Creative Adventures

Wednesday 15th July 2009 | 3 comments

A couple of years ago I had the privilege of interviewing one of the world's top neuropsychologists (currently Clinical Professor of Neurology at New York University School of Medicine) Elkhonon Golberg. I was talking to him about age-proofing the brain and staving off dementia, but (naturally) couldn't resist slipping in a question about how to maximize the brain's capacity for creative thinking. His immediate answer: 'Novelty and diversity, and more novelty'.

This matched up very well with something I was already teaching, the idea of going on little 'creative adventures', excursions you take with your creative side. These arose out of my belief that one of the best ways to kickstart your creativity or keep it in top running order is to do something different - explore a place or a topic or a musical genre you are not familiar with, talk to someone in a different field, read a book outside your usual fare.

The idea is that (ideally) every week you set aside some time, 30 minutes or more if you can, to do something you haven't done before. Some suggestions follow, but once you get the hang of it, you can easily dream up your own ideas. Not only will this encourage creativity and creative thinking capacity, but it also helps build brain connections that may well assist in keeping your brain in good shape as you age, preserving brain fitness.

(Oh, and it's fun, really fun...)

Here are some suggestions to start you off:

  1. Take a drive or a walk with no destination...pick a road and go exploring: Just follow a whim, drive home a different way, take a picnic. You can do this on public transport, too.
  2. Listen to some music from a different culture: Find a genre you're not familiar with, tune into a new radio stations, swap CDs with a friend, borrow music from your local library.
  3. Do a cooking class: Find a class in a cuisine you don't normally cook.
  4. Have a poetry afternoon tea: Invite your closest friends, and a couple of new ones - ask everyone to bring a copy of their favourite poem (and a cake).
  5. Barefoot in the Park:Spend a whole day barefoot...whatever you have to do, do it without shoes. Indoors or out, formal or casual, no shoes allowed. If that's too much, start with an hour.
  6. Go to a free public talk: Listings are in metropolitan and local papers. Pick something that sounds interesting but not your usual fare.
  7. Small miracles: Grab a magnifying glass and wander round your garden looking at the plants and flowers and leaves. How does it change your perspective? Are there things you have never noticed before? Maybe you'd like to be an ant in your next life?

Do you have any more ideas for creative adventures? Post them here for us all to share...

Tags: creativity, tips, adventures

Comments

  1. Why not try aswell:

    1. Go to the NSW Art Gallery and see one of the many exhibitions they have on.

    2. Try then to wander through the Museum of Contemporary Arts and observe the different forms of art.

    3. Take a course on a topic you have always wanted to learn about but never had the time to do it. Make the time for it.

    4. Walk through all the different gardens in the Botanical Gardens in Circular Quay. Observe the diversity in plant life and bird life.

    5. Spend some time looking at World Photos and Travel Photos on the Sydney Morning Herald site. A photo tells a thousand words - about people and life.

    6. Read people's blogs on the internet. There's so much to learn from it.

    Posted by Nilanka | Wednesday 15th July 2009 @ 11:40am

  2. What great suggestions! Thanks for sharing them...

    Posted by Joanna Maxwell | Wednesday 15th July 2009 @ 11:47am

  3. great post Joanna...most important advice I have found is to take time to live in the moment.

    Posted by Bob Crawshaw | Monday 20th July 2009 @ 8:48pm

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