The Groove Issue 96 - How To Use Boredom for Creativity
HOW TO USE BOREDOM FOR CREATIVITY
For most of us, summertime equals a slowdown in work and related commitments. Also, for many of us, this time inevitably brings some periods of boredom with it. While being bored might be perceived as a negative thing, it does have a direct relationship with generating ideas and enhanced creative thinking when used the right way.
Are you one of those people who are prone to boredom? Like when you know how to do something really well because you’ve done it many times, and you need to add new things to your practice or business to keep growing?
This type of personality also has many advantages in the world of creative thinking. But it must be harnessed carefully so that you don’t end up in the space where you don’t get to see your goals come to fruition. You can’t let your boredom-inclinations rob you from the patience to stick with the work that needs to happen before they materialize.
When I thought about a superb artist who tended to get bored after certain periods of time and used those moments to expand to the max, Francis Picabia came to mind.
If You Want to Have Clean Ideas, Change Them Like Shirts
Francis Picabia in his studio in 1929.
There wasn’t almost any style available to artists in the first half of the 20th century that Picabia didn’t experiment with. Early in his career he tried impressionism and pointillism. But in 1909, the new art movement of the moment, Cubism, piqued Picabia’s interest and he decided to explore it until 1915.
Picabia was definitely prone to boredom, but only after he had milked something to the point he thought he couldn’t anymore. Naturally, around 1915 he switched again, this time to Dada. Fascinated by his friendship and conversations with Marcel Duchamp, he became known as a provocateur and embarked upon editing and publishing his own magazine as well as writing poetry, playing with film and even creating his own ballet.
The artist avoided repeating the same style over and over again. He had the presence of mind to acknowledge that he needed to move on when he felt the discomfort that made him realize that he was producing work that didn’t expand his creative abilities.
On the left: Udnie (Young American Girl, The Dance), 1913, oil on canvas, from Picabia’s Cubist years. On the right: La Nuit espagnole, 1922, enamel paint and oil on canvas, from his Dada phase.
In 1922, Francis Picabia wrote, “If you want to have clean ideas, change them like shirts.”
Boy, did he live by those words his whole life.
Later in his career he said: “A free spirit takes liberties even with liberty itself,” as he was turning back to figuration in 1925. Then in the 1940s, his work took a surprising turn: he produced a series of paintings based on the nude glamour photos in French "girlie" magazines like Paris Sex-Appeal, in a garish style which appears to subvert traditional, academic nude painting.
For Picabia, boredom pushed him to leave no stone unturned in his almost 50-year-old career.
On the left: Femme au Bouquet, 1942, oil on canvas. On the right: Danger de la Force, 1947-1950, oil on canvas.
The Science of Boredom and Creativity
Researchers have theorized that boredom is a regulatory state that alerts the individual when their goals are no longer fulfilling and motivates the search for novel and/or meaningful projects. Based on this interpretation, it makes sense to do a profound inventory of your goals to see if this is the reason for your tedium.
But given that boredom involves a sense of time stretching or standing still, it is possible that the relationship between curiosity and creativity is especially relevant during an episode of fatigue or indifference because you will be forced to find new ways to rekindle your passions.
The actual point where boredom becomes a channel for creativity is when you have the honesty to evaluate if you are bored like Picabia, when you have left no stone unturned in a particular area in your business or career.
Or, if on the contrary, you haven’t explored it enough but the difficulties and challenges along the way have made you feel abhorrent toward that space.
Leo Tolstoy used to say that boredom is a “desire for desires,” so next time you find yourself bored to death, use that as an opportunity to wrestle with the reality of why you feel that way.
Then you can emerge prepared to authentically explore other areas, styles, or ideas. Or you may decide to stick a little longer with what you’ve been doing, finding ways to add or subtract things that would make your venture exciting again.
UNLEASH YOUR CREATIVE GENIUS
I’ve put together a free webinar for those of you who are not members of my online course, Jumpstart.
If you’d like to watch it, please register here (it is on auto-repeat every 15 minutes once you have registered).
HOW CREATIVITY RULES THE WORLD
I am super thrilled that my book won the International Book Award in the Business/Entrepreneurship category!
Have you already gotten your copy?
It’s in three formats: hardcover, eBook and audiobook. Get it here.
ALSO! For the month of July, you can get my audiobook for free (PLUS 2 other books!) on Audible if you sign up as a new member this month! Click here to learn more!
TEDX TALK
Have you already watched my TEDx Talk: “NFTs, Graffiti and Sedition: How Artists Invent The Future”?
I share three lessons I have learned from artists that always work for anyone in their careers. Watch it here.