3 Powerful Creative Attributes, no seriously! Conventionally speaking staying up late and sleeping in, forgetting things easily, and being late for appointments are not what most of us would consider positive attributes.
I have lifelong history of staying up late and sleeping in especially when I was younger. More recently I have been waking up extremely early instead. Loosing my keys, and being late for appointments (for very good reasons) are not strangers to this life either. Just to name a few of my self confessed “best “traits.
I am here to challenge that and inspire you to seek out novelty with these 3 powerful creative attributes.
Creative Attribute #1 – Being Late:
Perceived as disrespectful. Not disrespectful. Cultural norms aren’t absolute but inherited. We are programmed to force life to happen into blocks of time for functionality. Life happens in the present moment only.
Yes, time is a useful tool but nothing more. There’s nothing wrong with being on time. There is also nothing wrong with being late to an appointment. Here is why…
Being Late is optimistic!
Optimism is what leads a person down the late road. If you can’t make it to appointments on time then you think you have more time than you really do.
Optimistic people may not be on time, but they may live happier lives. They are free from stress associated with a perceived shortage of time and the constant ping to hurry.
Relatively speaking we all have the same 24 hours in a day. There is no abundance or shortage of time.
Creativity is Top Priority!
Creativity can’t be shared with a priority like being on time. You can be creative in time for a deadline, but if the deadline is the highest priority creativity isn’t happening. Reactivity is. The creativity (whatever it is) is the highest priority.
The way priorities work is this. There is only room at the top of your attention for one priority. If being on time is highest goal, then being on time is what we will achieve.
Being on time however is not much of an achievement. No one ever honors someone’s life achievements for his or her punctuality. What you do with your time is much more important than at what time you do it or if it happens at a specific time.
Creative States of Being Are Timeless
In the creative space, time is lost. In order to access the creative space I have to detach from the dependency on time as a focal point. It’s the main reason why so much happiness is experienced in creative states. It is timeless.
I also have bursts of insight at the very last minute when I am supposed to be doing something else. I’ve learned to listen to this and put creativity as the highest priority to the detriment of my punctuality track record.
How to tap into this Creative Attribute? Clock out and get to work.
Take off your watch, quit thinking about time, clock out and get to work. I am not referring to not billing your clients. I’m not suggesting working endless hours without a stopping point either.
I am simply saying that being insulted or esteemed by compliance with a watch is insanity. Unhinge your creative process from the concept of the clock.
Creative Attribute #2- Keeping With Odd Hours:
Once you are free from the concept of time, you can wake up really early or go to bed really late. One of the reasons people are often late for appointments is keeping odd hours. They may stay up late or wake up extremely early; it’s flip sides of the same coin.
They usually sleep in because they may have stayed up too late the night before. This can be seen as laziness right? What if this so called laziness is higher intelligence at work?
Sleeping in is a powerful creative attribute.
It comes down to space for creativity. How do you find space for yourself in the frantic pace of modern world? Do exactly the opposite of what everyone else is doing. If the majority of the world is waking up in the morning and going to sleep at night the solution is simple.
How to Tap into This Powerful Creative Attribute?
Stay up late or wake up early. Whatever your preferred odd hours are, go with it.
No one is calling or texting you and no one is bothering you in any way if they are all asleep. There’s nothing else to do, nowhere else to be, and you have minimized your objectives to just a few. You can focus on a specific activity to your hearts desire.
Creative Attribute #3 – The Art of Not Remembering Things
Where are my keys? Where is my list? What do I need to do today? I don’t know and it’s wonderful!
When you are free from the grip of the time as the ruler of your life, you keep odd hours that give you large chunks of creative space, the third and most powerful creative attribute is the art of not remembering things.
A clear mind is a creative mind. A creative mind has room for additional input. You can fully see what’s in your field of consciousness with a clear and creative mind. There’s little effort and that is carefree.
Now to contrast, you find your self bombarded with things to do, people to respond to, and appointments to keep. That’s a lot to remember! So much in fact, it can lead to that overwhelmed feeling we all know and loathe.
It’s the Birth of Stress
Stress is the knee jerk reaction to feeling overwhelmed. Some of you are thinking that this kind of metaphoric pressure forms diamonds in the earth. Then it must create diamonds in us as well?
Maybe, but only if you consider high blood pressure, stress hormone secretion and feeling frazzled as a diamond experience.
“Hurry up and get all these things done” is what is wrong with our world. No patience for something better and more lasting solutions.
Enjoy Not Remembering Things To do
The solution? Forget about it! You don’t have to be monk to be free from mental bombardment of the collective stream of consciousness.
Give your self a case of the selective amnesia and revel in your newfound joy.
Never be good at something you don’t enjoy doing. Then choose to not be good at holding excessive data in your head. This attachment is no different than holding any other weight. Eventually there will be strain and that strain turns into stress.
You Can Rest Past and Future on One Hair
The crazy thing about mental stressors is that is always linked to a future point and never about now. This is why it is such a joy to lay down your burdens. You can’t really do anything about the past or future now.
Now is truly independent. Meaning it is not controlled by the past or future. In all of the vastness of now in the universe there’s no past or future points anywhere to be found. The only evidence is in the memory.
Thinking about Thinking is a Conundrum
Picture this: sitting down in a cross-legged position to take a break from obsessive thinking, it’s called meditation. People spend years learning how to meditate and sometimes after years of practice they still feel oppressed by thinking.
Meanwhile, other people are attending workshops how they can think more efficiently. These folks seek to take on more tasks and be more productive member of society. They want to learn how to think more and remember more. After years of practice they still may feel like they are not thinking at a high enough level.
It’s thinking about thinking! Both of these “solutions” can be problematic. (Yes, both can be helpful as well)
Whatever you’re experiencing, make the best of it.
You don’t need to eliminate thinking or try and increase it. Although meditation has many benefits and motives, the thinking you observe is probably fine the way it is.
We as humans of the modern day probably have too much we have to remember. Overload becomes the root of the problem and not the minds interpretation of overload. It’s a natural fight or flight response. Get better at thinking and remembering or run off and escape the rat race. I say neither.
Instead make the best of it by releasing the connection to thinking as your identity.
Identification is Attachment
The source of this dilemma is once again the attachment and identification with thinking. If there is too much to remember then some has to be dead weight! Unimportant accumulation of thought is not needed to carry around.
The weight of the load you have to carry can’t all be valuable items. Your mind is just fine but it’s overloaded in this state.
What has true value to you?
If value is scarcity or rarity then there’s no need to carry around many items. Only carry around a few valuable things in your head you may want or need to do fairly soon. It’s mental minimalism at its finest.
If value is equal across the board and the only value that exists is in the perception of the beholder then there’s still not many items needed to carry around in your head.
So how do you tap into the art of not remembering? Quit doing the heavy lifting. Make a big list of all the things you think you need to do. That frees all of the fuzz from your cranial activity.
Release the grip on trying to remember all that you have to do. Now that your mind is free and clear, do something initially that is entirely different that from what is on the list.
Conclusion
My objective with this article is getting you out of your routine and putting you in touch with a deeper space for artistic creativity and beyond. Looking at life differently might give you insights you would not had otherwise. The only reason we feel pressure in life is because we place demands and expectation on how life is supposed to be.
I recently gave a speech about these 3 powerful creative technologies. I was nervous as usual, and I somewhat overcame the fear as usual. To my surprise it went great.
What the mind predicted would be a room full of rejection turned out to be a room full of laughter! It helped me settle into my public speaking flow quite a bit. I received comments like “you could be a stand up comedian!” haha.
I am happy to see people laughing, but I have to admit, I wasn’t joking.
This was a most excellent piece to read and I REEEEALLY needed to “hear” it!! I have been on a path, the past couple months, to let “time” go, since the dis-ease of my thyroid. It was getting quite sensitive in my throat area and I pulled my body/mind book out and read the emotion behind it, and was like HOLLLLY SHIT!!! The NEXT day, I put a stop to the “timeline” and with in three days my throat felt better!!!
I am most always late, and that bit made me feel a WHOLE lot better about myself!!! THANK YOU!!
The not remembering thing I MUST work on more. I get soooo frustrated with myself. and beat myself up for being a “dumbass”. I am starting the BIG list tomorrow and see if that will help to ease my mind.
I really look forward to seeing and talking with you soon! YES. I need to make an appt, and hopefully at this late date you will have some time. I needed to get closer to the date of coming because my visit is revolving around diamond hunting and the weather……I shall call tomorrow???