Creativity Never Sleeps …!

It’s the wee hours of the night. You know that grey area between “Goodnight” and “Good Morning”. You are all tucked and cozy warm in bed but your mind is still racing with thoughts of “I need to sleep but oh wait, not until I finish going through this new idea.” And those creative juices continue to flow. No matter how tired you think, “Do I get up, find my notebook and quietly scribble and doodle my ideas or do I turn over, pull my eye-mask down and try to count sheep?” Sound familiar? The world calls us “dreamers” but in reality, we are the ones who don’t sleep.

There is always something to make, which keeps our creative minds awake. So, whether you’re an artist, a designer, a blogger, a colouring book fanatic, a crafter, a DIY’er, a carpenter or a world-renowned chef (and the list goes on …) if we put our right brain to work and imagine the impossible … there is absolutely no limits! So why not lose ourselves in mounds of creativity

cre·a·tiv·i·ty
krēāˈtivədē (noun)

1. The use of the imagination or original ideas, especially in the production of an artistic work.
2. A phenomenon whereby something new and somehow valuable is formed.

If you are anything like me, the answer is always “yes” to every single opportunity that arrives where I must be creative as hell. No matter the situation, I am always the most enthusiastic about it. Maybe even the most on the entire planet! To me, being creative and indulging in those thoughts is very normal and not something I can just hide in my back pocket. I just cannot help myself when these opportunities emerge. I want to dig deep right into the work (which to me, does not even feel like work at all) without any interruptions … kind of like a scientist with a new discovery.

But with that kind of enthusiasm comes an indefinite amount of no sleep. Those who are creative, right brain dominant as research suggests, tend to have their daily creative thoughts carry over into those well-deserved sleeping hours. For some reason, our creativity obtains some sort of clarity that empowers our mind. It is almost like some pushed the pedal to the medal in our brain. And BOOM! Suddenly everything makes sense. That design you’ve been mulling over all damn day is now amazing, your website is kicking ass, that new paint colour you couldn’t decided on now makes sense and your creative writing scribbles from earlier are just plain genius!

So why is this you ask? Well, our creative response during the night hours actually has nothing to do with what time of day it is, yet everything to do with our energy cycle. The frontal lobe in our brain is missing out on some vital energy signals which therefore leads to being slightly more creative than regular. Strangely, this is the very same creative response our brain has when one drinks alcohol. See, science and creativity do work together!

Now while being tired or having a drink (as well as just being plain bored out of our minds) is truly great for the creative process, it’s important to note that I don’t condone or encourage irresponsible drinking. I myself don’t even touch the stuff (personal choice). So, please do not be stupid in any attempt just to find your “best” creative ideas. This also includes becoming an insomniac or developing a sleeping disorder because you feel after reading this that you will do your best work at night.

However, I do condone indulging in that magical hour where creativity, imagination and inspiration come alive. That special time where you can still dream yet you are fully awake. But once those thoughts have made their way from pen to paper … go catch some well-deserved Z’s.

Now on the flip-side there are many arguments to how sleep is beneficial to one’s creativity.

Check out these great reads …

• https://www.tuck.com/creatvity-and-sleep/
• https://sleepjunkies.com/features/sleep-creativity-and-insomnia/