We often say someone is “creative”, but what is creativity good for? It’s not just for solving problems, although it takes a lot of creativity and expertise to figure out the thorniest issues. Creativity is a way we express ourselves and stand out; there are lots of experts but the best have both the creativity and the expertise to get a job done.

While I believe most animals evolved to have some creativity, humans take this trait to the max (as we do with most things). Consider the Lion Man — a 40,000 year old statue of a humanized lion carved from ivory. Read the origin date again — it was created forty thousand years ago my cave men! It’s about a foot tall, has the head of a lion and body of human. It’s one of the earliest examples of human creativity we know about, in addition to all of the cave paintings that date to approximately the same time. But unlike cave painting which tend to depict scenes of real life, this statue is something else. It’s a fictional creature. Nothing like that ever existed in nature, it’s a figment of someone’s imagination. The statue, which was found in many bits and pieces, shows signs of a lot of handling. Perhaps it was used as a story-telling device, like the story-teller rings and bracelets of various American tribes. Given my predilections for stories, I see it as one of the first examples of illustrated fantasy. Here is a link from the British Museum that exhibited this early masterpiece:

Creativity needs space — not just physical space, although that is always nice to have, but mental space as well. The carver of the Lion Man needed the luxury of time to get that task done. Creativity takes up a lot of our working memory — the part of our cognitive capacity where most of our thinking is done. Working memory is an extremely limited resource. If we spend too much of it on worrying, then there is no room left to think. When I was teaching cognitive science and product design, I used a metaphor to represent working memory. We pull things — ideas, routines, rules, etc. — from our long term memory storage (routinely called memory) onto our working memory “desk”. There, we examine it, add bits of information we notice from the environment around us — color, sound, shape, temperature, texture, numbers, etc. — and we combine it all to form thoughts. But the desk is limited in size. Unfortunately, our feelings and anxieties also take up space on this desk and can crowd out other information that helps us understand the problem, apply our skills to develop a good solution, and implement a plan of action on how to execute that solution. When the desk is crowded with unnecessary information and feelings, there is no room left for creativity.

Creativity is a skill that can be learned, although some people are naturally gifted. But, as with any skill, practice makes a difference. And creativity needs space in working memory to flourish.

Working memory “desks” come in different sizes — for individuals and across species of animals too. Chimpanzees seem to have a larger working memory than the average human. Without language to help condense information on this limited resource, perhaps they need more.

One of the aspirations of modern society is that everyone has the time and space to maximize their creativity. But things continually impede this hope. As young kids, most of us have the time and space for creativity. Then school starts and the demands on our time and working memory skyrocket. As we grow up, there’s work and relationships; both take a lot of energy and creativity to succeed. Then some of us have kids — kids are exhausting. There are a lot of rewards to having kids, but in the day-to-day of surviving parenting, there is little room for excess creativity. Recently, for me, my civic life also takes up time and the stress from worrying about our government saps my energy and creativity. Living through “boring times” meant that we had more time to develop our own curiosities and passions. That’s the promise of a free, highly technological and civilly evolved society. Yet, we seem to fight the same battles over and over again. It’s also exhausting.

To stay sane and inspired, I read. So for this holiday season, I’ve arranged to participate in a science fiction series sale promotion. I hope this helps you keep calm and increases your levels of happiness, allowing for the flow of creativity to return.

In this promo, I included my very first book, Suddenly, Paris. It’s part of the duology — first book of two. I’ve always considered returning and writing more stories in this setting — it’s a fertile ground for characters and plot, but to date I’ve been busy with other projects, including helping to raise my granddaughter. This story actually deals with how people fail to cope with the devastating truth about their identity. I think it’s appropriate for the times we live in.

Have a wonderful holiday season and I will write one more time before the end of this difficult year. May the future go a bit easier, giving us all more creative freedoms.