Einstein said that he got his best ideas whilst shaving, Brahms was said to get his whilst polishing his boots. There have been many occasions when I've had the beginnings of short stories arrive in my head whilst cleaning my teeth. I wondered for a long time if there was some neurological link between massaging my gums and hitting the "hot spot" in my brain. What is common with all these is that ideas arrive when you're not paying attention. Inattentiveness unlocks flow.
I belong to three different professional communities: firstly as a professional theatre practitioner; secondly as a teacher and practitioner of The Feldenkrais Method and more recently as an academic. All three communities deal with the inattentive moment. For the actor, being "in the moment" requires a conscious unconsciousness, the director needs to recognise and respond to a creative moment that may have arrived unplanned for in the rehearsal room. The Feldenkrais practitioner deals with being attentive to a moment without judging or presupposing. In predicting how a movement may take place, the practitioner imposes limitations on the event and may fail to observe what actually happens. The academic - well, a teacher in higher education - encourages the thinking process, finding questions rather than answers. The thinking process is a journey that is cut short when you scrabble to find the "right" answer.
What is Proven
This was the first thing I saw when I arrived for my 1st session on the Professional Doctorate programme
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