The New York Times has a series of five articles on creativity (yay!), which I've not been following. Yeah, I doodle (day 1), lots, and, yes, I've written a poem or three (day 2), but daydreaming, that got my attention. I do it a lot, have been all my life. And I'm aware of the connection, not simply through my own experience, but through commentary on the default mode network in the brain, which is the daydreaming resting state. So....
Elizabeth Passarella, Day 3: Master the Art of Daydreaming, NYTimes, June 4, 2025.
Sometimes, I miss my subway stop. But on the whole, daydreaming is a positive thing, a portal to more happiness and innovative thinking. We could probably be getting more out of it, though, said Madeleine Gross, a research scientist at the University of California, Santa Barbara, who studies curiosity and creativity. “Our minds wander for a substantial portion of the day, and we’re often passive passengers,” she said. “That feels like a missed opportunity.”
People who are inherently creative tend to daydream more. Higher rates of daydreaming go hand in hand with performing well on divergent thinking tasks, Dr. Gross said. [...]
But it works both ways. “Daydreaming can also make you more creative,” she said. The key is following a few rules. That might sound nuts — it’s daydreaming! — but think about how often your mind wanders right to your stressful to-do list. [...] Research shows that taking time away from a problem to let your thoughts “incubate” in the background can prompt surprising solutions.
The article ends with and exercise in intentional daydreaming. If this all seems strange to you then give it a try.
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