I like to think of creative practices like several branches and twigs of a massive ancient tree, or an endless, intertwined vine. A creative mindset might have offered the first solution to explain the world around us, or what we call myths. The Sumerian peoples provide the first ever recorded myth compilation, carved in cuneiform tablets around the second millennium BCE.For some,  myths might be “just” a magical and non relevant story for the 21st century, but according to Nietzche in ‘The Birth of Tragedy’:

 

“without myth...every culture loses its healthy, creative natural power...” 

 

 

So, perhaps we could claim creativity is part of our set of skills. Yet, most people see it as something reserved for the artistic, innovative ones, the elites. It should not be that way, it’s something we all carry in different ways, like a gift from ancestry. We, as creatives, should pass the message along, creativity is in everyone.

 

As someone whose background in the creative practices is the contemporary and visual arts, and photography, I’ve always been “used to a more hermit approach” (Nico's Journal) to the creative process. And what a ground-shaking experience has it been for me to create and develop collectively! Having said that, I went down the rabbit hole, comparing, while analysing such processes and how they affect me. After all, the specific creative practice of advertising is not just about sales and profit, but people, complex people, their hopes, dreams, fears, perceptions (me, being one of them of course). As Neil French explains, “every advertisement is aimed at one person; the woman holding the magazine, the man in front of the T.V… although they may well be surrounded by people, we are talking only to one individual. OK?”. From here, it felt like some introspection had to be done. If you wish to understand others -whether it’s clients, colleagues, consumers- it’s only natural to start by yourself. 

 

Whether you identify as a tree-hugger or a fully pragmatic individual, science holds the irrefutable truth: from the matter around us we come, and we all go back to it. So why not periodically interact with it? “Wander off!”(Journal), hike, meditate, switch your brain-focus from that brief or final piece, to what’s around you. Once your body stays in motion, there is a massive amount of work happening in your brain in the backrooms. As Rosamund Harding explains on ‘An Anatomy on Inspiration’

 

“it is possible that the rhythmic movement of a carriage or a train, of a horse and to a much lesser degree of walking, may produce on sensitive minds a slightly hypnotic effect conducive to that state of mind most favourable to the birth of ideas”

 

The great filmmaker Werner Herzog (Cave of the forgotten dreams) comments on the same phenomena of letting ideas cool down and wander, confessing on ‘A Guide for The Perplexed’: “an idea comes to me, and then, over a period of time –perhaps while driving or walking– this blurred vision becomes clearer in my mind, pulling itself into focus.”

 

For me, nature holds solutions and inspiration to many creative questions. Biomimicry is a common element when innovating. Think of de Mestral’s life-changing invention, Velcro, inspired by the Burdock seeds, or Nakamatsu’s birdwatching which inspired him to take the Shinkansen trains, from loud and irritating to silent, sharp fast machines, thus reducing energy consumption by mimicking the Kingfisher’s beak! Go out there, notice the endless inspiration you can find, I found that nature is a mirror and a spa, I can go crazy and imagine whatever I want. 

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If you are reading this, you surely know how draining it is to be creative at times because we pour so much of ourselves into whatever we do, to give our best. This led me to a different topic: health, whether physical or mental.

Ironically, even advertisers have fallen into health-trends hype. Buying supplements, devices to improve our -allegedly- poor health (according to some influencer) restrictive diets, etc. But guess what? A good stroll surrounded by nature in a forest or park will not only improve your idea-production skills, but also tackle 21st century’s epidemic: stress. Dr Qing Li (‘Into the Forest’) comments on the importance of managing stress “not just for our own health but for the health of our communities, at home and in the workplace...” He details the main benefits of forest-bathing -in Japanese “Shinrin-Yoku”- claiming that there is scientific data to prove the benefits, not only to aid in physical matters (like blood pressure, cardiovascular and metabolic health), but also to improve concentration and lift depressive states.

 

Wandering and growing in nature helped me, but it was time to come back to the den of my mind. Time to start moving around those pieces, explain myself what processes help me when ideating, creating, producing, finessing and presenting those to others. While reflecting on the many differences of working on my own and working with others, there was a common character silently appearing in both circumstances: the imposter’s syndrome.

 

It only takes a couple seconds to find endless articles online and self-help books (mostly on a western approach) on how to deal with, conquer and mute that imposter. But what if I told you poor fellow is there to help rather than to negatively disrupt your consciousness? What if this imposter is actually your 13 year-old self, stuttering while presenting, or when you had it difficult at making friends and today are fearful at all times of saying the wrong thing? What if they don’t want you to fail, but to protect yourself and be ready just in case? To me, the imposter is a part of ourselves that needs to be tended to and educated, not tamed or destroyed. It needs a translator. It might speak to us about pain and fear, but the more we ignore it or hide it, the more their messages overlap and confuse us.

Stefano Mancuso elaborates in his book ‘The Future is Vegetable’ on an experiment called “Lamarck and Desfontaines”, conducted on sensitive plants, which after being carefully dropped, stopped folding their leaves, but kept fearing horizontal, sudden movements. 

 

If simpler, smaller organisms can learn to recognise which stimuli is dangerous, I think we also can. We can learn from pain and fear, and prepare ourselves so we don’t freeze. Nobody wants to be a creative caught on a freeze loop. We can choose to learn from negative experiences, but never ever, to hide them. From ourselves not others.

 

We need to pay attention to the unconscious, to our feelings and the way we treat ourselves and others. Mental health -just like physical health- is not constant; we all experience moments of unstableness or psychosis. We imagine situations or ideas, and they become real to us, they turn into ads, movies, books, music, you name it. The term “mad genius” -as controversial as it might be- is not a fantasy. Dean Simonton (‘The Mad Genius Paradox’) declares that “to a certain degree, creativity requires that the person not filter out putatively extraneous ideas and stimuli, thereby allowing the individual to ‘think outside the box’ - the ‘box’ that defines the constraints governing routine thinking.” I would say in simpler words, “allow yourself to be a bit more insane”. (Journal) There might be some neurodivergent traits in you, so what? I know I have them and I’ve learned to “take pride in them and make them shine as the tool I bring to the table”.

 

“Sometimes things just aren’t grand!” (Journal), and they might be awful. Do you think it’s best to keep it to yourself?. No!, vent out, share -whether good or bad-, find those people you can be yourself with and trust. Understand all kinds of people, engage into their areas of practice. Grasp the business, strategy, client, production, creative, etc. approaches. By truly understanding others’ roles, the better we understand ours, which creates a more empathetic and respectful working place. You might not like someone, but in order to work in a team, you have to trust in them.

 

“Respect your creative practice” (Journal), bring to teamwork your current best self, be in the present, appreciate it. Add your own beat to the collective rhythm, be sure your sound adds to the harmony, whether you are an introvert or the most extrovert in the room. Please explore the world, all the ideas. Have a critical mindset; watch ads; take a genuine interest in the arts; read books; feed your brain and soul too. Have fun while working; be passionate; trust yourself; look for those meaningful connections that you can trust -even if they make you mad sometimes-; and periodically go back to the origins, yours and the Earth’s. The answers are in us, trust your -own- nature.