Good day, Purposeful Hearts! I’m so glad you’re here! I’m really excited to jump into our first brain set as part of Carson’s (2012) CREATES model of creative thinking. My purpose for each of the next seven days is to uncover each aspect of creative thinking, help you determine your strongest creative attributes, and provide you with some tools and exercises to help you develop a more creative, more resilient brain!
Today, we begin with the C in CREATES, which stands for the Connect brain set. This brain pattern is what allows us to “think outside the box” or engage in what’s commonly called “divergent” thinking. Instead of simply pursuing one correct or convergent answer to a problem, the Connect brain set loves to generate multiple possibilities in response to a single stimulus. You’re using this brain set when your ideas just seem to flow from one to the next, seemingly with little effort on your part. This flowing state is sometimes also called “ideational fluency,” and you can see from this term that it means you’re experiencing a rapid but smooth flow of brainstorming power.
Did you know that we’re better able to access this brain set when we’re in a good mood, when we’re laughing, or when we’re experiencing life as play instead of work? Makes sense. Our brains know how to harness this positivity, and we enjoy a little hit to the reward centers in our brain every time we generate a new idea, possibility, or connection to the problem at hand. We also feel empowered, like we have great agency in our lives and have command over how we will conquer the tasks in front of us.
If you’d like to start practicing with your Connect brain set, I’ll share a little exercise that I use in my creativity class. Take out a blank piece of paper. Write down the word “leaf” on it and give yourself two minutes to generate as many word associations as you can. When you’re done, see how you feel. Did that make you feel energized or drained? The smoother the brainstorming process, the more likely it is that you have the Connect brain set as one of your strongest creative thinking tools.
You can continue practicing and strengthening this brain set; any word association game will do the trick! Have some fun with random word generators – can you invent something new made out of the two or three random words you’re given? Your brain has to practice connecting and combining ideas throughout this process! And, even if you don’t enjoy this first brain set, at least you’re exercising your brain and promoting neuroplasticity – let’s keep those brains sharp!
Carson, S. (2012). Your Creative Brain: Seven Steps to Maximize Imagination, Productivity, and Innovation in Your Life. Jossey-Bass.
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