What’s the Rush? The Importance of Stillness in Fostering Creativity

Last night I was feeling quite tired and went to bed after a day well spent. I thought after a few minutes of listening to music I would drift off to sleep but another unexpected thing happened. I was laying flat on my back with my eyes shut, feeling quite comfortable and enjoying my personal concert through my headphones when I could feel the music pulsing through me. I started thinking of all sorts of visuals to go with the music and then the flood gates of creativity opened. All of a sudden I felt fully awake again. I remembered things I had wanted to research earlier in the day. It was an amazing feeling! No longer was I tired. Energy flowed through me. Of course I had to get up to act on my ideas.

On a daily basis it is so easy to get caught up in routines and schedules and all of the things that need to be done. We focus so much on accomplishment and staying on top of everything. Just thinking about how we will do everything is tiring and the inflow of information is unrelenting. Modes of communication have been shrunken to conversations of 140 characters or less occurring at any time during the day and from virtually anywhere. Lunch and dinner have become a meal eaten in 10 minutes or less, often while doing something else. The value of stillness and solitude to bring in creativity and rejuvenation is lost. Yet, in all the rush our productivity and well-being is actually compromised. If all we did was take a few minutes in pause each day to allow our minds to truly wander, without outside influence, we could find solutions to problems we have been pondering for days. Sometimes taking a step backward to look at things a different way can have huge benefits.

So, today take time to be alone with your thoughts, even if only for a few minutes. See where your thoughts lead you and what feelings you experience throughout the process. Did the process improve your results and attitude?