it's interesting that you and ocelot_eyes (below) are talking about the same thing in regard to that all-nighter high. i have written many a paper in that way, when desperation forced me beyond procrastination into an incredibly productive and focused state,
but it's usually an unpleasant experience that involves a lot of stress and wasted time along the way.
Car rides help me too--I think for four hours max, I use them really well for meditation, self-reflection and creative dreaming; beyond that it gets too monotonous to be creative.
It makes sense - your mind is still quietly working on the problem as you're falling asleep, and as you relax and the other random mess of thoughts and probably assignment stress falls away, your brain gets to use more CPU power, so to speak in computer geek terms, to find the solution you were looking for :) Many people remark on having this happen to them particularly when they're falling asleep, or when they are dreaming - dreams are bits and pieces of the day's impressions and if you are still thinking about the problem, you dream of the solution
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No, I totally know what you mean. It's all about getting into the groove--when you fully inhabit the creative space, that intense focus lets you channel whatever you're making instead of struggle to put it into form.
I think people have way more creative potential than they generally ever explore. :)
The same thing happens to me, but in reverse. I tend to get stricken with great ideas/clarity/solutions just as I'm waking up, say on weekends when I have the luxury of slowly coming back to the conscious world. In that between sleep period I often get inspired.
As for not-sleep related creative grooves, the ones where you just start with an idea and work and go and build it into something fabulous and it all just pours out right, those come usually after being outside for a while. I make it a point before my watercolor classes to sit outside in the woods beside the art school, even for a few minutes. It helps me focus and always charges me with incredible energy. And if it's way to cold to be outside for long I'll just touch a tree for a while and breathe. That does the trick too. Keeping an open flow with the earth helps.
I generally don't come up with solutions to problems before falling asleep, but ideas certainly do pop into my head, so I've started keeping a notepad and pen on my nightstand so I don't forget things that come to me at such inconvenient times!
For years now I've made a practice of carrying a notebook for doodles, thoughts and other things that come to me at any given time during the day. Right now, I'm about halfway through my third notebook.
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but it's usually an unpleasant experience that involves a lot of stress and wasted time along the way.
Car rides help me too--I think for four hours max, I use them really well for meditation, self-reflection and creative dreaming; beyond that it gets too monotonous to be creative.
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I think people have way more creative potential than they generally ever explore. :)
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As for not-sleep related creative grooves, the ones where you just start with an idea and work and go and build it into something fabulous and it all just pours out right, those come usually after being outside for a while. I make it a point before my watercolor classes to sit outside in the woods beside the art school, even for a few minutes. It helps me focus and always charges me with incredible energy. And if it's way to cold to be outside for long I'll just touch a tree for a while and breathe. That does the trick too. Keeping an open flow with the earth helps.
Reply
For years now I've made a practice of carrying a notebook for doodles, thoughts and other things that come to me at any given time during the day. Right now, I'm about halfway through my third notebook.
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