When many people think about being creative, they may not immediately think about daydreaming. Or mindfulness and meditation for that matter. But we think this is a mistake and that daydreaming can be a great creative tool. Of course, like everything, the key is moderation. If we spend all our time daydreaming, then not much is going to actually get done.
However, allowing yourself to regularly let your brain float in the daydreaming ether can be very beneficial. In fact, it is often during those daydreaming sessions, when your mind is sailing the seven seas metaphorically, that you can have those EUREKA moments! For some artists it’s a song melody. For students it may be suddenly figuring out a way to solve a complicated assignment. For others it may just be a new understanding of a family member’s problem, and relationship issue or some other previously unrealized breakthrough.
So, why, we ask, do these eureka moments often happen when we are otherwise just letting our minds wander? Well, for that, we start with an overview of some of the science behind daydreaming. We will do this first through the class notes of our own fictional character, Carl Castaneda. We will then use this first overview of daydreaming as a basis to then learn more about mindfulness and meditation, which you can think of as conceptual cousins to daydreaming, all of which are ways to let your mind reach its full potential, becoming in effect, mental ninjas.
With that, we start with a brief daydreaming overview …
To help further explain some of what may be going on within our minds when we daydream, here’s a quick video for your viewing pleasure. And if you are pressed for time, you can easily skip to the 1:30 minute mark to get the gist of some of the science behind the magic.
Action Card #2
With this collaboration you will have an opportunity to take part in the creation of a new comic scene within the Back of the Yards comic series. The comic scene takes place in the classroom of Mr. Castaneda’s after school arts program where Mr. Castaneda presents a creative challenge to his participating students. And it is that creative challenge that we present to you, with some of your responses to be selected and included in that future comic scene!
Here is a little more information if you are interested in this collaboration…
so, if you’d like to participate, just click here.