Sources of Creativity: Unfamiliar Environments
In a previous post - “The Creative Process” - I listed ‘Unfamiliar environments’ as a source of inspiration. Here’s an example of that.
The situation was this. I had organised for my team (my day job is as a senior leader) to go to a conference. I went, too - although the subject matter was way beyond me - mainly to provide support and listen to what they found interesting and what inspired them from the talks.
I’d arrived early, got myself a coffee and pastry from the breakfast bar and was sitting in the main auditorium - the main hall in Cardiff City Hall. There were a few other people sitting and eating, drinking, talking, but the seats were sparsely occupied. It had been a while since I’d been in somewhere quite as grand and ornate, so I my eyes were surveying the room looking at the pictures, carvings and architecture.
The day before the conference, I’d had an idea for a poem based on an earworm I’d had (“Good Luck Song”, by Sa Ding Ding). I say ‘idea’, but really it was just a feeling that I wanted to write something inspired by Sa Ding Ding.
As I sat there, waiting for the room to fill and the keynote speaker to take to the podium, I opened up my notebook and started to write. The first line, ‘Something stirs’ (another music reference) went on the page, and I knew what the poem was going to be about - emotional awakening.
I didn’t complete the poem before the conference started, but I had jotted down the structure (another acrostic), rhyme scheme, 3 or 4 lines and maybe another 3 or 4 ideas for lines.
The poem, “Something Stirs”, inspired by a song by a Chinese/Mongolian singer, was born in a City Hall in Cardiff whilst waiting for a conference on the Python programming language to begin. If you’re in a rut, feeling uninspired, go somewhere new.
Just remember to take your notebook.
Read more about creativity, in general, here
Read more about sources of creativity, here
