On finding wonder in a world that demands production ~
Contemplating the Night Sky - Image via Unsplash
By LeeAnn Weaver
We live in a world driven by rigorous structure, production, and achievement. We produce and achieve -- not imagine and play. Even as creatives, we're bogged down with structure and craft, concerned with output. Without an objective product, is our creativity just a hobby?
Every single human being has creativity hiding in their DNA. David Eagleman, a neuroscientist and co-author of "The Runaway Species: How Human Creativity Remakes the World," has long studied how creativity works in the brain; he likens it to the "cognitive operating software" of our thoughts. Essentially, creativity is constantly running in the background as we go about our daily lives, and it lights up in our brains anytime we imagine something new.
Proactively incorporating moments of newness, of awe, into our lives not only increases our compassion and mental health. It impacts our creativity. Scientific research defines awe as "the feeling we get in the presence of vast things not immediately understood."
It's the full-body chills you get when looking at a piece of artwork you can't believe is real. The first time I stood in front of a Jackson Pollock painting at the MOMA, I almost lost my footing; I felt like I was going to fall into this alternate universe on the wall in front of me.
A Berkeley study found that adults who proactively looked for awe reduced their stress levels and felt more connected to their communities and the world. That's because our attention moves away from our own internal chatter and towards the world around us. It's a shake-up, a form of transcendence.
I get it from observing the moon, of which I am a very big fan. Looking up at the moon makes me feel like I'm an infinitesimal part of the universe around me, in the best of ways. My own issues, problems, worries, are soaked up into the vastness of that night sky, looking up at an orb that someone thousands of miles away is also looking at.
When we combine spending time in fresh air, savoring the beauty around us, and intentionally opening ourselves to new experiences, we rejuvenate our creativity and mental health. In meditation and yoga practices, this is called "beginner's mind."
A wise woman I know told us about an approach that many artists believe in, and one she follows: erase the lines that divide our perceived world. "Let a painting put music in your ears, let music help you see colors, let a dance lead you to a poem...live like a baby."
Even more, making space to experience awe and wonder proactively strengthens our neuroplasticity. It helps us become more open to new ideas and experiences. We get out of our own heads, and into the world around us. We develop new pathways in our brains, expanding our sense of time, self, and possibility.
In the words of Georgia O'Keefe:
"From (this) comes the desire to make the unknown known. By 'unknown' I mean the thing that means so much to the person that he wants to put it down -- clarify something he feels, but does not clearly understand."
What vast thing has left you breathless lately? Sometimes the most profound creative breakthroughs come not from forcing our way through, but from stepping back and allowing ourselves to be moved by something larger than our immediate concerns.
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