The flow of thought

26/6/13

Martin Locock

mlocock

Outline

Flow

Creativity and focus

Reflecting and recording

The haiku in theory and practice

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Flow: Optimal experience, the combination of absorption, effort, and discipline

Flow

Creativity and focus

Creative impulse• To make a change in the world• To convert thought into action• To share an insight with others

Focus• Absorption• Intensity• = flow

Photo: Rose White yarnivore

Managing creativity

• Leadership and creativity• Creation is easy; craft is hard,

quality is variable• The creative paradox (or, “There

was a young man from Hong Kong”)

Poetry and reflection

• Capture moments of transformation• Capture feelings and texture of

experience• Jack Mezirow – critical reflection

transformational learning re-thinking past experiences

Reflecting and recording

• Reflect > Record > Review

• Capturing the essence of insights and experience

The haiku

Twilight

Midges cloud the air

Their frantic activity

Getting them nowhere

The haiku

Twilight

Midges cloud the air

Their frantic activity

Getting them nowhere

•Strong image, simple language, two halves, can be small subject

Rules

• Japanese tradition

• A title

• Three lines

• Five, seven, five syllables

• Words can be omitted

• Changing moment: external > internal, describe > feel/think; two aspects of something

Examples

Proverb

Fifty years’ wisdom:

in spring prepare the woodpile

ready for autumn

Kijo Murakami

First autumn morning:the mirror I stare intoshows my father's face

Haiku exercise

• Topic: a discovery or insight• Content: context and event• Focus on how it felt, how it

changed you• No room for irrelevancies

Having a go

• Find a thought 3 minutes• Write it down as a phrase• First draft 5 minutes• Write it neatly• Title• Pairs: read aloud

– What was best, what needs work 5 minutes• Quick revision 2 minutes• Final version: reading

Judging a poem

• Does it contain a truth?• Does it express that truth?• Does it communicate that truth?

Irrelevant questions:• Is the idea new?• Is the idea one you are committed to?• Would someone else have written it

differently?

More words

http://changingmoment.blogspot.com

The Great Wave, Hokusai (1760-1849)

mlocock@gmail.com