to ask your boss for a raise, before you pick one to go vertical on. If you’re young, it could make the difference of a million dollars over your lifetime.
Self-expressive vs problem solving creativity
Self-expressive creativity: fuck what everyone else wants, thinks or says. Who are YOU? What do you want to say? What makes you come alive? What unique part of you do you want to offer the world?
Creativity on the Quarter System
In the same way that our brains like containers for physical objects (i.e., books instead of piles of paper), our brains like containers for intangible concepts. Like time.
Inner Critics and the Inner Muse: Intro to the Creativity Ladder
Layer three: I go into an Inner Critic death spiral at a level -5 and my Inner Muse comes in when I go from about a +3 to a +4.
Creativity = Chaos, Order, and the Salience Network
The Salience Network loves to come out in the shower, on a hiking trail, first thing in the morning, on a smoke break, while washing the dishes — anywhere but wherever the Central Executive Network is watching with its scary hyper-focus on productivity and competence. (Or where the Default Mode Network is choreographing an interpretative dance with scarves of the wildebeest migration … bless its DMN heart.)
Replace Aha! moments with ‘keychain’ moments
‘Ooh!’ said her brain with a fun little wiggle that ran from her heart to her soul to a pen. ‘I should add this keychain to my list!’
Gravity problems vs tangible and intangible issues
When it comes to our creativity, what’s a gravity problem, what’s a tangible barrier, and what’s an intangible block?
Creative avoidance
Creative freezing requires awareness, kindness and gentle acknowledgement. Creative avoidance requires a swift kick in the pants. How do you know which one you’re doing?
Creative freezing (aka writer’s block, creativity black hole, etc)
Think of your stagnating creativity as the frozen pizza inside your brain’s freezer. And then the hot oven is your own self-awareness.
Flow and creativity: thanks, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
But happiness is like being in a flowing river. You can feel the water as it rushes past, but try to grab hold of it. The water has to come to you; even thinking of trying to control the water changes the experience.
Writing happens in three layers
Before you write, you need to think. And after you write is when you edit. Keep each layer distinctly separate — like a chocolate layer cake, perhaps — and writing will go faster and smoother.
Run the tap before you drink the beer
We need to generate creativity in order to write. Creativity creates something out of nothing. And nothing is a terrible place to start feeling generative.
Capital-W Writing, writing, and pre-writing
Capital-W writing is scary. Pre-write before you Write, using techniques from improv.
Ten Rules for Third Layer Creativity
Our brains are wired for survival, not creativity. Survival brain is what keeps us going; what we create with it makes it worthwhile. But we need a way to communicate with our survival brain, to let it know creativity isn’t going to hurt us.
Pinpoint vs elastic creativity
Pinpoint creativity is nailing the bullseye as close to a 10 as possible. Elastic creativity is designing the bullseye.
Noping, defined
‘Noping’ denies, negates, belittles, refuses, gaslights, shuts down, lacks empathy … often all of the above.