For so many months, I’ve been meditating on the concept of ideas, creativity, and art.

How do we catch an idea? Where does creativity come from? How can we become more creative?

For this, I’ve been practicing an intense level of awareness, self-analysis, and reflection.

I think my perspective on creativity and art will keep evolving, and in the future, I might even contradict some of my current understanding of creativity. But if you’re not contradicting your past self, you might not be learning and exploring enough. Random contradiction and change of opinion aren’t healthy practices, but when new experiences and exposure lead to novel realizations and shifts in beliefs, that’s a good thing.

Upon further research through books, blogs, and podcasts/documentaries, I’ve realized that no one really knows where creativity comes from. You can find answers about all the activities that happen in your brain when you’re involved in a creative task. You will find people suggesting ways to invite creativity—yet there’s no concrete answer on the source of raw creativity.

As an irony, today, let’s take an analytical approach to creativity.

It might be too long to discuss in a single newsletter piece, so let’s divide it into a series, with this being the first edition.

But before we dive into creativity, let’s talk about creation first.

In the words of Rick Rubin, “To create is to bring something into existence that wasn’t there before.”

Basically, all of us are creators. We cook. We sing. We write texts. So, each of us is a creator in one way or another.

But let’s be clear: you can create something even without using your pure creative energy.

We humans have the capability to create something out of instinct or even muscle memory. When our creations are the outcome of pure creative energy, only then can they be called pure creations.

If you’ve ever played a musical instrument, then you may have noticed that songs you’ve been playing for a long time can be played even without your conscious effort and attention. However, when you’re in the mood to create something new, you have to pay proper focus, attention, and remain aware as well.

The same can be said for something like cooking. Without using your pure creative energy, you can prepare a meal. However, if you wish to create an unusual taste and have the desire to experiment, you might try a few tricks, thereby producing something tangible with your pure creative energy. Moreover, a creation produced out of pure creative energy reflects your personality and uniqueness.

But before you use the faculty of creativity, you need to have an idea of what you want to create.

What can prompt you to deviate from your usual cooking habits and try something new? You might remember that it’s your wedding anniversary and want to surprise your partner. Perhaps you saw a great cook and their recipe while scrolling through a social media platform. These are the sources of ideas—your inspiration for cooking something new.

Another instance: while playing a musical instrument without conscious effort, you might have played a wrong note that suddenly produced a sound you liked. This might give you an idea to create something out of it.

This is how you generate ideas. So, we can say that when we come across a new experience, it can open up new ideas for us. However, it’s necessary to keep an open mind and remain aware of such invitations of ideas. I consider this an intuitive approach to ideas.

But we also see people sit down and brainstorm an idea. It might not always happen instantly, but every so often, it works—you can get an idea without a sudden new experience. So, perhaps you only need to develop a new lens to look at your life experiences for an idea to come to you.

I’ve experienced this many times myself in the past. I used to sit down to write a poem on a certain topic. I would go down memory lane, and suddenly, an unexpected association would occur as I viewed things from a retrospective lens. But it required me to remain open, curious, and aware of my emotions, thoughts, and memories.

I call this a meditative approach to idea generation.

So, you can generate ideas in two ways:

• Intuitively
• Meditatively

When ideas come to you, you get them intuitively. When you go on a hunt for ideas, you get them meditatively.

But there are a lot of similar practices you need to follow for getting ideas via both mediums: You should remain aware, curious, and open. For a meditative approach, you also need to have focus and a stronger absorption in imagination.

Most importantly, intuitive and meditative approaches to idea generation complement one another. Intuitive ideas give you the initial image of a project, but after that, you will have to find ways to bring it to life. During the process of bringing it into a tangible form, you will require many ideas throughout the process, for which you must rely on a meditative approach to idea generation.

Next week, we will dive further into this topic.