Inside Outside Creativity: Don’t sing before breakfast! My mom used to say to me, in a commanding tone when I would walk into the house singing before breakfast, Why? Because I used to sleep outside nearly every single night in my sleeping bag, with my dog, under the trees and a sky filled with billions of stars. That refreshing sleep brought me great joy and I started singing like the early morning birds that greeted my day. Why shouldn’t you sing before breakfast? Well it’s an old wives tale that I’m sure my mom learned from her mother, and her mother learned from her’s. Unfortunately still to this day I’m conscientious about singing before I eat my first meal of the day. This is hard to do especially because, throughout most of the day I listen to old style country music. It’s the kind of music that has rich lyrics and rhythm, and just sticks with you all day long.
What from the outside is filled with creativity? There is much to see and much to experience, all giving way to potential creative outcomes. Inside, you immediately shut out the world around you. I suppose this is best for concentration, but it’s not the most stimulating. We all thrive on using our senses for discovery; vision is probably the most prolific. We see, and we store every idea, and every creative thought almost invariably comes from a vision. And those visions are best discovered in the outside world. I suppose you can watch TV or explore the Internet, and you will see places that you most likely will never visit, that can be stimulating, and for a large group of people it has become an indoor sport, really the only place they can travel. To be fair it’s becoming an online world, where thoughts and ideas are keenly available when you engage yourself to learn through the power of search.
Does creativity happen inside? Most every creative thought started from somewhere. I personally like to think that our brains are linked to the universe and these ideas, some brilliant ones, come from a source outside of our daily lives. It’s inside thinking coming from an outside or a transcendental source. Mystical? No, spiritualistic, yes I hope so.
” I saw my life through a starlit sky, that was generous to my soul.” – Rod Jones Artist
Blessed are those who wake up with a creative idea, that came from the nighttime visitor, who was the instigator of a day filled with creativity. Outside thoughts coming inside to lay the groundwork and inspirations that often lead to creative outbursts. I never take a chance and block them out. Are they always wonderfully insightful? No, not really. Some are re-hashes of re-hashes of thoughts that should’ve been submerged in the deepest ocean. I can… and I know you can, relate to the joy and discovery, when an unwrapped outside creative thought shows up inside your thinking head.
Inside or outside creative thinking is always welcome. Is one better than the other? That depends on the receiver, you know the one inside our head that monitors what makes it through. Some thoughts are strictly surface stuff, others deserve to go deeper and can be stored and used often, throughout a positive healthy lifetime.
“Recollections tied to an active recall of brilliant concepts and creative ideas, gives pleasure to a fulfilled, happy life.” – Rod Jones Artist
Did I hear you say, “My thoughts are always junky or at least it seems that way.” You are not alone my friend, we all have positive days and negative days. Is there a solution? Well, the cheap answer is a quote, “Think positive!” Good luck with that, it definitely works sometimes, but it’s hard to muster up those positive thoughts, if you’re in a negative slump. Unfortunately, in many cases no amount of positive thinking is going to make you reverse course. It seems to just take some time for it to go away, kind of like a nasty cold. You know it’s going to be over at some point, but you just can’t wait, because negative thinking, like a cold, impacts your energy and is useless when it comes to creative achievements both physical and mental.
A better solution: if you look at your inside thinking and how it relates to your outside thinking, you may discover a modicum of relief, or maybe a huge amount of relief. If you are creative, and you want to be more creative, look to the positive side of the outside world. Then bring those positive thoughts and ideas inside. The more good stuff that comes in, most likely will push out the negative garbage, way out of you!
Thinking creatively about everything you do is immensely fun and enjoyable. You have the opportunity to use resources both inside and outside of your head. It doesn’t matter what your idea of creativity is, as long as it’s wholesome, and of good rapport to yourself and to your fellow man.
Wake up singing, forget that old wives tale. If you were one of those who learned it from a loved one. You know deep down inside it was shared with you, filled with love and good intentions. After all, my mother’s wife’s tale clearly instructs; “Singing before breakfast, and cry before night.” Did I ever cry before night on those mornings on which I came in for breakfast singing like a Western Bluebird, or a Mountain Chickadee, or may be my favorite at the time a Pygmy Nuthatch? Invariably. I probably did, and it all probably started, when my mother told me “You’re singing like Steller’s Jay followed by a White Headed Woodpecker.” I knew they could be the most annoying, you may remember Woody the Woodpecker cartoons, an obnoxious little cuss.
Choose wisely; inside outside creativity… There really is no creative choice, we are all different in our inspirations and their sources, on the outside, they can come from just about anywhere, may be while you are casually strolling down the Champs-Elysees in Paris. Maybe you’re meandering along a rarely used lonely dirt road in the middle of nowhere. How about standing outside in a line waiting to get into a store, not very glamorous, but while you are looking at all those characters; I mean people, standing in line with you, inspired creative thoughts can certainly pop in.
Inside; you’re sitting in your favorite chair trying to decide if you should spend more time on social media, turn on the TV, or fix something to eat. They may be all equally fun and challenging, but one of those just might be what it takes for you to give birth and nurture a creative idea. It may not be totally original, and it may be based on someone else’s idea, but at least you have your foot on the inside and not wandering on the outside.
Is everyone creative? Yes, and absolutely yes. Does their creative thinking come from the inside or from the outside, probably both. Is one truly better than the other? No, and absolutely no. You have to get it where the gettin’ is good! But wherever it comes from— use it to make and create beautiful things, and then feel the joy that comes from within, it’s like singing in the morning… without crying by day’s end.
“The music player in my head pushed the notes out and then back into my ears.” – Rod Jones Artist