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Post by ScintillaMyntan on May 2, 2022 6:14:11 GMT -6
This interesting article says creativity goes along with taking new pathways, both on foot and in your mind. This is big for me, since like a lot of people with anxiety or depression, my mind tends to retread thoughts, replaying the same worries and the same ways of coping. I wonder if we could somehow exercise taking new pathways, both for the sake of a healthier mind and better creative ability. As the article says, it should help to take walks on literal new pathways. But I wonder if there's also value in intentionally thinking in ways you don't normally — maybe playing a different type of game? — or maybe writing about new things. Most of my own stories, I noticed, kind of end up being about the same few things, just as my mind often can't move on from the same few things.
That guy also wrote about some scientific findings that alpha brainwaves both improve creativity and reduce depression, so there is indeed some connection between being uncreative and depressed. Weird that they say creativity is often associated with mental illness then, isn't it? I'm aware there's audio online that's meant to stimulate alpha waves. The article also mentions mindfulness meditation. I should practice meditation more often than I do. It seems one of the closest things to, should I say, having root access to yourself. It appears that if you want it to improve your creativity, you should be specific about the meditative technique you practice, according to this study. As for creativity, those researchers distinguish between divergent thinking, which is coming up with different ideas, and convergent thinking, which is solving problems. I've long noticed that problem-solving is the most frustrating part of fiction writing for me, things like figuring out a reason for an event that'll fit all my parameters, so it's nice to know these terms. But neither meditative technique they tested ended up benefiting convergent thinking. Focused attention meditation, where you keep returning your attention to something particular such as your breath, didn't improve either type of creativity; open monitoring, where you just stay aware of all your thoughts and sensations as they come up, improved just divergent thinking. And that's good enough for me. It'd be nice to be better at generating lots of possibilities for stories as well as seeing the whole range of different thoughts instead of focusing on a few distressing personal ones.
Thoughts? Know any other methods, or anything else about the psychology side of creativity?
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Post by RAVENEYE on May 2, 2022 11:15:21 GMT -6
Whew, I need to read these articles/studies! Thanks for the links. All I know is, when I'm depressed my creativity tanks. And I think it's stupid that creativity would be associated with mental illness. Artsy people just seem to be able to express the depression/anxiety/etc. that non-artsy people also deal with but are unable to express in artforms. So I'm not willing to buy that particular explanation. That said! I have noticed that some sound frequencies have a calming affect and I'm able to focus on words better. Playing this through earbuds just feels good: Harmonic Binaural ... Those lower frequencies are so very calming. But yeah, meditation became counterproductive when my brain couldn't turn off the harmful stuff it was ruminating on. As in serious Rumination, as defined here. I ended up meditating on the crap instead!!! Reliving the crap until crap was all there was. Resulted in zero creativity for about three years for me. So when my brain is WELL, that's when creativity blossoms. As far as writing goes... encountering a problem that needs solving is very daunting/overwhelming at first, and because of recent history with the aforementioned stuff, immediately leads to mental exhaustion. Which pretty much brings the writing to a standstill for a day or so. Frustrating, but it's the way things work now. I have to remind myself that my brain is just now recovering, it's scarred, and do not condemn myself for it. I have found it's important to let the problem root itself deeper into my brain, loosely and half-consciously mull over it for a day or so. Then, if no solution presents itself (though it often does), it's time to sit down and type out a brainstorm session with a no-pressure, free-think, wild-typing of the keys until pieces fall into place. I have a VERY recent example of this. Last week, I was revising one of my favorite scenes in my WIP, trying to make it work with this new setting and the new circumstances that setting causes, and suddenly I realized "I have to kill this darling." Nooooo!!! Yet, as soon as that solution surfaced, my anxiety over the scene vanished, and the horizon opened up -- the scene would take a new pathway because my brain was able to release a darling it thought was important. The box I'd placed the scene into got ripped open and the little beast was free to move about. Maybe this is why I love exploring new places, new restaurants, new towns, taking a drive down a road I've never been on before. New pathways spark dopamine and other good chemicals that lead to creativity. Maybe? Anyway, it's a magical day when the divergent and convergent parts of the brain are working in tandem. A nightmare when they're not. |
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Post by ScintillaMyntan on May 2, 2022 21:56:15 GMT -6
I did a little looking into brainwaves, and maybe I'm seriously misunderstanding this, but it seems like a bad thing if your brain is producing delta waves when not in deep sleep. I think I'd be wary of using the low sliders on that noise generator. I love myNoise; that's what I was thinking of for alpha-wave audio.
I had the same problem with meditation when my anxiety was worse. I had some good results with compassion meditation, of which there are various methods, since that involves focusing on good feelings and compassion for yourself. It was exactly open-monitoring that tended to land my mind on bad things.
Your way of solving problems in writing sounds a lot like what was recommended in one of those Authors Publish lectures you linked, the one called "Everyday Activities to Improve Your Writing." He says when you're stuck on something like that, you need to switch your brain out of analytical mode into some relaxing activity, and like you said, the idea might well just come to you.
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Post by RAVENEYE on May 6, 2022 8:41:27 GMT -6
I did a little looking into brainwaves, and maybe I'm seriously misunderstanding this, but it seems like a bad thing if your brain is producing delta waves when not in deep sleep. I think I'd be wary of using the low sliders on that noise generator. I love myNoise; that's what I was thinking of for alpha-wave audio. I had the same problem with meditation when my anxiety was worse. I had some good results with compassion meditation, of which there are various methods, since that involves focusing on good feelings and compassion for yourself. It was exactly open-monitoring that tended to land my mind on bad things. Your way of solving problems in writing sounds a lot like what was recommended in one of those Authors Publish lectures you linked, the one called "Everyday Activities to Improve Your Writing." He says when you're stuck on something like that, you need to switch your brain out of analytical mode into some relaxing activity, and like you said, the idea might well just come to you. Is it bad that when I turn on the alpha wave I start feeling tense and annoyed? Maybe I have it too loud, and I need to have it barely audible? Like, hidden behind other noise-cancelling sounds? I might try that next. |
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Post by bilance on May 7, 2022 2:34:56 GMT -6
wow that's alot of really complex stuff. But I want to throw my 2cents at this. I find going out with friends and watching movies to be of help. There are some studies that relate anxiety to social isolation although i feel this part might differ from people but i feel seeing someone face to face rather than talking online is more effective. Watching movies are also good. It gives you additional story plots and their methods of showing a story might inspire you in a way. Even if it is a bad movie that u dont like, your mind will try and solve what made it undesirable and how you would have improve it. That is not to say you should made your story centered on going out of your way to subvert it. Those are my simple methods to help with finding new ideas.
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Post by ScintillaMyntan on May 7, 2022 18:08:35 GMT -6
Is it bad that when I turn on the alpha wave I start feeling tense and annoyed? Maybe I have it too loud, and I need to have it barely audible? Like, hidden behind other noise-cancelling sounds? I might try that next. The regular binaural generator, not the binaural harmonic one, is more low-pitched if that helps? |
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Post by RAVENEYE on May 8, 2022 9:00:05 GMT -6
Is it bad that when I turn on the alpha wave I start feeling tense and annoyed? Maybe I have it too loud, and I need to have it barely audible? Like, hidden behind other noise-cancelling sounds? I might try that next. The regular binaural generator, not the binaural harmonic one, is more low-pitched if that helps? Oh yes, that is much better. |
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Post by ScintillaMyntan on Jul 2, 2022 9:03:00 GMT -6
They made the participants think about a memory that makes them feel bad about themselves. Then one group was assigned to keep thinking about it, while the other group was assigned to apply self-compassion: thinking about how other people experience similar things, directing kindness to themselves, and considering the memory in a detached way. The self-compassion group scored higher in a creativity test.
Kind of not sure about the experimental design here? Like maybe it's being told to think about a variety of things instead of focusing on one event that made them more creative, not the actual self-compassion part. But anyway, worth noting that maybe being nice to ourselves is helpful.
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Meth
Smoke
Posts: 16
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Post by Meth on Oct 5, 2022 14:36:10 GMT -6
Ooh that’s very interesting. Especially the divergent/convergent thinking. I’m v strongly convergent thinking, so i’ve always told people i’m not creative i just engineer things to happen when i write. Worldbuilding for me is an engineering exercise.
Completely anecdotal but my divergent creativity is best when i’m depressed and/or stressed, because that’s when i seek escapism. Often the wacky ideas appear in dreams. Most of my writing is depression venting so if i’m not feeling shit it’s hard to write…
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