Finding And Breaking Out Of Your "Box", Featuring The Wisdom Of Twyla Tharp

   As the lovely Twyla Tharp puts it in her book The Creative Habit, one of the best ways to boost your creativity is to "start with a box". Now, of course this works out pretty well in most cases because boxes are universal, practical, and simple. They are a basic starting point, a clean slate. It is even said sometimes that instead of "thinking outside of the box", you should do away with the box entirely. But before we can do that with our box, or start building upon the box, first we must recognize what our "box" is.

  Humans, as a rule, are slaves to routine. This is really just a primal method of survival, because comfort and security usually induces courage, which in turn ensures a lengthy lifetime. Now, of course, our nomadic ancestors would probably protest this, especially considering that routine is a major part of a human's current contemporary lifestyle. Because, while routine may strengthen memory and be the general causation between learning new things, it can also drive us into a rut. In Tharp's book, she defines a rut as being in a state where the wheels on the car are turning, but you remain in the same place (Tharp 185). In other words, the box is empty, and you don't know how to fill it. So, how do you go about pushing your creative "car" out of the ditch from which it refuses to move?

  Tharp gives three steps (188-189):

  

  See the rut.

To do this, step back and look at the big picture, or identify your "Box". What seems repetitive? What isn't making sense? What is causing a roadblock in your work? If you start reviewing your work, then you can be sure if you are headed in the correct direction. When you see the problem, then you can move on to step 2, which is...

  Admit you are in a rut. 

This is difficult, as it requires you to say, "I did something wrong here". Now, when this happens, try not to beat yourself up too much. If you do, then you risk trying to push forward without fixing the problem, which only worsens the situation and hinders your creative process. 

  

  Get out of the rut. 

Execute a solution by breaking out of the cage. Tharp gives a few exercises to help with this: sit on the floor, make yourself the smallest unit you can by hugging yourself inward, and then expand and try to create names for certain positions (called "The Egg", referenced on page 112); doing a "Verb" by picking a verb and acting it out (203); throwing a handful of coins onto a flat surface and trying to create a shape (109); taking a field trip out of your normal workspace and connecting with the outside world for a moment (114); and, most importantly, know when to stop the tinkering and editing (207). 

  If you want more interesting ways to "fill the box", please check out Tharp's book, The Creative Habit: Learn It And Use It For Life. I highly recommend it! 

  Citation:

Tharp, Twyla. The Creative Habit: Learn It And Use It For Life. Simon and Schuster. New York: 2003.