Creativity Commitment
Posted by dkennedy on September 20th, 2008
Hello, Creative Writers!
Can we really enhance our creativity? My reading convinces me that all of us could be more creative if we would do three ordinary things: eat healthfully, exercise regularly, and get adequate sleep. Of course, as we’ve read in class, there are other strategies worth trying.
Keith Sawyer, Ph.D., associate professor of education and psychology at Washington University, has written a book on the subject, Explaining Creativity: The Science of Human Innovation. According to Sawyer, “Collaboration is key.” Hey, you’re already collaborating as members of writers’ response groups—writing teams. To read more about Sawyer’s research, click on “Time Interview” in the Creativity category to your right.
By now you should be well into your creativity commitment strategies(creativity-commitment.pdf). Post here to describe your progress and to interact with each other. How is the effort going? Are you enjoying the strategies? Any benefits so far?
Use your first name and last initial only and fill the comment box.
September 23rd, 2008 at 5:12 pm
My creativity commitment is going well. I love writing in my journal. It allows me to relax and think clearly. Writing in my journal releases most of my stress. I also enjoy doing the relaxation techniques. I have walked around my neighborhood and listened to music while lying down on my bed.
September 23rd, 2008 at 7:43 pm
For my creative commitment I chose to write in a journal, relax, and possibly exercise more than what I already…don’t. Well…the exercise was a failure, completely. But the journal is a work-in-progress. The relaxing is easy to do, but I took it a step further.
Instead of just sitting back, I actually take a herbal bath, with no lights on. Just candles and I listen to Mozart or George Winston. It is so relaxing, and I can hear only the music and my thoughts (I play the music softly as background noise). The ideas flow! I can’t stop coming up with ideas for things, and just watching the shadows from the candles, and smelling the herbs, all these ideas come to me, and I try them on, and some work, and some don’t.
I don’t know how I will get things to you when I’m in Japan, but I’ll try. My host family doesn’t have a computer, but I guess the schools do. So I will try to write while I’m gone.
September 24th, 2008 at 2:14 pm
The strategy that I chose to help my creative juices are aroma therapy and listen to orchestra music or Bach. I planned on doing aroma therapy for at least 3 times a week. Along with that, I chose to have a written log of what I was doing for evidence of the commitment.
The reason why I had chosen this particular strategy was because I never get the chance to take time to just relax and unstress myself. I figured if I get the chance to relax and figure things out, I would get more ideas to my creative writing.
The process so far, has been quite difficult. Difficult because I can’t possibly find the time to just sit back and relax my senses for even a half hour. I’m either busy with working on school work, work, marching band, student council, or busy doing an errand. Now I’m hoping I can find a way to complete this commitment.
September 24th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
This should be short but I have been working on my commitment. It has been going well for the most part but I kind of fell behind. I picked it up again and I should be well on my way to finishing on time. My journal should be somewhat ok to read nothing really personal. So I should be commenting soon about how my drawing is going.
September 24th, 2008 at 2:28 pm
My creativity commitment has been its own little struggle but it is becoming easier because it’s getting routine. I’ve been logging my hours of sleep per night, aiming to get 8 hours every night. It’s made me realize that a good night’s sleep is a necessity, especially if you’re an athlete. Also I have been keeping a journal of thoughts and lyrics. It’s good to have a journal with you because I get lyrics in my head at random times and its good to jot them down and then go in the studio later and record them. It’s been a much-needed backup.
September 24th, 2008 at 4:25 pm
My two commitments have been to listen to Bach or Mozart daily, and get into heated debates or arguments. I set a goal of one hour of music a day, and involve myself in at least one argument a day.
It’s been easiest to listen to the music. While doing my homework, or just lying in bed, I have Mozart or Bach set in the background. It’s been a little harder to get into the the heated discussions. I’ve been trying to play devil’s advocate, and my boyfriend gets annoyed when I try and argue with him over politics and take the opposing side. The most interesting discussion has been about Dr. Suess’ form of writing, and how he incorporates world events into it. Many people have different views on his writing, so it was really interesting to voice my opinion.
I’ve been keeping a daily log while listening to Bach and Mozart; I’ve even written a poem! I found that I wasn’t having daily debates, so I decided to write an essay in the end about my overall experiences. I’m going to try talking with more people, and have some more discussions to get my creative juices flowing.
September 24th, 2008 at 10:50 pm
Whoa, Brittany, I hope those heated arguments don’t affect your relationships. Are you sure you want a daily argument? How about every other day? I’m fascinated by your choice.
September 25th, 2008 at 1:52 pm
My creative commitment is going great! I have stuck with my health eating, although it has been really hard. I also go for walks just about every night with my parents. It is just a short walk that takes about 25-30 minutes but it is a great time to relax and talk with my parents about our days. With the three of us being so busy it is a great way for us to stay close. The dictionary word find is where I am struggling. I am having a hard time figuring out how to creatively use the words I have “found.” I hope everyone else is doing well and making progress, and good luck.
September 25th, 2008 at 2:15 pm
For my creativity commitment I decided to do the following
1) Get 8 hours of sleep every night &
2) Run a mile every other day.
Probably the hardest commitment I had was getting 8 hours of sleep every night. I love to talk on the phone so I usually go to sleep around 11:30 and in the morning I wake up at 6.
If I was to get 8 hours of sleep every night, that would mean I would need to go to sleep at 10 in order to keep my 6 o’ clock wake up call. I’ve been doing this for awhile now and it’s actually been working out!
The second part of my commitment was to run a mile every other day. This wasn’t that hard for me, considering I used to run all summer.
Ever since I’ve been doing my two commitments I’ve felt more energized and aware of everything going on around me.
September 25th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
I am back to tell you how my drawing is going. It has been not good. I feel that maybe drawing is something that I really have to put time into. I do not have the time at the moment to put the time in, but I will make do. You should see really no improvement on the illustrations. I will not quit but try harder. Until next time bye.
September 25th, 2008 at 2:27 pm
My commitments are to relax and use rhythmic activities to give your brain a chance to incubate. I have chosen to do my commitments once daily every other day in the evening in a written log. I have not started it yet but this weekend I am going to start it.
September 25th, 2008 at 4:50 pm
My creative commitment was to spend more time outside and begin training in another martial art.
I’m already well into the both of them, and it is exhilarating. I feel completely at peace with nature and find that I can think and focus better. The martial art I took up is called Capoeira. I am studying with a guy at my dojo who took it for three years. In just one week, I found that I had more stamina and flexibility because of it. My presentation about this is going to be great.
September 25th, 2008 at 7:13 pm
The creativity commitments I chose were to eat a salad every day and to take a sedate walk 3 times per week. The salad one is really killing me. I liked salads to begin with and now I practically cringe whenever I see a salad. And the worst part about it is that I feel no different…if not worse. I have more digestion problems and I feel more sluggish in general. I don’t think this one is going to work. As for the walking though, it has been doing wonders. I often get tons of ideas just spilling into my brain as I walk. The only trouble is that I can barely remember those great ideas by the time I get indoors to my computer. I can truly say that walking does help you come up with some great ideas. It definitely got my brain working.
September 26th, 2008 at 2:30 pm
I got the chance to do this commitment the other day I believe on Tuesday of last week. I got the chance to take a bubble bath with candles and relaxing music in the background.
It turned out to be a very rejuvenated activity. I became much more refreshed and ready for anything. I was pumped and felt very accomplished. As if life seemed less stressful and no more burden was on my shoulders.
Then listening to music, I play the piano. I practice about 4 or 5 times a week and it relaxes me. All the anger or stress I feel, I take it out on my music, which creates me to play much better. On top of that, it makes me much more commited to playing more, thus getting better at playing the piano. The more you practice, the better you get.
September 28th, 2008 at 5:01 pm
My creativity commitment is going pretty good. I have been relaxing a lot more than what I have been before. Since I’ve made this commitment I’ve had more time and freedom. It’s nice and relaxing to hangout with friends and family and that’s what I’ve been doing lately to relax. I’m pretty much always busy doing something but I just gotta keep a way to just kick back and relax. I have also been writing some of my dreams that I have had lately. I’ve had a couple of interesting dreams so far. There are still a couple of weeks left and I can already see some changes.
September 29th, 2008 at 11:40 pm
For my commitment today, I stood out in the rain. I don’t know how long I was out in it, but I felt dry when I went back in my house. The rain has a very calming effect on me. I feel that I can think and focus over the gentle song of rainfall. This actually helped me come up with a much-need stanza for one of my poems. Hopefully more comes along soon. I’m having trouble finding my muse.
October 1st, 2008 at 2:09 pm
I have continued eating salads EVERY DAY! I was pretty much choking on the lettuce but now I am so used to it that I eat it like a zombie. I chew it…and chew it…and then it’s gone. Nothing more than that. As for the walking 3 times per week, I have been sticking to it and it has not only improved my physical condition, but it has definitely got my brain juices moving. I get some of my best ideas in the morning and while walking. I will porbably continue doing this even after the commitment is done.
October 1st, 2008 at 2:32 pm
My two commitments have been going super. I ride my bike for an hour each day with my boyfriend. We enjoy going to downtown Grand Haven and riding along the pier. if we can’t get out there, we just ride about the neighborhood.
But we go for an hour.
My second commitment is walking for an hour. That isn’t as fun as I thought it would be. It’s quite boring. But I spice things up, and take my neice and nephew. They enjoy it. I don’t get very far, because their little legs can’t go as fast.
I’ll have to admit, I have been a slacker.
When I have a lot of homework or if the weather is nasty, I don’t walk nor do I ride my bike. But overall these commitments have been a success.
October 1st, 2008 at 5:50 pm
I’m back.
I was in Tennessee for the weekend, so it was a little hard to listen to my music. I have been slacking a little too. I forget to listen to it some days, and others I just don’t feel like. I think listening to it SO much has started to bore me. I haven’t really felt any more creative except for the fact that it made me think that I could write poems about composition, or music.
I took Mrs. Kennedy’s advice about not debating as much. I just let the debates come naturally, but don’t avoid them if they come about. I’m continuing to play devil’s advocate; it’s fun. If the debates don’t help me become more creative, I still have walked away with new debating experience, and have had some interesting conversations to remember.
October 1st, 2008 at 8:58 pm
Getting 8 hours of sleep has gotten a lot easier! I’ve gotten into the routine of doing everything I want to earlier so I can go to bed at 10. Running a mile every other day has been going really well too. The only downside to this commitment would have to be the other day when I went running, it started to rain on me! I was cold and extremely annoyed, but other than that I guess it’s all right!
October 2nd, 2008 at 1:40 pm
Last night I went to sleep at 11:30 because I had a lot of math homework I needed to catch up on. I woke up this morning without my usual 8 hours of sleep and felt extremely tired! All day I have been kind of blank and unaware towards everything going on around me. I’m thinking I would much rather get my usual 8 hours of sleep! Oh, and I’m not looking forward to running today. It looks like it’s going to rain again!
October 2nd, 2008 at 2:03 pm
I had a salad for lunch today and I found a hair in it. This made me want to eat salads even less. The green leaves and tomatoes don’t seem to be giving me nutrients and creative juices. Actually, they seem to be doing the oppposite. Mrs. Kennedy did tell me I could eat fruit salads or other types of salads so I think I’m going to try that. I have yet to take my walk today and I can’t wait to because I have a friend coming with me. We can gather ideas and exercise our creativeness together. I think it will be fun. I definitely recommend this to everyone.
October 2nd, 2008 at 8:49 pm
A few days ago, I went on a very relaxing walk around my neighborhood. I noticed a lot of different details about my neighborhood that I have never noticed before. I think these relaxing techniques have helped me write some amazing poems. Writing in my journal has helped too. I have written in it quite a few times already. I really enjoy doing this commitment and I hope everyone else is enjoying it too.
October 3rd, 2008 at 2:03 pm
This week was pretty laid back for me. The only thing that I had to do was go to work every day after school. After that it was nice and relaxing. I got to hang out with my friends and go out and do things. I had a couple of weird dreams over the past few nights that I wrote down in my journal. I’m glad that we’re doing this commitment thing because it’s nice to just kick back and relax with no worries.
October 3rd, 2008 at 2:11 pm
Last weekend I finally started my creativity commitment. Every time I had to relax for my creativity commitment I listened to rock ballads and I watched television. Every time I had to do rhythmic activities for my commitment I would move my upper body, play my bass guitar and take a shower. My creativity commitment has helped me get a lot of great ideas.
October 3rd, 2008 at 2:12 pm
Ummm,
I’m still liking the commitments. They’re easy. I’m highly disliking the cold weather though, running and riding my bike in the cold = no fun. It’s not too bad though. I don’t usually take my neice and nephew along with me for me walks anymore. I think it’s too cold for them. They are 7 months, (AlyssaJayde) and 2 years, (JackSteven) I’m glad these things are pretty much over to be honest. I don’t like writing about them in my journal. I’d rather just do it and not write about it. But it’s not that bad.
October 3rd, 2008 at 2:29 pm
Yesterday I went for a run. It started off nice, I was listening to my music and the weather appeared to be on my side. I was about a half a mile away from my house when the rain started pouring down on me! I had to continue running because I wasn’t anywhere near home, so not only did I look like a loser running in the rain… I also woke up this morning with a cold =[ I did get my 8 hours of sleep but because I wasn’t feeling good, I feel like I got less. Hopefully tomorrow will be better!
October 3rd, 2008 at 2:35 pm
I started listening to different types of music.
Other stuff I don’t really listen to like Classical music. I think my journal will be a good one although I need to pick it up a little bit, but I should be well on my way.
October 3rd, 2008 at 2:36 pm
Well, the sleep part of my commitment has been a struggle. With all the things I have going (school, sports, and a job), it is difficult to get 8 hours of sleep a night. I haven’t achieved that goal every night, at all. I have noticed though, when you get a couple nights of quality sleep, you feel a lot better throughout the day. Just one day here and there doesn’t cut it. Maybe I should listen to myself and keep up the 8 hours as a constant.
October 3rd, 2008 at 2:39 pm
My creative commitment is going okay. It really is not the results that I hoped for, but I still stuck with it. For mine I decided to write all of my creative ideas down in a journal. I think that this was not a good idea for me, only because I am a freelance kind of person, and I prefer to just come up with ideas on the spot, or come up with the ideas when I need to do something creative. I also decided to commit to dancing for at least one hour every day! I have been doing it, and I love it, I feel more energetic and I feel like I am learning about different music and having a good time! I’m really enjoying this for the most part! I feel a little more creative!
October 3rd, 2008 at 8:04 pm
Lately I have been very committed to my creativity commitment. My commitments have been helping me to be able to come up with many ideas. I have really enjoyed one of my commitments which is relaxing.
October 5th, 2008 at 6:18 pm
For my creativity commitment I decided to do rhythmic activities (swimming), drink tea with gingko biloba and gotu kola leaves, and listen to music from Mozart’s era. So far I have been able to stick with each of these tasks and I feel that it is making at least some kind of difference in my creativity.
October 6th, 2008 at 2:29 pm
The other day when I was listening to some music from band, I felt chills down my spine. I felt for once, I was at the right place and everything made sense.
The marching band had a competition Saturday and of course I’m in marching band as well. Point is, while sitting on the bleachers, listening to these instrumental music playing, while watching these mid-life students march in style, I got the feeling of excitement and adrenaline. I love that feeling and somehow, before preforming at the competition, I was pumped and ready to go.
I was more or less excited to preform and prove to everybody that I was going to do fine. Not die, trip, drop a sabre or rifle, march out of time, but only going to be fine. It’s amazing how music can make you lose the stress you’ve been holding in all along.
October 6th, 2008 at 2:35 pm
The commitments are really no fun anymore. Both of my commitments are outdoors and with the icky weather, which has to be below freezing, and with my arthritis. . . eh, I’m a slacker.
It would be super if I could get like a treadmill or something. Then it would be like the same as walking outside. For the bike. . . I’m not too sure about that one. It’s been rainy outside, and I don’t want it to get rusted because my bike is amazing, not to mention ancient. =]
October 6th, 2008 at 6:06 pm
So far I have been doing good on my rhythmic activities commitment. I have been swimming before school (excluding Wednesday) every day. While swimming my mind tends to wander off and I think about a lot of weird things. When I get an idea that I think is interesting I remember it and write it down after I swim. This has given me many ideas for poems and stories that I might write in the future.
October 7th, 2008 at 9:19 am
We are coming to an end of our projects and I am struggling still with what to do with the words I got out of the dictionary. I am still leaning towards a poem but I am not sure how to put all the words into one. I was thinking of trying to do something like the exquisite corpse poems, but I am not sure how that would turn out. I have still been keeping up with my exercising I have been playing golf and tennis, and still walking at least three times a week with my parents. I have noticed that when I am exercising I get ideas for my poetry in class. It is really a good idea to go walk around to place that you have never been just to refresh your idea bank. I hope everyone else is doing well and finding their project helpful to their creativity.
October 7th, 2008 at 2:02 pm
I am almost done with my creativity commitment. I just have to write in my writing log two more times and then I am done with my creativity commitment
October 7th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
This is my final entry for my creativity commitment. I am happy to say that my salad eating days are over for a while. I think my digestive tract will be glad for the change in diet as well. I am not impressed with the results for this particular commitment. I have shown no improvement as far a creative ability and my body atually feels more sluggish and slow. As for the walking, I am definitely enjoying the extra creative juices flowing from that. I have gotten some of the ideas for my latest starts by simply walking a few times each week. I also find the activity soothing and fun. I am going to continue doing this just because it has given me a chance to get out and think and when I’m just sitting around…I actually feel quite lazy.
October 7th, 2008 at 6:33 pm
Writing in my journal has been so fun! In two of my journal entries, I drew pictures instead of writing. The pictures represent a part of me and my life. The relaxing techniques are cool too. I love taking walks around my neighborhood. I tried to ride my bike, but that did not work out so well.
October 8th, 2008 at 7:45 pm
Every day during this four week period I have had a cup of tea with gingko biloba and gotu kola leaves in it. The tea itself is called Traditional Medicinals Think 02 tea. I am not sure if drinking the tea has done anything for my creativity but it is refreshing and tastes great. In the future I think I will continue to drink it every day because it has become a habit.
October 8th, 2008 at 7:53 pm
The last part of my creativity commitment was to listen to music from Mozart’s era every other day. I listened to Chopin’s nocturnes, Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas, and Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 2. I really enjoyed listening to this music because it is relaxing and helps me concentrate. Now I listen to this music whenever I am doing homework or writing a paper for school, which helps me stay on task.
October 8th, 2008 at 8:11 pm
Well, this is my last blog. I think my creativity commitment went well. I didn’t get much of a chance to write in my journal this week. I did do relaxing techniques though. I laid down on my bed and listened to music in the dark. I listened to mostly Chicago and Daughtry. I absolutely loved it. This project was so fun and cool.
October 8th, 2008 at 11:48 pm
Today is the last day of my creativity commitment and I must say, this was an eye opening experience.
On the last day, I got the chance to set up a nice aromatic and hot bath with music in the background. I got to set up some great smelling candles.
It was a long day for me. I had to do errands all over the place and drive up and down everywhere. It was a very stressful time for me. But after I got out of my bath, I realize I’m more energetic and ready for anything.
I had tons and tons of homework that had to be done. I didn’t have the energy this morning to do it, but after the bath, I was ready.
Because of this experience, I realize that if life gets stressful, just relax and breathe. Everything will be all right and you can complete so much more just by having time to yourself.
October 8th, 2008 at 11:59 pm
Well, a while back, okay basically from the beginning, I switched my commitment around. I was just going to write lyrics like every other day instead of a journal. Instead, I took it a step further. I’ve still been writing the lyrics/songs/poems, but I also have been creating and producing my own music to them. So my plan is to turn in the lyrics and scratch work that I’ve came up with and also a semi-finished copy of a song or two.
October 9th, 2008 at 12:30 am
I just finished gathering all my work on paper. I did quite a bit of writing now that I look back on it. It became very easy and very routine the more I got into it. I just finished making the CD also. I totaled around 7 songs but only 4 are on the CD. Those are the more “school appropriate” songs. ———For the second part of my commitment, the sleep: that didn’t go as planned. My sleep pattern has been messed up for a long time. So, I figured changing it maybe would help energy level and level of alertness and effectiveness. Those assumptions were very true, but staying on a well balanced sleep schedule was nearly impossible for me.
October 9th, 2008 at 9:46 am
The commitment has been going pretty well. It’s just a daily thing now, and there’s nothing really special to it.
I listen to Bach and Mozart now just as background noise while I do my homework.
The debates just come as they will, but I just think about what I’m doing while I get into debates. I don’t feel too creative from it, but it’s still fun.
October 9th, 2008 at 9:55 am
For my Creativity Commitment Project, I did journal writing and food for health. To have evidence that I did this, I wrote in a journal every other night describing my feelings, how my day went, and what I did that day. For my food for health, I took notecards and put the date on the top of them. I wrote down what I ate for Breakfast, Lunch, Snack and Dinner. Than I went back to my sheet and observed what the healthy choices are and what the recomended foods are.
My Creativity Commitment ended up going very well. As I look back at everything that I have put together, I notice that I have written a lot in the past 4 weeks.
October 9th, 2008 at 10:05 am
This is the last entry, which means it’s offical, the commitments are OVER. They weren’t bad, don’t get me wrong. Again, I just highly dislike the weather. Um, overall I liked the commitments; they made my stress level go down a few notches, and got me away from some things. I do recommend that you continue to assign the commitments in your future classes. They are very easy to do. Just pick something you like doing, and get graded for it.
October 9th, 2008 at 8:08 pm
You know I’m glad that this is over. I will keep drawing because I like it. I feel that it will help me start finishing more of my homework.
October 13th, 2008 at 6:12 am
Overall, I would say the commitment wasn’t a failure.
I found a new way to to keep my my mind in focus while doing homework. So that is always a plus. I don’t feel any more creative than I already was, but that’s okay. I will probably continue to listen to music to keep my mind focused, it works quite well.
The debating hasn’t made me feel any more creative, but I think it still helped me. The commitment said that it “exercises your brain”, and I can feel that. It also feels good to have someone see your opinion.