How many times has this happened to you? You settle down to tackle a project for work or a school assignment, and you draw an absolute blank. Maybe you’re trying to figure out a solution to a financial issue or work out a problem at home to no avail. You spend hours, sometimes even days or weeks, mulling over your conundrum, but the answers you seek just won’t come. Finally, exhausted and defeated, you give up and allow your mind to move on to other pressing issues, possibly with the same outcome.
From Out of the Blue
Then, like a ton of bricks, the solution to your first situation hits you. It happens when you least expect it, and you have no idea where it came from. Then, you find yourself scrambling to scrounge up a pen and piece of paper or a note-taking app like those available from Evernote so you can jot down your brilliant epiphany before it escapes your mind as quickly as it rolled in. Once everything is in check, you begin to wonder why this happens. Why is it that the best answers and most creative solutions always come from out of the blue?
Delving into the Human Mind
The human mind is an amazing and curious thing, isn’t it? Are the brain and mind two separate entities, or are they one and the same? You can’t really have one without the other in the sense most of us know and understand. Although quite a few people might argue this point, we’ll stick to the conventional approach for now.
If you take the brain out of the body and interrupt the neural pathways and electrical impulses that make it tick, it can’t do anything on its own. It’s simply a lifeless mass of pink flesh. At the same time, the mind no longer serves to create a persona once the brain ceases to function. With all that in mind, how do the physical brain, mental mind, and body all work together, or against each other as the case may be, to keep us from finding the answers we need when we need them?
Why Does Creativity Draw a Blank when We Need it Most?
Though there are numerous complicated and diverse explanations for this issue, it all really boils down to a relatively simple answer. The physical brain and nervous system, the body itself, and the spiritual, emotional aspects of a person’s existence are all irrevocably interconnected. When we’re under stress, the practical, functional portions of our brains kick in and suppress the creative side of our personalities.
Imagine you’re in a public place and you see a person choking. If you have a basic level of emergency response knowledge, the chances are you’ll rush over, perform the Heimlich manoeuvre, and save that person’s life before you even fully realize what’s happening. It falls into the same category as instinctively running from danger or plundering the refrigerator when we’re hungry.
Creativity just doesn’t work that way. When we’re under stress or overthinking a situation, the practical side of our persona pushes creativity deep down where it can’t escape. When we’re tired, sleeping, or finally give up and free our minds, we let down that pragmatic guard. Then, creativity is free to rise to the surface. In turn, the answers we’re looking for make their grand appearances when we’re not expecting them.