This week, we’ve talked a lot about creativity. We covered barriers to creativity, the cluttered mind, identifying your creative type, and the balance of discipline and distraction.
The last post of the series will build on the theme of distraction we discussed yesterday and take some inspiration from Maya Angelou.
There is a great interview in the Harvard Business Review titled “Life’s Work: An Interview with Maya Angelou”. The concept below is just one small point in the document. If you find this one interesting, I encourage you to read the full article.
Distracting the Little Mind
When she was young, her grandmother would say “You know, that wasn’t even on my littlest mind” when something surprised her.
This simple statement caused Maya to grow up thinking that we each have a “small mind” and a “large mind”. As a result, she never feels that she has writer’s block. Instead, she has always believed that if she could occupy the small mind, she could more quickly get to the big one.
So, when the writing isn’t flowing, she plays solitaire. She says she might use up a deck of cards in a week, but she emerges from the process with words on paper.
Maya Angelou occupies the small mind to make space for the big mind (making space here is my terminology)
My Story
Yesterday, I covered the things that distract my mind including routine cleaning, walking, and listening to podcasts. The concept of intentionality around distracting the “small mind” with just one approach the way Maya Angelou does with solitaire intrigues me.
What is my “one thing”? That is a tricky concept for me. If I could only use one of my distractions as a go-to when I’m stuck, the choice would likely be listening to a podcast while walking. This occupies my mind just enough, but doesn’t take up all the space if the big mind comes up with something.
When that happens, I quickly jot notes on my phone so that the big mind thinking doesn’t disappear before I get back home to flush the idea out.
Your Turn
Have you ever heard about Maya Angelou’s concept of the “little mind”?
If you had just one go-to little mind activity, what would it be?
Could the concept of the little mind inspire you to seek out your big mind?