Friday, October 16, 2009

The Joy Diet - Creativity lessons from The Fool



For as long as I can remember, I've considered myself a creative person. Whether it was visual arts, music, or more lately, dancing -- creativity has been part of what I do. So, I thought this week's chapter in the Joy Diet would be easy. The only problem was: I wasn't setting out to create a work of art. Martha's instructions were to write down our most pressing heart's desire in the form of a question such as "How could I...?" and then write five possible answers. My desires this week were little things like "I want to know what my calling is" and "I want to feel more grounded and less anxious." I found I could play Martha's game and creatively come up with some answers, but I wasn't feeling satisfied with it. Something kept nagging at me.

I wasn't feeling any more grounded. I wasn't feeling any less anxious. My to do lists didn't help. Busyness didn't remedy my angst that I wasn't getting any closer to my desires. Also, I am very fuzzy on the particular shape my big desire should take. Making a living as an artist? All this nebulousness was making me very uncomfortable. I did what any self-respecting sensible, logical person would do -- I pulled a tarot card to gain some insight on my problem.

What a gift! It seems the Fool wanted to talk to me, and had been trying to get through to me all along (as you'll see from the article and video links below). My patterns typically involve using the exacting force of logical thinking to solve problems. It feels good when I can reason out a problem. Yet, as I was trying to move toward my big desire with analysis, all I got was paralysis. And anxiety.

What I missed is the possibility that weighty questions about my purpose in life can be approached with a sense of foolishness, nonsense and fun. Seeing this, I felt immediately lighter. I could take the Fool's leap into the unknown. A tiger may bite his leg but he is oblivious to it. He makes the leap into the void with a smile on his face and his eyes wide open to the possible. And the first loop in the endless cosmic hula hoop is a circle around his heart. I could likewise place my desires at the center of my leap into the void -- to move toward a desired new life with a sense of playfulness, openness to possibilities, and trust that the right answers will spontaneously appear. The lesson for me? That to feel less anxious I should not cling to the ground but get comfortable with groundlessness.

Underscoring the lesson of The Fool, were some things I came across this week. The New York Times had an article, How Nonsense Sharpens the Intellect, that describes studies in how priming the brain with nonsense and disorientation actually increases people's abilities to recognize patterns. It looks like most of Martha Beck's "mind yoga" suggestions for increasing our creativity have scientific basis! They force our brains to make sense out of nonsense, thus spurring creativity.

And this video shows the power of fun as a motivator. What's your experience? Does the idea of allowing more foolishness and fun into the mix free up your creative thinking on big desires?

12 comments:

  1. Thank you sooooooooooo much for sharing the piano stairs video - it's lovely!!!!

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  2. I love the video. And your approach is awesome. It was a joy to read your creative post.

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  3. Having fun with the big questions makes them less scary without making it so you can't make progress. I forget this far too often. Thank you for reminding me of this amazing truth.

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  4. I love this video! And I love that you pulled out a tarot card to help you -- and chose the fool!! Yes, foolishness and play and silliness can certainly help us to tap into our creative selves. Writing down how we can achieve our heart's desire is admirable but not always possible. I love that you used the word nebulous...because in fact it is a lot of the time. I have a 17 year old who has to start making decisions about his future and his heart's desire..good luck. How does a 17 year old know what he wants for the rest of his life? My desires have changed pretty much every 10 years, I expect the same will happen to him.

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  5. Thanks for sharing the video and your week with creativity. I love that you pulled the tarot card, perfect for this chapter.

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  6. "That to feel less anxious I should not cling to the ground but get comfortable with groundlessness." Oh, I just love that! That is so beautiful! I think your post has much wisdom in it... and I came to similar conclusions myself this week. I love that video!

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  7. I love the piano stairs, too. I did the listing thing about "How could I..." but it didn't quite do it for me either...

    This has been an interesting week that's for sure. :)

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  8. Very creative post. Thanks for sharing the video!

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  9. That video just made my day! What a wonderful concept! I am going to share it with the Pink Heels readers this week...of course, with your credit. : )

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  10. Helen, this was such a creative response to a difficult chapter. Love the piecing together you did with the tarot card, the work at hand, knowing your own nature, the video clip. There's a conference that I used to go to regularly in Saratoga sponsored by the Humor Project called Humor and Creativity. Your post would fit right in.

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