Creativity is fortuitous, but it's not magic.
Force is as we know a law of nature. The many great changes that force has brought about in the world are there for everyone to see. You can do a lot of things availing force. The one thing that you cannot do is to force creativity. 'Thinking harder' is not a recipe for creativity. It will only solicit your retirement.
When you juxtapose force, you land on 'freedom'. Of the innumerably revolutionary things you are guaranteed with freedom, the one thing you are going to love is the ability to create. Freedom allows you to create something greater than force ever will. Creativity becomes like free-flowing water when coupled with freedom. Otherwise, it is just stagnant water. Stationary and unpleasant.
Now, you know how important freedom is in a creative process. The question that remains is how do you find it.
A simple answer would be, you cannot find freedom. Freedom is a state of experience. The state of mind that replenishes you with pleasure and satisfaction, which is devoid of external interrupts and that is solely out of your will is freedom.
Now, because freedom is a state of experience you have to experiment with ways of feeling it. A great solution would be to plan a routine. Your way. According to Ludwig Wittgenstein, the eminent philosopher, you should include what we call the "Three B's" of creativity - bed, bath, and bus.
Bed symbolizes sleep. This is when you put your subconscious mind in control of your thoughts. You give it time to synthesize and process. By the time you wake up, the thoughts have crystallized into pieces of creativity completely based on freedom.
Bath symbolizes leisure. When you are stuck at something and it's frustrating to not be able to complete it, you must escape. Either go take a bath, go watch some television or do whatever it is that makes you feel relaxed. When you're relaxed, creativity is at its peak. And why is that? Because you allow yourself' to be relaxed which is what we call, freedom.
Bus symbolizes motion. It's very important to keep moving. As I mentioned about how free-flowing water triumphs stagnant water, the same applies to your body. A nice walk can make you feel pleased and peaceful. As Ralph Waldo Emerson once remarked, "Walking is the consolation of mortal men. I think no pursuit has more breath of immortality in it."
As we grow old, we tend to be more concerned with the process rather than the immediacy. We want to know how. We want to discover the next step before even beginning the first step.
In retrospection, this concern of "how" is a deeply rooted habit. The habit that costs us freedom in creativity. The habit that disguises itself as being cautious and safe but challenges the very definition of humans - novelty. Children don't ponder upon how they'll draw something. They simply draw because they enjoy doing it, and dictate rules as they go.
It's as if you are looking at something with a childlike sense of wonder. That helps you create. Maybe you're trying to depict the sensationally unique style with which Lionel Messi scores goals. Maybe you're trying to mix up some flavors and attempting a recipe just to taste what happens. Whatever it is that you do, you're looking from a fresh and realistic perspective. A perspective that is devoid of a sense of influence and anticipation of results.
This how you achieve freedom in creativity. Natural, free, and satisfying.
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