Day Dreaming Pays

Do you day dream? Did you get in trouble in school for day dreaming? Well do I have good news for you. Day dreaming is one of the tools necessary for a creative life. There are two accomplished artists I am familiar with, the writer Sue Monk Kidd and choreographer Twyla Tharp, who both suggest (and I am paraphrasing here) that day dreaming is essential to creativity and a creative life.

A couple of years ago I attended a workshop in South Carolina and Sue Monk Kidd was one of the speakers. She talked about going out on the dock in the morning and sitting quietly to let her mind wander. This is something she does before going into her office at home to write.

Twyla Tharp, in her book, "The Creative Habit", suggests that we develop a habit of "mental mindless wandering" and that daydreaming "is the exact opposite of meditation." She suggests that "you are trying to tease them [thoughts] forward until you can latch onto them."

This was such good news for me. I am a day dreamer by nature and many times when I would sit at my desk to write, the blank page staring back at me, I would immediately drift off into la-la land. Then I felt guilty thinking "geez I should be using every moment I set aside to be actively writing."

My daydreaming has produced the germ of the idea for a children's book and the idea for the plush toy named "Billy Bear" to go with it. That bear with its wire-rimmed glasses sits on the window sill above my writing desk as a totem to my creativity. He also serves as a reminder that daydreaming is serious creative work.

Shower Your Way to Creativity

OK, raise your hand if you have ever had a great idea while driving or taking a shower? Right! All of us. In Julia Cameron's great book, "The Artist's Way", she talks about how great ideas come when we are doing repetitive tasks or as I like to think of it, chores. It can be chores like scrubbing dishes, walking the dog or sweeping the floor.


My theory about why this happens is that our internal critic, our logic (left) brain is busy on a task so our artist, our creative (right) brain can sneak past it and come out to play without worrying about getting its head lopped off. Anyone relate?

All kinds of ideas may come: A melody for a song, a poem, a title for a piece of writing, dialogue for a movie, computer code, a marketing idea or the answer to a question. Often times the ideas that come to me are to solve a challenge I am currently working on or are related to my current project.


While I am doing these mundane tasks and inspiration here is my trick for catching those ideas as they fly by. I carry a notebook and pen in my car and jot down anything that bubbles up. When I go for a walk I carry a small pen and a bit of paper in my back pocket. If all else fails, I text it to myself.


What in the world do I do with all these ideas and tidbits that aren't used immediately?...Well, so glad you asked. I have an "ideas file" my computer and an "ideas page" in my notebook. When I am feeling blocked or unmotivated I refer to them. Of course, I can also go take a shower or do a chore to get the juices flowing.

So when our mother's said "go do your chores" little did we know that was good advice both for life and creativity. I am off to do my chores...