Desperately Seeking Satori
Merriam-Webster defines satori as: “sudden enlightenment and a state of consciousness attained by intuitive illumination representing the spiritual goal of Zen Buddhism.” You might also recognize Satori as an “a-ha” moment; that split second when, seemingly without effort on your part, a bunch of disparate pieces of thought comes together into a scathingly, brilliant idea. This flash of insight is perhaps best exemplified by the (maybe) mythical story of Archimedes who after super randomly discovering the principle of buoyant force in the bath, leaped out of his tub and ran into the streets crying, “Eureka!” — which translates to “I found it!”
I’ve had Satori on my mind not least because I have a great opportunity to create some video-based microlearning modules. Not only is this the kind of work I enjoy, but it is also especially exciting because it hits on two of my passions: learning and technology. But there’s a downside: I have to come up with ideas for what these modules will be about. Ugh, ideas, am I right? I decided to set myself up for success. I blocked off an hour on my calendar and at the appointed time, closed my office door, sipped coffee in the hope caffeine would further energize inspiration, put my fingers on the keyboard, and … waited. Sitting at my desk, attempting to conjure original thought, I felt like Winnie the Pooh when he’s scrunching up his bear face in a scowl of concentration and muttering, “Think, think, think.” Despite my best-laid plans and intentions to create a setting conducive for creative thought I ended up in a state best described as mental constipation. At the end of my hour, I had accomplished nothing except for writing my weekly grocery list and ordering a new pair of leggings.
The next morning, I popped in my earbuds, started a new episode of a favorite podcast, and went for a walk. Within fifteen minutes, ideas for those microlearning modules started coming up like popcorn popping. Afraid I wouldn’t remember them all, I stopped walking and paused my podcast so I could capture each idea in the notes application on my phone. I was surprised and also not surprised; this has happened before. It was almost like my unproductive pondering the day before had unknowingly primed the pump for ideas. In my study of creativity and my own experience, I’ve learned focused effort and attention don’t always lead to new thinking and creativity. Inspiration is far more likely to catch me unawares, usually when I’m engaged in the most mundane activities: walking, taking a shower, vacuuming, or organizing the pantry.
Why is it that when I am most desperately seeking Satori I am least likely to find it yet it readily shows up when I’m blow-drying my hair?
Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Cognitive Brain Sciences, the University of British Columbia, and the University of California Santa Barbara reported on exactly this in their 2012 study, Inspired by Distraction: Mind Wandering Facilitates Creative Incubation. The purpose of the study was to determine whether and how incubation and engaging in unrelated tasks improves creative problem-solving. What they found was a two-step process for sparking creativity (Baird et al, 2012).
First, immerse yourself in the problem or work you need to do. While this immersion (or in my case the “think, think, think” approach) is not necessarily going to immediately inspire creativity, it really does prime the pump.
Second, set up your creativity incubator by stepping away from what you’re working on engaging in a task that isn’t cognitively challenging like going for a walk, washing dishes, folding laundry, weeding the garden, etc.
Sometimes ideas will spontaneously come up while you’re actually doing the tasks (as they did for me when I went for a walk) or they may arise after your incubation break when you go back to the problem or work at hand. What’s most important is gaining some distance from whatever it is you need to apply creativity to, which gives your mind time and space to make connections and begin generating new thinking.
I find it helpful for me to be reminded that creativity is not something we turn on when we need it, it is an integral part of who we are and as such, it is always with us, always at work even when we don’t have immediate evidence of it. It’s also helpful for me to be reminded to take some time away from whatever it is I’m working on, allow new thinking to incubate, and return to it with a fresh perspective. As I mentioned, blow drying my hair seems to be the task that sparks new ideas most often for me. What tasks are the best idea incubators for you?
References
· Baird, B., Smallwood, J., Mrazek, M.D., Kam, J.W.Y., Franklin, M.S., & Schooler, J.W. (2012). Inspired by distraction: mind wandering facilitates creative incubation. Psychological Science, 23(10), 1117–1122. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797612446024
