The right brain is different in the way it functions then the left brain. It functions in a state on being. A state of silence and observation. It is something that is not encouraged in our society. We are constantly bombarded by outside stimulus at random that tells us what to be and how to do it whether we like it or not. The right brain functions better without stimulus from the outside. It thrives on silence.
For me I have the clearest access to right brain thinking first thing in the morning when I have yet to be bombarded by stimulus for the day. As I open my eyes in the morning I make a conscious decision to take a few moments to just allow my right brain to be. I allow whatever is there to surface. It may be a feeling, a thought, words or images. Often it is a thought that will allow me to take an idea I may be working on one step further.
The next step I have learned to take is to ground the thoughts or images that come to me in those moments. I like to get up and get my coffee and sit with a pad of paper and begin to write or draw what has felt inspiring to me in those first moments I awake. I am learning to trust this process and to let it be. I am learning to let that part of the creative process into the unknown be what directs me instead of deciding that a certain goal has to be met at every moment of the day. As the ideas surface I allow what emerges and trust that it is relevent and pertinent to my life or something I am in the process of creating or thinking about creating. I trust the ideas are mine for the taking when the time is right. I try to not force them into some kind of box or act on them until I feel the time is right. Sometimes they are just pieces of a bigger puzzle I am working on. Other times they are the pieces that I need to act upon that day.
The lesson in this is to learn to embrace the abyss of not knowing where the idea is going or what it may be for. It is about enjoying the process of creating something new and unknown instead of resisting it or controlling it. Trusting that it will emerge at the right time for the right reason. Allowing what is incomplete to be ok. The only way to expand our creativity is to delve into the unknown and be unsure where it is going. Once we delve into the unknown we must find a way to ground what it is we discovered without pulling it up by the roots. It is done by taking some kind of action with the thought or idea. That action can be in the form of a sketch or words. Just find a way to ground it and leave it for later.
How do you get your right brain working? I would love to know your thoughts.....
