Mindfulness and creativity
The art of knowing and creating personal value
Note: This article was used in a project at my school to guide students in creative work. This project involved ~120 students, spanning four classes in a course in Technology. We worked in this project for around 5 weeks. In this text I guide the reader in understanding and exploring how awareness and mindfulness can help with creative work.
Introduction
The purpose of the text is to give an understanding into what awareness is and how to use it in combination with mindfulness of the senses, in order to enable a more undiluted access to creativity. The text starts with some basic concepts in order to orient the reader in the right direction. Later in the text, it will focus more on the creative aspect. In the end there will be exercises that can be used for exploration and discussion within a smaller group. It is beneficial to work through the text and do some practice before discussing.
Basics
Awareness
It is hard to define what awareness is because it is not a tangible/physical object but experientially it is rather simple to know what it is. Whenever you are aware, you know what is happening experientially. For example when you read this sentence you can know that you are seeing the text and vocalize the words in your head. By knowing the seeing and hearing the words you are aware. Awareness and knowing are closely related or the same “thing”.
The mind
The mind is something that exists within us and consists of thoughts, emotions, feelings, sight, smell, touch, taste and hearing. The mind can also enter some states that are connected with the body, for example tiredness, laziness, indifference etc. In meditation or mindfulness our job is to be aware of these sense objects.
Mindfulness
Mindfulness can be defined as the process of being aware of sense objects without mentally reacting to them. By being fully aware of these sense objects, it is not possible to mentally react to them. A mental reaction can be broadly classified as liking or disliking a sense object(s). Having a reactive mind conditions our behaviors in a certain way. Repeated mental reactions form mental habits that can form a personality/ego. mental habits can then reside in the more unconscious part of the mind.
By being mindful over time we start to experience the sense objects for what they are: Sight is just seeing, smell is just smelling, sound is just hearing, taste is just tasting, touch is just touching, thoughts is just thinking, feeling is just feeling. Emotions are a collection of sense objects such as, happiness, fear, sadness, frustration, irritation, anger etc., which also affects what happens in the body.
By being aware of sense objects we are experiencing whatever happens in the mind as it is. This is a prerequisite for understanding how you function and how you relate to these objects.
Concept vs. experience
A concept is a description of something that appears in our senses. For example if you see a dog, you might recognize the form of the fluffy thing and assign a label to that form as a dog. The dog in this case is a concept. Concepts are useful when communicating with words and
can simplify our practical day to day life but in terms of mindfulness it is not really important because it is not real. Labels such as a dog, tree, math formula, human, etc. in the context of mindfulness are just seeing. Seeing is part of reality. This is an important distinction to understand because mindfulness meditation does not happen when the mind is at the level of concepts. Contrary to seeing things as concepts there is the mindful way of observing, which is direct experience. By being aware one is experiencing things as it is and fully. Next time you learn something new, see if you are reacting or understanding it in the level of concepts or through experience with awareness. I am not telling you to stop forming concepts but instead be more aware of your sense objects.
Exercise: Seeing concepts. Look around in the room you are in now and start labeling things. That is conceptualizing what you see. Instead of labeling things, start to know that you are seeing; That is you being aware of the sense object: Seeing.
Acceptance vs controlling and avoiding experience
A common personal trait that many people have is to maintain control in most aspects of life. This is also true for what we perceive in the mind. Some sense objects we do not like. For example if a person has a traumatic experience he or she probably does not want this traumatic experience to happen in the mind anymore. This reactive way of relating to one’s experience is not productive as it does not solve the problem. By being aware and accepting all experiences that occur in the mind, one is integrating/dealing with whatever you find problematic in a mindful way. Experiencing what is perceived in a mindful way is a good starting point to understand your experiences. In other words: Stop manipulating/controlling your experiences to your preferences and start being aware.
Believing thoughts and emotions affect choices
If we are constantly aware and mindful of all sense objects, it is not possible to believe in the sense objects to be part of our personality (e.g. thoughts and emotions) because it is observed fully and we know them fully. On the contrary if we are not fully mindful and aware, believing in thoughts and emotions is a habit that we have. When we believe in our thoughts and emotions to be us, we believe that what we think is true and our emotions are true to us. Please observe sense objects fully and see whether this is the case! In some situations where a choice has to be made, our past beliefs in thoughts and emotions can come into our consciousness, which affects our choices. It is important to know that this way of reacting (it is a reaction to believe in a thought and/or emotion, but choosing to not believe is also a reaction), where you are not mindful can lead to choices that are not fully adapted to the current situation. Instead, stay mindful and aware as the situation occurs and be mindful of the thoughts and emotions that arise and choose the most appropriate or intuitive choice.
Mindfulness and creativity
Introduction
It should be stated that being mindful and aware does not necessarily make you a more creative person. What mindfulness can help with in the creative process is to clarify to you what you are experiencing. By knowing the sense objects they do not affect your decision as much, which in turn leads to a more nonjudgmental way of understanding your experiences. This is useful in order to be more genuine in your expression when dealing with the creative arts, because you are not affected by past conditioning (reactions). This in turn can make it more clear what you want to express in your creative work.
If mindfulness is used to deeply understand your life and experiences, thoughts and emotions do not play a vital role except that you should be aware of it as sense objects. If the creative process is concerned, one can explore thoughts and emotions when being aware and see how it can help you in your creative expression. Please do not get lost in thoughts, instead find a balance between being mindful and exploring thoughts and emotions for the creative arts.
Knowledge and creativity
During our classes when we create things, we always focus on the stakeholders. Which means we create things for other people or create things that solve problems for people. This is good if you want the product to be usable by many people. We want to shift this around and instead of doing something that helps others, you do something that you know is important to you!
To start with, If we just reflect on our years of school the vast majority of this time is spent on consuming knowledge and learning methods. Take mathematics or physics for an example where most traditional lectures consist of the teacher projecting new concepts upon students and teaching a method in how to solve typical problems. When the student understands the concepts and methods, he or she can go on solving similar problems. I would not consider
these problems as problems, as students already have a method to solve it. A problem is something that you do not know how to solve yet with your understanding. In the process of exploration/learning you will figure out how to solve such a problem. In this state you can form a method in which you can solve similar problems. This way of learning involves more creativity and the problem-solver has to find its own way instead of being served a method. This is what I call creative problem solving.
This way of learning where the students consume knowledge is not really a creative process. It is definitely useful in order to get started but does not encourage creativity, which is important. Creativity can be seen as the ability that can make you stand on your own two feet. With creativity you can create things of value. In this course, at this point we want the things you create using your creativity to be of value to you. We want you to be producers of knowledge using your creativity; Creativity is the driving force when it comes to being producers of knowledge!
To simplify this chapter I want you to become an artist in this part of the course. What is an artist? My definition of an artist is:
- A person that can express their creativity/vision through physical medium(s)
In our case creativity leads to new knowledge/value. But I want your creations to stem from you. You have to find out within yourself what you want to express through some physical medium(s). In other words, you start from your own perspectives and what you find is interesting to explore, and is important to you (not what others think is important for you)!
Exploring what is important to you
There is no path that can be outlined for you in the search of what you find is important. I can give some pointers just to orient you in a direction that can be fruitful. There are some general steps that can help you in this exploration. Note that the exploration should be introspective and not extrospective. You have to look within because this is an exploration of what you find is important and not what others say is important! Some guiding steps:
Fine-tune the mind to acknowledge the senses that occur in the body by practicing mindfulness.
Ask questions without expecting answers.
Be open to and accept whatever happens in the senses.
Question your answers whether they are true to you!
Repeat the points above.
Other tips in exploring that also can help with staying genuine:
Perceive without judging - See things as it is
Knowing at the level of sense objects - Creates understanding and not reacting
To observe and integrate experiences - To accept what you experience
Being aware and open - Allowing creativity to flow
Asking questions without expecting an answer - Directing creativity in a direction
Take notes/scribble freely on papers whatever shows up - So you do not forget
Question your answers whether they are true!
Practical instructions for mindfulness meditation
In its core when meditating, awareness must be in action. You are aware when you know what you are experiencing without judging or commenting on what is being experienced. Some mindfulness meditation practices add a mental note to sense objects, just to reinforce what is experienced. But if you know what you experience, a mental label is not necessary.
When doing mindfulness meditation it is important that you do not control your experiences. You have to allow all sense objects to be as they are. Your job is to be aware of sense objects. In other words, your job is to know the sense objects. Whenever you start your practice you should not expect any result from the practice. If you want results from your practice you are setting expectations on the practice, which is counterproductive.
Start by allowing everything to be as it is. No need to change anything. Check in whether there is any liking or disliking to anything within your mind. Be aware of that. Sit relaxed and aware for a couple of minutes.
Now we will pick an anchoring meditation object. This anchoring object is a “returning back to object” if we get distracted. We start by being aware of the rising and falling of the lower abdomen (the area below the navel) when breathing. Depending on what is natural breathing for you, the lower abdomen will rise or fall whenever you breathe in or breathe out.
When the lower abdomen rises from breathing, you know that it is rising. When the lower abdomen falls from breathing, you know that it is falling.
If your peripheral attention discovers another sense object, be aware of that and direct your attention to that sense object.
If you are thinking, know that you are thinking.
If you are seeing, know that you are seeing.
If you are hearing, know that you are hearing.
If you are smelling, know that you are smelling.
If you are touching, know that you are touching.
If you are tasting, know that you are tasting.
If you have an emotion, know that emotion. For example:
If you are happy, know that you are happy.
If you are angry, know that you are angry.
If you are frustrated, know that you are frustrated.
If you are irritated, know that you are irritated.
If you are “insert emotion here”, know that you are “insert emotion here”. If you feel lazy, know that you are lazy.
If you feel tired, know that you feel tired.
If you feel indifferent, know that you feel indifferent.
If you feel controlling, know that you are controlling.
If you feel something in the body, know that you are feeling.
If the object is located somewhere in the body it will be natural for awareness to also know that location.
After knowing the sense object, return to knowing the rising and falling of the abdomen.
Dealing with distractions
It is a very common thing to be distracted during meditation. A distraction is basically a loss of knowing for a brief moment. A distraction can also be seen as an instance of not knowing what you experienced in the level of sense objects. For example if you think about what you
should do after school and plan your next day instead of being mindful, that is a form of distraction. Whenever a distraction has occurred and you know that, you are returning to being mindful again. You can then return to the breath and be aware of the rising and falling of the abdomen.
If you find it hard to stabilize your attention on a sense object as it occurs you can just return to being aware of the breathing again.
If you find it difficult to be aware of the rising and falling of the abdomen (your mind cannot stabilize the attention at the abdomen) you can instead be aware of the feeling of the air touching the nostrils and the region between the upper lip and nostrils but also the nasal passage. This can then become the anchoring object in the practice. It is important to note that you should not control your breathing in any way whichever anchoring object you are choosing.
Everything is occurring naturally. Your job is just to be aware!
Find out for yourself what is true for you!
In society as of now and in education we are being told what we should do; Most feedback that we get regarding what we should do and not do is given to us externally. For example either from our parents, teachers or laws that the state of a country decides. We need to be able to look within us and find our own answers. Answers that you know are authentic/genuine to you and you know it is true for you. By knowing this you are living a more sincere and authentic life, and you do not just have internal understanding, but also choices to choose from that stems from your own findings/understanding. Life becomes more clear for you. You are living life and make choices that you can stand for; you have integrity. You also know what can change you and be aware of that, in order to stay free internally.
Please explore and do not give up! Follow-through your exploration and question your answers! Be aware!
Exercises
Before discussing the material it is beneficial to try mindfulness meditation. You can start with 10 minutes. If comfortable, work up to 15, 20 and 30 minutes. It is important to follow the practical instructions given above. It is important to not control your experience and stay aware.
For the discussions, form groups of 4-5 students and discuss the questions. It is important to listen carefully and try to understand what others are saying. After that, if you have something to contribute, please say what you think.
Questions for the seminar
Reflect on these questions before the seminar and listen to what the other students perspective on the subject.
Knowledge
What is knowledge for you and what role does it play for you and society?
What value does creativity have for you? How important do you think it is
Discuss the difference between being a consumer of knowledge and a producer of knowledge. Which is more important or more useful and in what situations?
Experience
If you reflect on your life so far, can you summarize if there is some general emotion occurring? How do you relate to those events? How should one relate to the events?
Can you see anything in common in your experiences when doing mindfulness practice?
What happens when you want to control your experiences? What happens internally?
What happens when you accept your experiences? What happens internally?
Creativity
What is creativity for you?
Explore what happens when you get an idea. Where does it come from? Is it genuine or is it conditioned?
What is creative problem-solving? What is a problem?
General
What kind of life do you want to live?
What is freedom for you?
Explore what it means to be active based on internal understanding vs external understanding. Which do you prefer and why?
Practical Exercises
Explore the contents of your mind
What type of sense objects occur within you? If there is a common theme, write down summarizing words for them.
How do you relate to the contents of your mind?
How do you handle distractions?
Why do you think the mind cannot be still?
Practicing seeing without judgements
Walk around in the room or in school and look at objects. Start by labeling objects with their name and observe what happens in the mind? Now, be aware of the sense objects, seeing. What happens in the mind?
Focus on a sense
Pick one of the senses and direct your attention to only this sense. If you pick hearing. Direct your attention to hearing everything. What happens? Try it for some other senses.
Localizing emotions
If you get an emotion, sense where it is located and stay mindful. What is your experience?
Summarize your thoughts and experiences on mindfulness meditation