"Sensual thinking"
IntroductionNeed a quick blockbuster idea? Have an upcoming deadline and a creativity block? If the "same old, same old" isn't working... tap into "new". Recognize how your emotions are directly linked to your subconscious mind and can used to "attract" new ideas, concepts or whole streams of thought.
Attraction is magnetic in nature and so a current of energy (e-motion) can stimulate the mind to attract "inorganic intelligence" from the collective unconscious (electromagnetic). You can consciously direct energy as "e-motion" into the universal sea of intelligence - i.e. as an energy-charged force, tou can attract creative ideas from "out there", filling your mind with new input.
Sensory input stimulates the limbic system which controls the doors into the subconscious min. The subconscious reaches into the depository of discarnate intelligence. the collective unconscious mind. Stimulating your emotional perception with input, you thus "send a charge" to zones of your subconscious mind which will then resonate into areas of the collective unconscious. Mood assembles mind.
Later when asleep, dreams mix and mingle in the new input (now memory) and those memories assemble as whatever "creative intent" you are working on. Waking, you'll have acquired new ways of seeing things, of forcing relationships and of "applying creativity".
If you give the input phase your total sensual commitment, you'll get the blockbusters.
Method
The whole purpose of this exercise is to stimulate the senses, creating an emotional charge. Stronger current means greater magnetic force - this means a powerful emotional connection with new input can send the charged output deeper, to unfamiliar areas of the mind. A commitment to sensually exploring the new input with an open and receptive attitude for an extensive period of time (hours), followed by a period of complete rest and relaxation (overnight sleep is best) and a detached trust in the process (it's universal law) will produce the best results. The key is to completely flood your own conscious mind with new input.
Choose from any of, or a combination of, the following stimulators:
1. Seek out new emotional reactions - How do you get new emotional reactions? Do something new - Volunteer to do some odd task, a good deed or to cuddle babies in a hospital; take in a trade show or stroll through a shopping center in a different part of town; visit someone from a foreign culture, in an insitution or play dressup with children. Try food from another land, listen to radio from another world (www.radio-locator.com). Cross the tracks, the gap or the class. Keep your eyes, ears heart and mind open, and taste, touch, hear. feel, smell and think new.
2. Listen to music! Listen to something you might not normally enjoy - like opera, experimental jazz, heavy metal or Wagner's Valkyrie. Sit in the sunshine with a Walkman and do nothing but listen. It's important to unwind and let your subconscious mind do its work. J.S. Bach's fugues are excellent stimulators as are some ancient culture and ritual music.
3. Write a "grimoire" - Magicians always have a notebook handy because ideas are subtle and ephemeral - if not noted the intant they appear, they evaporate. That's why creative people think with paper and pencil. I recommend a thick . good quality booklet with ruled pages and a hardcover or a good sketch-pad from an Art Shop or something that looks like it has value something you'd be proud to whip out and use at every opportunity. Don't forget a pen or pencil to record your ideas or clever thoughts and observations as soon as they manifest. Then take a long walk. Stop every few hundred paces or so and take a long, slow look around. Note what seems right and what seems odd. Look for inspiration. You'll find that the gist of an idea jotted down today can mature into a blockbuster concept if you nurture it for a time.
4. Draw or paint - Use Betty Edwards' book Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain to teach yourself how to draw. It's a great book and you'll instantly learn skills applicable to problem solving and enhancing your immediate perception. Or consider cartooning with Robin Hall's "The Cartoonist's Workbook" and doodle your way into creative thinking. Discover how a good painting is 90% technique.
5. Sex - Always a thought provoking word - but it works. Creativity and sex are linked so do try a walk on the wild side. Visit an "erotic boutique" or shop around for something "to do" or experience that is totally out of character for you. With a helpful muse or as "self-help", consider how "to tantra" or examine another for of erotica. Sex magic have stimulated creativity since the dawn of time but remember to play safe and be respectful of others or you'll learn what destructive side creation is all about .
6. Cook - Get into a kitchen and try things you've never done before. From techniques: bake, broil, pickle, poach, sauté and souffle to ingredients, explore taste. Turn on the cooking network on TV and be inspired by a great chef. Follow a recipe, try a methods and learn technique. Work out a whole theme meal, invite a few tasters and get their "feedback". Consider that cleaning up after is part of the process - and while doing dishes, think about how to improve what you served or do it differently.
7. Read - I've gotten a lot of ideas by reading pages of snippets of something fact-filled - a Thesaurus, an Almanac or - Encyclopedia. One of my favorite sources of empowered thinking is Dictionary of Science which explains universal definitions, rules and laws. Contemplating how universal principles relate to my personal life makes for fascinating discovery. Read from an eclectic magazine collection - left and right wing, fluff and substance, weird and straight, imaged and not, and all.
Note: Paradoxically, there is freedom in discipline: Sobriety, a willingness to experience an unusual mood and an adventurous spirit are best for this exercise which should be repeated at regular intervals. It goes without saying that experiencing new emotional input means doing things that " just isn't me." That's where the discipline comes in.