
In my college-level creativity course, I incorporate quite a bit of research on the creative brain states that we can access as part of our creative thinking efforts. One of these brain states (or brainsets, according to Harvard researcher Shelley Carson) is called the Transform state. Do you have this creative superpower at your fingertips? Keep reading to find out more.
To access this part of your creative brain, you often need to experience some sort of struggle, pain, grief, or negative mood. (I know, quite the opposite approach of the positive mental boundaries and self-talk we discussed last week!) Well, this week, we’re talking about how to use negative moods and emotions to your advantage when you’re stuck in their midst.
Have you ever written a song or a poem to vent about an ex-boyfriend or girlfriend? Have you ever painted to relieve your stress? Have you ever just doodled to escape thinking so hard about something that’s been bothering you? Welcome to the Transform brain state. This aspect of our creative brains allows us to use the negative, the frustrating, the intrusive, and the distracting obstacles to creativity AS the very subject of a new creative work.
You see, being able to vent our frustrations through some creative outlet is like free therapy. This process of telling our stories in a form that feels second nature to our personal expression feels like a release of the burden. For a few moments, we are free. We often experience newfound clarity from having retold the story through a different lens – our art. It’s a lens through which we are comfortable sharing the burden and then having the finished product reflected back to us upon final viewing. Our own works offer us clarity, and we better understand ourselves and our deepest emotions.
How has this Transform brain state served you in the past? What are your personal examples of creative work that has resulted from an expression of your own struggles and challenges? I’d love to know how creativity brought you a release!
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