Yesterday somehow I was led to this really cool, really relevant quote from Brenda Ueland who wrote a book in the 1930’s called “If You Want to Write: A Book About Art, Independence and Spirit.”

I think I’ve read it, but I’m not sure I read it all the way through. I recall a similar statement to this, but I could’ve sworn it was by Dorothea Brande, who wrote a similar book around the same time called Becoming a Writer, whose book I did read and all the way through. I’ve just reserved Ueland’s from the library.

Anyway, here’s the quote:

“So you see, imagination needs moodling — long, inefficient, happy idling, dawdling and puttering.”

As the author of the article I found this in said, “Sounds lovely, doesn’t it?”  Oh yeah, The article itself, on the website Exploring Women’s Creativity is entitled “Take Time for Creative Moodling.” The subtitle is, “Relax and Take it Easy; It Helps Enhance Your Creativity.”

How’s that? Well, it has to do with the type of waves your brain generates. Alpha waves, induced by the relaxed, puttering state, are where you get your greatest bursts of creativity. When you’re focused on what you’re going to do next, or how to accomplish your goals (“focused concentration”) that’s Beta waves and they’re too focused to entertain the types of whimsical, “irrelevant” thoughts that go along with creating something new. If you’re too tired, you pass right through the Alpha state and into the theta state, which is drowsiness, and from there into delta… zzzzzz. 

I could SO relate to all of this.  More tonorrow. Maybe.