Imagine:How Creativity Works

 Do you look at the world through rose-colored glasses?

Jonah Lehrer says the color blue can help you double your creative output. Consider switching to blue glasses. I am...

 Lehrer's book 'Imagine:How Creativity Works' is full of good ideas and anecdotes to back them up.

 I was planning to do up my Paris-apartment-to-be in red Vichy checks.

 But now it will be true bleu all the way.

 I'll stepping out in bleu ballerinas too..Why not?

 Head-to-toe bleu outfits can't hurt.
Bye bye Italian verte olive.

 Maybe that's why I love Paris pools? I get great ideas in the water. Is it the blue that inspires me?

 Paris in general is a great source of inspiration. Just one foot the door and I get inspired. But sometimes in the creative process you hit a wall.

"The question becomes, what happens if you hit the wall? Because we've all got experience with this. You're working on a creative problem, and then all of a sudden that feeling of progress disappears...

 I'd rather hit a wall in Paris.

'What you should do then — when you hit the wall -' .

 Is get away from your desk.

Step away from the office.

Take a long walk.

(Preferably during l'heure bleu..)

 'So when you hit the wall, the next best thing you can do is probably take a very long, warm shower.'

 Illustration by Soledad Bravi

'Daydream.
Find some way to relax. Get those alpha waves. Alpha waves are a signal in the brain that's closely correlated with states of relaxation. Breakthroughs happen in the unlikeliest of places, whether it's Archimedes in the bathtub or the physicist Richard Feynman scribbling equations in a strip club, as he was known to do. It reveals the wisdom of Google putting ping-pong tables in the lobby and confirms the practical benefits of daydreaming.'

 "And what scientists have found is that when people are relaxed, they're much more likely to have those big 'A ha!' moments, those moments of insight where these seemingly impossible problems get solved. The answer will only arrive once you stop looking for it."

 Lehrer sadly does not mention snacking as a great source of inspiration. But you do have to take a walk to get a snack even if just to fridge...

I'm crazy for the Imagine:How Creativity Works video on the Amazon site.

'It's this ability to attack problems as a beginner, to let go of all preconceptions and fear of failure, that's the key to creativity. One needs to constantly remind oneself to play with the abandon of the child.'
This quote made me buy the book (the audible version so I can paint while listening)

HAVE A GREAT HOLIDAY WEEKEND PBers!