CREATIVITY- JUST LET IT HAPPEN BY ADAM YACEK

Have you ever tried so hard to think of an idea but couldn’t do it? No matter how much time you spent you couldn’t find that spark?

Well, if you answered yes, then I feel your pain.  I have had that same feeling countless times, and I experienced it while trying to write this blog post.

When brainstorming topics for this assignment I spent hours looking at previous blog posts, going through class notes, and sitting in silence staring at my computer. However, no matter how hard I tried I just couldn’t make it happen. But, something interesting happened later that night.

I went to my room, lay down in bed and tried to sleep. But I couldn’t. I lay there tossing and turning as my frustration grew. My brain filled with thoughts as I desperately tried to sleep. I started thinking about baseball, class, and all the things I had to do the next day. However, as my mind wandered I settled on the topic of creativity, and ideas started flying out of me. I quickly grabbed my phone and recorded the thoughts rushing through my head. By the end of it I had filled my phone screen with notes.

Although I was annoyed I couldn’t sleep, I couldn’t help but find it funny. We talk in class about “make it happen” and “let it happen” techniques, but I had never truly caught myself in an instance where I was “letting it happen”. I thought it was so fitting that I struggled with writing an assignment about creativity, until the creative spark it hit me out of me nowhere.  The thing I’ve learned is that creativity is complex and it is hard to capture. You can spend time and make it or you can sit back and let it happen.  You just have to be willing to act on it when it hits you.