CREATIVITY SPECIAL..... 8 habits of highly creative people

 8 habits of highly creative people

Follow in their footsteps to tap into your inner genius

Japanese writer Haruki Murakami lives by the ‘early to bed, early to rise’ axiom, while Spanish artist Pablo Picasso did exactly the opposite. He would go to bed late and wake up late, and start painting around 2 pm, often working feverishly till dusk. Different people have different rituals and habits that they follow, and this, often defines both them and their work. Here’s how some artists get their creative juices flowing:

01 Daily journaling

This is a powerful habit that writers like Mark Twain and Oscar Wilde, and artists like Frida Kahlo and Leonardo da Vinci, swore by. University of Texas psychologist and researcher James Pennebaker suggests that maintaining a regular journal may even strengthen the immune cells, T-lymphocytes and reduce the impact of stress on your physical and mental health.

In her diary, pop-culture artist Jenny Bhatt writes down jokes and sketches comic strips, finding humour in everyday situations. “It helps relieve stress and makes my mind productive,” says Bhatt whose MokshaShots webcomic has been compiled into a recentlyreleased book.

02 Talk to yourself

Sounds crazy? But scientists at Bangor University, UK, found that talking to yourself may indicate a higher level of intelligence because auditory commands are better controllers of behaviour than written ones. TEDx speaker and awardwinning author Meghna Pant talks to herself at the most mundane moments- while driving, cooking, cleaning or taking a shower. “I engage in a dialogue with my protagonists, my plots and my phrases. For instance, while frying onions, I imagine that the central character [of my book] is sitting on the countertop and bantering with me about a childhood memory triggered by the smell of the onions. By the time the meal is cooked, she’s whispered her entire backstory to me. Then, before the tale evaporates, I write it down on my laptop or phone. Without this writer’s discipline, even the most talented storyteller would struggle to become a published author,” she adds.

03 Early birds have more peace

Months before he actually starts shooting his celebrated annual calendar, photographer Daboo Ratnani wakes up at 4.30 am, to think. “It’s more peaceful at that hour. There are no distractions and the mind is fresh to think of concepts which I often write down before I forget them,” he says. Writers like Murakami, Voltaire and John Milton, too, set their alarms for 4 am — and have admitted to writing their best, and most, at that time.

04 Yoga and meditation

Pump more oxygen into your brain with a surya namaskar, a balasan (child’s pose) or the kapotasana (pigeon pose); these are known to facilitate creativity. Artist Arzan Khambatta has been practising Iyengar yoga for the last 18 years and feels it helps him “tremendously, not only to relax and stay healthy, but also in my creative process”.

Bhatt, on the other hand, meditates several times a week at home, both in the morning and just before bedtime. “It calms my mind, keeps it alert and helps me take better creative decisions,” she says.

05 Doodle and solve puzzles

When he is busiest with work, Khambatta uses jigsaw puzzles to divert “my attention from my thought process just for a few seconds, and then I’m back on the studio floor”. He doodles as well. “Using rotrings of varying thickness, I scribble or create spirals, wires and lines on paper and canvas — it’s very Zen and relaxing,” he says.

06 Pay attention to the world

Ratnani keeps looking for ideas in the most ordinary things. “I get out on the street and look for regular things — anything that piques my interest to turn into a fashionable image,” he says.

Khambatta enjoys photographing old monuments and streets full of people from different lands. “From funny signs to people and even textures of peeled paint – they all find place in my collection,” he explains.

07 Music feeds the imagination

Professor Dawn Kent of Liberty University, Virginia, in the US, says that when music enters the inner ear, it engages with different areas of the brain, including the parts used for cognitive functions like reasoning, memory, attention and language. This, then, can stir the imagination. Researchers at Radboud University Nijmegen, in the Netherlands, also found that music could be a potential avenue for fostering creativity in the workplace.

Artist Jaideep Mehrotra, for instance, says music can change his mood in an instant. Sometimes he sneaks a radio to bed, even though his children aren’t allowed to do the same. “Music gives me ideas, elevates me, heightens my emotions and envelops me in a way that transports me to another world. From Michel Camilo to Pink Floyd to Bhimsen Joshi, I listen to music when I’m painting, cooking or having breakfast. Probably not when I’m concentrating hard on something though,” he says.

Ratnani can’t do without music in his studio, especially when he is shooting. “It helps me focus better. From Jazz to rock to country to classical western and Hindustani — it’s all on my playlist. My subjects often enjoy it too,” he adds.

08 Cooking stirs creativity

Mehrotra says cooking galvanises him. “Like painting, it involves mixing ingredients and following a process, but it also needs a little experimentation, a little luck and a little flair. When done right, a dish is also meant to be savoured,” he says. “Cooking relaxes me and lets me enjoy the moment I’m in.”

| Nasrin Modak Siddiqi
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