Among other things, the Reticular Activating System in our brain filters through our activated senses and is highly receptive to new, novel and curious stimuli. It's what puts us on alert when the sound of a bear crashes through the woods and draws near. Or stirs our stomach with the unexpected aroma of hot blueberry muffins in the morning.
In particular, when our RAS is stress free it's available to seek new sensations. I love that this particular aspect of our biological design arouses our curiosity at all the new sights and sounds and smells around us.
But what does the RAS have to do with being creative? How does the blessing of the RAS impact our creative process?
It unlocks new creative spaces right where we're at.
When creatives are able to move past or even press pause on the fear of failure or the stress of impressing a particular group or any other stress clouding our hearts, minds and souls, well, our curiosity quotient rises exponentially. When we're curious, we're able to receive and engage the fruit of our curiosity. We're receptive to new sounds for new ideas. Colors and smells trigger creative flow. Our mindset shifts to open interest and away from closed confusion.
Remember the movie August Rush? Yeah, I'm pretty sure my wife and I may have been the only ones to see it, but the main character, August, demonstrates the RAS in action, both in stress and in curiosity. It's a great visual.
So what now?
Try finding space to free yourself from your stress for one hour each day this week. Take a walk, pray, ride, have a meal and read a book - whatever creates healthy headspace, do that and write down one new idea each time.
Acknowledge what's stressing you out and create three healthy and productive options for actively addressing each particular stressor.
You can do this! Let's create some space and get curious!