Intuition, Inspiration and Creativity - Lent 2023: Day 21

Where do great ideas really come from? The rational materialist would state that they can only emerge from the human brain, the result of complex thought-processes, conscious and subconscious. The reductionist view is that consciousness and thought are both local, confined to the skull, and any idea of extraneous sources of inspiration (other than those perceived through the senses) is bunk.

I'd take a different view; it's possible to pluck creative thoughts from the ether (or neutrino stream or whatever one can call a universal medium that conveys conscious thought). It's not a particularly strong force (for me at least), but it's there, and I believe that as well as helping guide one through life, it can also serve to inspire one's creativity. But you have to be open to it, believe in it, and be sensitive to it.

I have had a few goes at automatic writing; this example probably the best - where I really did feel I was in the mind of someone else - a middle-aged Englishwoman in post-war Ealing, suffering from loss and social isolation. Unlike dreaming, another source of creativity for me, automatic writing is bidden - I consciously tried to 'catch a wave', and did so. Interestingly, her house was situated just 350 metres from where I sat writing this, but 65 years or so earlier. Going with the flow, it felt like tapping into a stream of consciousness. It then took some conscious editing to give a final version, but I was happy with it.

Consciously trying to tap into something is quite different to getting a sudden flash, or a sudden burst, of inspiration. The similarities lie in having to judge how true the results are. Many's the time I sat down with the intention of writing a short story automatically, only to reject it halfway through on the grounds that it wasn't truly authentic. I'd find that my intellect was interfering with the setting or the character or the plot, and that for whatever reason, I wasn't truly letting go and giving in to the external flow. 

Using dreams as a basis for short stories is another creativity tool I use; these come when they come as they come, there is zero control over them. Sometimes I recognise the inputs (this morning I dreamed of Gringott's Bank from Harry Potter, then remembered I'd read a Polish-language Wikipedia article about Goblins that mentioned this). Rarely, dreams have a distinct past-life flavour, instantly recognisable to me, consistent in the unities of time, place and action. Other dreams, suitably tweaked, serve as a starting point for a story to which external conceits and plot twists can be added.

But coming back to those waking-life moments of intuition. Learning to put an intuition to use is primarily about being sensitive enough to recognise it when it happens, and when it does happen, to assess its honesty and value. Does it raise your understanding? Does it clarify a matter? Does it bring entirely new ideas to the table? Or can it bring a spark of inspiration to kick-start or nudge flagging creativity?

I don't feel it strongly enough, nor do I feel it often enough, but feel it I do. Again, practice and exercise should help intensify the effects and the creative outcome. Discipline is needed! Get it down on paper or digitally!

Lent 2022: Day 21
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Lent 2021: Day 21
Where is your soul from?

Lent 2020: Day 21
Finding a symbol for your religion