New Series! Creativity for the New Year!

Good day, Purposeful Hearts! As we approach 2025 together, I’d like to start off on a fresh, revitalizing note. I love thinking about and teaching strategies that promote creativity, innovation, and reframing. If you could use an energizing boost of creativity, then read on!

 

For our discussion over the next few weeks, I’ll be referencing Shelley Carson’s work at Harvard. She’s a neuroscientist who looks at brain activity in relation to creative thought, often citing functional MRI (fMRI) studies to support her claims about the brain’s creative functions. Overall, her research has led her to design the CREATES model, noting that we can access seven different “brain sets” depending on the type of creative thinking we need to do. CREATES stands for Connect, Reason, Envision, Absorb, Transform, Evaluate, and Stream.

 

By the way, she also has extensive self-assessments available through her book, “Your Creative Brain,” and I often use these assessments with my creativity students. What an awesome way to develop self-awareness! If you’re able to access and complete these self-assessments before we dive into each of the seven brain sets, that’s fantastic! You’ll be able to more richly understand your personal creativity and learn about ways you can improve for the future. If you’re not able to self-assess, no worries! You’ll just have to dig a little deeper with your self-reflection and personal observations of your thought patterns in the face of creative challenges.

 

Either way, I’ll meet you here next week, as we kick off the new year by learning about the Connect brain set, how it benefits us, and how and when to access it. Until then, enjoy your time with family, savor each moment, and reflect on how you’ve been living out your purpose in 2024. Then, muster up some bravery for 2025! See you next year!

 

Carson, S. (2012). Your Creative Brain: Seven Steps to Maximize Imagination, Productivity, and Innovation in Your Life. Jossey-Bass.