How it began!

I remember back in college when I was studying Electrical Engineering, Faraday’s law of induction was a big deal. It was simple but it contributed so much to the growth of the technology and advanced machinery. Some of my friends back then even went so far as to say without Faraday’s law, there would be no electrical engineering!

Faraday’s law, simply put, is a basic law of electromagnetism that predicts how a magnetic field will interact with an electric circuit. This law gave birth to transformers, inductors (solenoids) and many types of electric motors and generators.

It basically states that if you have a solenoid(is a coil wound into a tightly packed helix) and you move a magnet through it, you will have electricity. So basically the interaction of a solenoid and a magnet will produce current. A galvanometer is included in the circuit to detect current.

What is Creativity?

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Creativity, is the ability to create something anew, giving birth to something that wasn’t there before. Something comes to you, something induces an idea or thought in you. Creativity is a form of induction; the thought or idea wasn’t there before, it just came to you. Induction and inspiration are related when it comes to creativity. If something has inspired you, it has induced a thought or idea in you.

Why Faraday and creativity?

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They overlap. Faraday’s law and creativity have similarities: They both cause movement.In Faraday’s law, the movement of electrons (also known as current) is caused by the interaction between the magnet and the solenoid.In creativity, a phenomenon causes a movement of thoughts in another person’s mind. So in our circuit example, the mind is the solenoid and a phenomenon is the magnet that triggers the creativity.

The difference is the mind

In Faraday’s law, the medium for the movement is a wire. Electrons move through a wire and a current is generated. In Creativity, the medium of the movement is the mind.

What else is different?

In Faraday’s law, before the magnet induces a current, there is no current. Basically if the wire already had current, there would be no need for induction and probably no need for Faraday to work on his law!

The Circuit was idle initially, then current flowed through it after the induction process.

Our minds however, are full of currents! Our minds are never idle, constantly processing different thoughts, jumping from one current to another.

So in short, the initial condition for the nature of the movement is different. In Faraday’s case, the medium (the wire) is idle but in the case of creativity, the medium (the mind) is already full!

What is your point?!

We can reach our maximum creativity once we figure out how to achieve an idle mind. Given the restless nature of the mind, there are already a lot of currents (thoughts) flowing through it. If you get to the point where the sky of your mind is clear or the ocean of your mind is calm, you have reached a moment where true creativity can start to happen.

What are you suggesting?

Meditation.

Meditation gives you the opportunity to observe your crowded mind. That pure observing will slowly bring you awareness which will in turn help your mind get quieter. The key is to not be judgmental about your thoughts; just observe, welcome and accept them as they come. The act of meditation is simple, you actively try not to think! And yet meditation is so hard to do because our busy minds are constantly processing different thoughts.

How to start meditating?

Start by focusing on the breath and observe your thoughts as they pass through. With each exhale, more thoughts pass through. Practice till the breath is the only thing you are experiencing. Don’t try to control the breath, just be aware of it. Be aware of the stopping point in the middle, where inhale stops and exhale begins. Meditate on that point.

Meditate to the point of becoming “mind-less” and then observe how the universe will induce creative thoughts in your mind. A meditative mind is a mind capable of true creativity.