Creative-writing classes might suggest to the mind a room of chairs and desks equipped with paper and pens or screens and notebooks. In other words, a set environment for a sedentary activity. But this doesn’t have to be the case. In fact, replacing a classroom session with an excursion into the open air can offer …
Why does creativity bring joy? According to ancient Indian texts, the sacral chakra is one of the seven central energy points in the body. Located about four finger-widths below the belly button, it’s associated with the colour orange, pleasure and creativity. Its Sanskrit name, Svadhishthana, means ‘dwelling place of the Self’. What happens when your …
What is the draw of people-watching for creatives? ‘If you’re people-watching, you see how it’s a story evolving in front of you,’ says London-based artist David Richardson, whose work captures the scenes unfolding in the capital’s public spaces, be that a fish market or outside the Houses of Parliament. ‘You notice more, too, when you …
Read moreHow people-watching can be used for artistic inspiration
Why are melodramatic people and art so often dismissed? Exaggerated, histrionic, over the top – a melodramatic person creates life in vibrant colours, for there is no incident too tiny to be symbolic of Great Things. Emotions are heartfelt and opinions expressed in extreme ways. And while this can be entertaining from a distance, up …
Read moreWhy embracing melodrama and big emotions can be healthy
How to identify an anti-hero Antiheroes can be any gender, but they must be the star of their show. As a principal character, they embody the opposite of what you’d expect. In fact, it’s these very qualities that drive their appeal. Antiheroes embody the shadow side of humanity. They’re the parts of ourselves we despise …
Why the brain is wired for pareidolia There’s much conjecture about why people see identifiable faces, animals and shapes in random patterns, but it seems the brain is wired to notice or look for something recognisable. It’s widely thought that the brain is primed to see faces (the most common form of pareidolia) and is …
