“There is no innovation and creativity without failure” – Brene Brown
-1+1 OPEN VISUALIZATION TRICK
As most people age, we become more closed-minded & rigid. But is there a way to become more open, receptive, and creative?
Today we will explore the Open Visualization technique to get our creative juices flowing.
Lucid, Open, and Focused visualizations are the three types of visualization.
This essay is just concerned with Open vs. Focused visualization.
• Being open implies that we are aware of our full surroundings.
• In focused meditation, we concentrate solely on one thing.
Open visualization has long been utilized by artists, inventors, writers, and filmmakers to foster creation.
Why?
Thinking in new ways is an important part of being creative. We will become more divergent and perspective if we are more flexible in our thoughts. This is critical for increasing the average of our ideas over time.
The issue—and the reason most people aren't very creative—is that the mind is wired to look at things in one manner.
We begin to see things in one manner as we progress through life. We have perceptions of ourselves, other people, and the world in which we live. Fresh thoughts are limited by our experience, reinforced behaviors and outcomes, biases, anxieties, and conventional reasoning.
How do you continue to be an artist as you get older? The key is to approach the world with an open mind and open eyes.
Example exercise for Open Visualization:
Assume you're working on a novel. You're at your computer, staring at a blank page. You're concentrating on it, but you're getting nowhere. You're at a loss for what to do next.
You have nowhere to look for inspiration because you are only focused on the paper in front of you. So being very focused isn't a good idea in this situation. And that's what a focused visualization accomplishes. It isn't conducive to creativity. It won't help you get over your writer's or artist's block.
But what about the very opposite?
Open monitoring, on the other hand, is the polar opposite. You are fully aware of everything that is going on around you. You're working on a novel and taking notes from everywhere. That information from the outside world is pouring freely into your brain through all of your senses. It's important to take it all in.
Close your eyes and try to re-imagine all the details, including the visual flow, the scene, the scene's rhythm, the landscape details, the weather, the people, objects, animals, plants, sounds, actions, and events, and even what people are saying, their emotions, and reactions in the scenario.
Try to remember everything, but don't get too worked up over it. The idea is to remember as much as you can while remaining relaxed. These scenes all serve as Imagery input. Open your eyes to re-observe your surroundings whenever you feel stress in your mind and body.
If the re-image in your mind is hazy, open your eyes and watch for a few moments while taking a deep breath. Then close your eyes and see if you can vividly envision the specifics of the things.
You will improve your open visualization skills with daily practice.
The trick is to follow -1+1 principle, Start with:
• Allow 1 minute for scene recall for every 5 minutes of open visualizing.
• Decrease open visualization by a minute with each repetition and increase recall by a minute.
For example, practice open visualization for 5 minutes and then recall for 1 minute (5,1), then repeat the practice using the -1+1 principle, i.e. (4,2), (3,3), (2,4). (1,5).
•The iteration adds more vivid details about the scene with each recall. Combine it with your novel's concepts to get new thoughts and ideas. Take any situations, events, personalities, inspiration, or landscape you like.
• Later, in PMI - Plus, Minus, and What is Interesting, add your re-call details.
• Connect the dots , the story n flow as you wish.
Here we see that creativity requires divergent thinking, which is why divergent thinking needs open monitoring.
Why -1+1 works?
This is due to the fact that new ideas are formed in the same parts of the brain that are used for memory. Episodic, Declarative, and Procedural memories are all possible.
Our episodic memory is what we encountered at the re-imagine & recall stage. We use it to channel our creativity and generate new ideas. It works because declarative memory is the simplest of all memory types to use, recall, and hack, which is why you can recall vivid details of experiences, good or unpleasant, after a long time but not a formula, a definition, or an essay, which are all part of declarative memory.