Creativity is often imagined as a sudden flash of inspiration—the artist who suddenly sees the painting, the writer who wakes up with the first sentence of a book, or the “Eureka!” moment when a seemingly impossible problem suddenly reveals its answer.

But creativity is not only about those dramatic moments.

Creativity is part of being human. It is the ability to see something differently, to make a new connection, to find another possibility when the obvious one is no longer working. We use it when we cook, solve a problem, raise a child, design a garden, navigate a relationship, start a business, or simply find a new way of looking at our own life.

And perhaps creativity is less about forcing ourselves to “be creative” and more about creating the conditions in which creativity can naturally arise.

Creativity Needs Space

One of the biggest obstacles to creativity is that our minds are rarely given the opportunity to wander.

We move from one task to another. We answer messages while eating. We listen to something while driving. We fill the quiet moments with our phones. Even when we are resting, part of the mind may still be occupied with what needs to be done next.

Yet some of our most creative thoughts can emerge when we are not deliberately trying to produce anything.

Research on creative incubation suggests that stepping away from a problem after consciously working on it can sometimes support subsequent creative thinking. A review of the research on incubation discusses how a period away from a problem may allow new associations and perspectives to emerge, although the precise mechanisms behind the effect are still being explored.

More recent research has continued to explore this relationship. In a 2025 study involving creative writing, greater mind-wandering during an incubation period was associated with greater improvement in creative performance when participants returned to a previously encountered writing prompt.

This is why an idea sometimes appears while taking a shower, walking, gardening, or preparing a cup of tea.

We finally stopped trying so hard—and something had room to surface.

Give Your Mind Some Empty Space

There is a difference between being mentally occupied and being mentally engaged.

Empty space is not wasted time.

Try sitting quietly for ten or fifteen minutes without immediately reaching for your phone. Take a slow walk without listening to a podcast. Look out the window. Sit beside a tree. Let your attention rest on the sounds around you.

At first, this may feel uncomfortable. We are so accustomed to stimulation that silence can seem almost unfamiliar.

But gradually, something changes.

Thoughts begin to move more freely. Memories arise. Connections appear. Questions that were buried beneath the noise may become audible.

You don’t have to chase these thoughts. Simply notice them.

Research into creativity suggests that mind-wandering and spontaneous thought can play an important role in the creative process. Research summarized by the American Psychological Association describes how creative thinking involves interaction between systems associated with spontaneous thought and those involved in cognitive control, and discusses the potential value of purposeful daydreaming.

Sometimes inspiration needs to be invited rather than pursued.

Nature Gives Creativity Room to Breathe

There is something about being in nature that makes this process easier.

The natural world does not demand our attention in the same way that a screen does. The movement of leaves, the sound of birds, the changing light, the texture of bark, the rhythm of water—all of these offer gentle stimulation without requiring us to respond.

Research suggests that spending time in nature can have restorative effects on attention and may support creative thinking. The American Psychological Association’s overview of creativity research points to evidence that going outside and spending time in open natural spaces can encourage beneficial mind-wandering and enhance creativity.

More recent experimental research provides another interesting piece of the picture. A 2026 study found a significant increase in divergent-thinking performance over time among participants exposed to physical nature, with improvements in creativity associated with restorative outcomes.

You don’t necessarily need a mountain, a forest, or a long retreat.

A garden can be enough.

A walk around the neighbourhood can be enough.

Sitting under a tree for twenty minutes can be enough.

The important thing is not how impressive the landscape is. It is whether we allow ourselves to actually be there.

Stillness Is Not Inactivity

For me, there is another dimension to creativity that is easy to overlook: inner stillness.

When the mind is constantly reacting, there is very little room to perceive what is arising from within.

Stillness does not mean that thoughts disappear. It means that we are no longer compelled to follow every thought.

Meditation can be one way of developing this capacity.

When we sit quietly, we begin to notice the difference between what is continuously generated by the mind and what arises from a deeper place within us. An insight may come as a quiet knowing rather than a complicated chain of thought.

Research into creativity and spontaneous thought has begun to shed light on how different mental processes interact during creative thinking. The research summarized by the American Psychological Association describes creativity as involving both spontaneous forms of thought and more deliberate processes used to guide, evaluate, and refine ideas.

This is one reason contemplative practices can become fertile ground for creativity. They give us an opportunity to step back from our habitual mental patterns and become more receptive to something new.

The question becomes less:

“How can I make myself have a creative idea?”

and more:

“Can I become quiet enough to notice what is already trying to emerge?”

A Relaxed Mind Is Often a More Flexible Mind

Our emotional state also matters.

Research has found relationships between emotional states and different aspects of creative thinking, including divergent thinking and cognitive flexibility. At the same time, the relationship between emotion and creativity is complex, and creativity does not depend on being happy all the time.

This doesn’t mean that we need to be cheerful in order to create.

Creativity can emerge from difficult experiences, grief, uncertainty, and even pain. But there is a difference between allowing difficult emotions to inform our creativity and being chronically overwhelmed by stress.

When we feel safe enough to explore, we become more willing to experiment.

And creativity requires experimentation.

A creative mind needs permission to say:

What if?

Maybe.

Let’s try.

What happens if I look at this differently?

Protect Your Creative Environment

The environment we create around ourselves matters more than we sometimes realize.

A space does not need to be beautiful or expensive. It needs to support the state we want to cultivate.

Perhaps it is a desk near a window.

A notebook beside your meditation cushion.

A corner with plants.

A kitchen where you can experiment without rushing.

A walk that you take regularly without your phone.

Or simply a few minutes in the morning before the demands of the day begin.

We can also become intentional about what we consume.

What we read, watch, listen to, and surround ourselves with becomes part of the material from which the mind creates. Creativity needs both input and spaciousness: new experiences, ideas, images, conversations, and perspectives—and then enough quiet for them to meet one another in unexpected ways.

Creativity is also not simply a fixed quality that some people possess and others do not. Research increasingly views creativity as a capacity that can be cultivated through practice, experience, and the conditions we create around ourselves.

Don’t Judge the First Idea

Another important condition for creativity is psychological freedom.

If every idea has to be good, useful, practical, or immediately presentable, we can shut creativity down before it has a chance to develop.

The first version of an idea is often not the final version.

Write it down anyway.

Sketch it.

Say it out loud.

Try it.

Let yourself make something imperfect.

Creativity needs a period in which ideas can be explored before they are evaluated.

There is a time for generating and a time for editing. Mixing the two too early can make the inner critic louder than the creative voice. Research on creative practice similarly emphasizes the value of generating ideas freely and returning to them later to evaluate and refine them.

Creativity Enriches More Than What We Produce

Ultimately, creativity is not only valuable because it helps us make something.

It changes the way we experience life.

A creative person notices possibilities where others may see limitations. A familiar tree becomes a source of wonder. A difficult situation becomes a question rather than a dead end. A conversation opens a new perspective. A meal becomes an experiment. An ordinary morning becomes an opportunity to notice colour, light, sound, fragrance, and presence.

Creativity makes life more alive.

And perhaps this is why cultivating creativity is not simply about becoming more productive or innovative. It is about becoming more receptive to life.

The more space we create within ourselves, the more we may notice.

The more we notice, the more connections we make.

The more connections we make, the more possibilities become visible.

And sometimes, when we become quiet enough, we discover that creativity was never something we had to manufacture.

It was already there.

We simply needed to create the conditions for it to emerge.

A Simple Practice for Cultivating Creativity

The next time you feel stuck, instead of pushing harder, try creating a little space.

Go outside.

Leave your phone behind.

Walk slowly.

Sit somewhere quiet.

Take a few conscious breaths.

Look at something in nature for a while.

Then sit still and allow your mind to wander.

Don’t ask yourself, “What should I create?”

Instead, ask:

“What is trying to emerge?”

And give it time.

You may be surprised by what comes.

Finally, explore Be 8nfinite’s Healing H’Art and the healing effects of the creative expression 

Research & Further Reading

• Ritter, S. M., & Dijksterhuis, A. (2014). Creativity—the unconscious foundations of the incubation period. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 8, 215.
• McDaniel, C., Habibi, A., & Kaplan, J. (2025). Mind wandering during creative incubation predicts increases in creative performance in a writing task. Scientific Reports, 15, 24629.
• Jafari Ranjbar, M., Cho, Y., Zenti, S., & Gilbert, S. B. (2026). Physical nature enhances creativity, while virtual nature strengthens creative self-concept. Frontiers in Psychology, 16, 1706001.
• Weir, K. (2024). The science behind creativity. Monitor on Psychology, 53(3). American Psychological Association.