Hey Clint. Really interesting article. Your premise that you are skipping the permission phase makes sense. Most of my life, I can blurt out the name of a tune (mostly pop) without trying. Trying will trip me up. I say to myself, I either know it or I don’t. It’s weird, but it’s something I can’t work at and if you asked me exactly how a song starts, I might not be able to tell you. If it’s in my data banks, I know it. The other night we were out to eat and I had some alcohol. The restaurant was playing oldies and I was hot with naming tunes even by the first note or two or just the percussion. It’s true that I felt relaxed. I wonder if this would work with painting. I only need one glass of wine! I’ll try it sometime.
I would try it while painting. I have lots of creative ideas when "altered" and even jot a lot of them down. But I never try to do the real heavy lifting work in that state. In other words, I'll have the idea for a story, or feature or something, I'll jot down a quick outline, but them come back to it when sober to do the heavy lifting. I think an "altered" state is good for inspiration and sadly I forgot to put that in the article.
Yep, I get what you mean about heavy lifting. Thanks for adding that. My guess is that this theory works well with stuff we already know very well in our subconscious, but I wouldn’t want to do math or update my calendar.
One of the ways I enter that OAS is with music. When I am stuck on a painting, when it's just not flowing, I will turn on music that I know very well and can sing along to without thinking (I do NOT sing well so I usually only do this when I'm sure to be alone in the studio to spare others:)). This puts me in "auto pilot" mode and I let my hand reach for the pastels without thinking about it. Often my hand will pick up a stick that I think can't possibly be correct but always turns out to be the exact color I needed in that moment. In my unaltered state I would not have picked up that particular color judging it wrong without even trying. The process fascinates me and makes me feel like I am just a conduit anyway and stopping my mind from thinking and judging allows to come through whatever wants to come through.
I also do some automatic writing but without any aids like music, drugs or alcohol. I just pick up a pen and notebook and start writing whatever my hand wants to write. Sometimes it's easier than others and my pen flies across the page, other times I find myself starting to critique what I wrote or insert my will into the next sentence. If I can't find a way to stop thinking again I will stop. The editing and critiquing part comes much later, after all those are done with an analytical mind while the first draft should come from the other half of my brain. I end up with some flash fiction that I have no idea where it came from and can be quite interesting to read (where DID those thoughts come from??).
I have never tried painting or writing while under the influence of alcohol or weed (both tend to make me sleepy) but who knows...:)
I wonder if that phenomenon you wrote about is what has led so many creatives into the abyss of addiction, where they doubt their ability to perform or produce art without such "help". But many of those who have recovered will say that they are even more creative without that influence.
Maybe they did find other ways to enter that lovely OAS.
First was my first visit to Vancouver BC, I made a deliberate stop at a lovely wine bar which featured a painting studio in an adjacent room! It was a brilliant combination, I was allowed to paint anything I wanted and it was a blast. It was one of the reasons I fell in love with Vancouver.
Second, is the fact that I do prefer painting in the evening or even late at night, after I have relaxed with a glass of wine and have no other world issues to deal with. I don't know that I can shout it has made my art great, but I do enjoy it!
It explores 'the theory of psychiatrist Finn Skårderud — that humans are born with a blood alcohol content (BAC) deficiency of 0.05%, and that being at 0.05% makes one more creative and relaxed.' A group of teachers have a couple of drinks before school each day to test the theory and find that it improves their lessons.
Not sure if new non-alcoholic herbal tonics like Sentia would do the same to creativity and spontaneity without the after-effects.
Have you read Blink by Malcolm Gladwell? I don't know how he wrote an entire book about it, but the main gist of the book was that the brain is a computer that processes and simply gets to the correct answer immediately. However, we often choose to analyze and reason, and that cognitive processing doesn't always work well.... I'm normally a huge fan of analyzing and reasoning, but we've learned when out playing Team Trivia to try to go with our Blink response when we have one, because otherwise we'll explore every conceivable wrong option and work out justifications for why a particular wrong answer "makes sense." It seems that your OAS theory is a good explanation for relaxing and letting your brain get the answers!
I chuckled my way through this. If I have more than one glass of wine I fall asleep so it might not work for me. :)
What about mindfulness training?
Worth linking to again, I believe this "slightly less than two drinks" rule is actually God's algorithm:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qv8pZX7FaT0
Hey Clint. Really interesting article. Your premise that you are skipping the permission phase makes sense. Most of my life, I can blurt out the name of a tune (mostly pop) without trying. Trying will trip me up. I say to myself, I either know it or I don’t. It’s weird, but it’s something I can’t work at and if you asked me exactly how a song starts, I might not be able to tell you. If it’s in my data banks, I know it. The other night we were out to eat and I had some alcohol. The restaurant was playing oldies and I was hot with naming tunes even by the first note or two or just the percussion. It’s true that I felt relaxed. I wonder if this would work with painting. I only need one glass of wine! I’ll try it sometime.
I would try it while painting. I have lots of creative ideas when "altered" and even jot a lot of them down. But I never try to do the real heavy lifting work in that state. In other words, I'll have the idea for a story, or feature or something, I'll jot down a quick outline, but them come back to it when sober to do the heavy lifting. I think an "altered" state is good for inspiration and sadly I forgot to put that in the article.
Yep, I get what you mean about heavy lifting. Thanks for adding that. My guess is that this theory works well with stuff we already know very well in our subconscious, but I wouldn’t want to do math or update my calendar.
One of the ways I enter that OAS is with music. When I am stuck on a painting, when it's just not flowing, I will turn on music that I know very well and can sing along to without thinking (I do NOT sing well so I usually only do this when I'm sure to be alone in the studio to spare others:)). This puts me in "auto pilot" mode and I let my hand reach for the pastels without thinking about it. Often my hand will pick up a stick that I think can't possibly be correct but always turns out to be the exact color I needed in that moment. In my unaltered state I would not have picked up that particular color judging it wrong without even trying. The process fascinates me and makes me feel like I am just a conduit anyway and stopping my mind from thinking and judging allows to come through whatever wants to come through.
I also do some automatic writing but without any aids like music, drugs or alcohol. I just pick up a pen and notebook and start writing whatever my hand wants to write. Sometimes it's easier than others and my pen flies across the page, other times I find myself starting to critique what I wrote or insert my will into the next sentence. If I can't find a way to stop thinking again I will stop. The editing and critiquing part comes much later, after all those are done with an analytical mind while the first draft should come from the other half of my brain. I end up with some flash fiction that I have no idea where it came from and can be quite interesting to read (where DID those thoughts come from??).
I have never tried painting or writing while under the influence of alcohol or weed (both tend to make me sleepy) but who knows...:)
I wonder if that phenomenon you wrote about is what has led so many creatives into the abyss of addiction, where they doubt their ability to perform or produce art without such "help". But many of those who have recovered will say that they are even more creative without that influence.
Maybe they did find other ways to enter that lovely OAS.
This is what your observation brought to my mind!
First was my first visit to Vancouver BC, I made a deliberate stop at a lovely wine bar which featured a painting studio in an adjacent room! It was a brilliant combination, I was allowed to paint anything I wanted and it was a blast. It was one of the reasons I fell in love with Vancouver.
Second, is the fact that I do prefer painting in the evening or even late at night, after I have relaxed with a glass of wine and have no other world issues to deal with. I don't know that I can shout it has made my art great, but I do enjoy it!
Have you heard of the Danish movie 'Another Round' with Mads Mikkelsen? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Another_Round_(film)
It explores 'the theory of psychiatrist Finn Skårderud — that humans are born with a blood alcohol content (BAC) deficiency of 0.05%, and that being at 0.05% makes one more creative and relaxed.' A group of teachers have a couple of drinks before school each day to test the theory and find that it improves their lessons.
Not sure if new non-alcoholic herbal tonics like Sentia would do the same to creativity and spontaneity without the after-effects.
Perhaps a fine line between "optimal altered state" (disinhibition)and impairment. Practice in a safe environment.
Have you read Blink by Malcolm Gladwell? I don't know how he wrote an entire book about it, but the main gist of the book was that the brain is a computer that processes and simply gets to the correct answer immediately. However, we often choose to analyze and reason, and that cognitive processing doesn't always work well.... I'm normally a huge fan of analyzing and reasoning, but we've learned when out playing Team Trivia to try to go with our Blink response when we have one, because otherwise we'll explore every conceivable wrong option and work out justifications for why a particular wrong answer "makes sense." It seems that your OAS theory is a good explanation for relaxing and letting your brain get the answers!