What Happens When You See Things Differently?
Recently I discovered an art form known as surreal collage. When I’m in the mindless flow of combining new possibilities that result in something totally unexpected, I find both delight and exhilaration at what emerges.
And by mind-less I mean not thinking much at all about the end product, but letting my mind wander as I arrange and rearrange pieces of paper, putting things together and asking, what would this look like if I did that? What would change? Would I like it more than what’s there right now? And then noticing the feelings that arise when I play with different options.
I don’t need to stop or push away feelings that I don’t like but I can let them inform me that I’m off track with the way I’m approaching what I’m doing.
My process isn’t a dogged push to make something happen with grim determination or a sense of necessity or wanting to be better than anyone else (or at least as good as the best ones). Instead, it begins with the question: “what if?” Not focusing on whether I “need” things to look or be a certain way, but just trying different combinations of color and shape: what would it feel like to create something other than the already known?
I’m not looking for an end result or a final product. I’m just playing around with options. No judgment, no expectations, just curiosity and enjoying the process of seeing what would happen. If I’m not enjoying myself, there’s something off with the way I’m going about it.I’ve forgotten that my intention is to have fun and play.
Granted, assembling (or perhaps you could call it “problem solving” — except that it isn’t a problem) bits of paint and pieces of paper is not the same as “problem-solving” in your job or your personal life. In those situations, there are consequences, right?! It’s “serious” — or so we insist.
It’s simply a misunderstanding (spawned by misinformation) that causes us to spend so much of our time and energy worrying about the consequences of failing and not enough time letting ourselves enjoy the mysterious process of creation and discover what new or better options we can come up with.
Does anyone really enjoy struggling or overthinking or overloading our nervous systems to make the more challenging aspects of our lives bearable? Is that really necessary? Given the options, I think we’d all prefer something much lighter and more expansive.
An essential ingredient of the creative process is simply being as present as we possibly can, regardless of what it is that we’re creating.
When I’m fully present to what is, listening deeply and noticing are two excellent ways to open the channels for new ideas to emerge. Obviously, that doesn’t happen if my attention is scattered and worried about the outcome. Not a good way to get into the flow of creation.
My mind feels like it’s had a deep spring cleaning when I let something other than my habitual thinking dictate my actions. Mentally meandering and exploring lets my mind travel a path that hasn’t already been worn into deep ruts of already-thought thoughts.
From a physiological standpoint, I’ve been told that it helps to keep those neural pathways open by opening to what’s new and fresh; in fact, it encourages new ones to develop as well. Mind-less-ness is a recipe for taking care of both the body and the mind at the same time.
It’s amazing what happens when we give our minds a few hours off. Some people refer to this as “play.” Play is such an underrated activity and too easily dismissed for us adults! According to wanderlust.com,
“Play has been shown to release endorphins, improve brain functionality, and stimulate creativity. And it can even help to keep us young and feeling energetic. Studies show that play improves memory and stimulates the growth of the cerebral cortex.”
No one wants their brain — or their world — to shrink; we’ve all experienced what that’s like throughout the pandemic when we’ve had to temporarily suspend our participation in so many activities that seemed to be such an integral part of our identity.
But if our identity remains rigid and inflexible because we don’t allow the way we think to be flexible and open, we lose our ability to go with the flow, to discover something new about the world and about ourselves.
If our world shrinks on the outside, it doesn’t have to shrink our internal world. In fact, if we allow it, we can use our circumstances to ask ourselves one of my favorite questions: what else is possible?
I can attest to the fact that limiting beliefs have at times severely curtailed my participation in life. I don’t want to even think about how many times I’ve misused the “gift of thought” (you might have another word that fits here: imagination, ingenuity, creativity) by dwelling on things that didn’t work out or I assumed they wouldn’t work out. Consequently, my reality became claustrophobic and sad.
But as I’ve learned that my thoughts are simply the raw material out of which I can create my life (not unlike what happens with the surreal collage process), I’m able to discard what isn’t appealing, what doesn’t go together, what limits my options and make room for ideas that bring more of a sense of expansiveness and openness.
For me, this art form of collage is also a form of mental training that I can apply in any situation. I can take this same open-mindedness and curiosity into the rest of my life and start asking the same kinds of questions: why not this? what about that? what would happen when…?
Which means that whatever I’m doing, I can have the same kind of freedom to discover a world beyond the known, beyond expectations in which I become an adventurer, not an armchair explorer.
Just let yourself wonder for a moment: what would your life be like if you didn’t take seriously any thoughts that whispered in your ear that you couldn’t or shouldn’t?
As a transformative coach, creativity encourager, and artist, I love the endless possibilities and inner freedom which emerge as we explore our own pure potential. To find out more, visit me at ninalockwood.com, LinkedIn or Instagram (@nina.inspired.life).
