Creativity at the Most Inappropriate Time

Hey Everyone,

This is just something I experience but wanted to share with other people who may not be aware of this.

I never knew that this was a semi-well known thing since it was something I discovered on my own; but there is a curious time just before you go to sleep when your really tired; it's almost like the brain can dedicate all its energy into one specific task, the task in question is raw creativity; the ability to imagine. This might also be related to the hyper active thinking which can lead some people to insomnia before sleep when you just can't stop thinking of stuff. I actually found an article recently that from memory said "Back during the ancient period of our species we didn't have much up time; the bed was regarded as an important location (which I take to heart since I love sleeping too) they noticed this phenomenon and called it the hour of creativity / imagination." At the time of writing I can't find that article so I'm most likely miss-quoting. There's a few articles out their that associate sleep with increased cognitive flexibility due to the way relational memories are integrated into your long term memory during REM sleep but that's related to unconsciousness whilst my post is a complementary to that in the conscious state.

Interestingly enough I would have guessed the imagination centre of the brain took a lot of brain power, probably from that fact that you can imagine pretty much anything and gives off the illusion that it is taxing on the brain but from further evaluation I've realized that it actually takes extremely little, either that or the pathways of the brain that allow you to imagine are easy for the brain to access without additional energy which is why it's all you are left with before sleep. Pretty much any additionally complex part of your brain's abilities besides seeing, smelling, touching and hearing takes a lot of effort to re-enable like trying to budge a heavy door to open with rusted hinges. When I am within this zone I'm so tired I could just drop at any moment but amazingly I can imagine things much clearer; with higher vibrancy and detail etc without much effort at all like a movie that I can direct. Things just flow so naturally that I use it whenever I can to improve the stories I write as well as refine things I've been working on.

So the next time you are at that stage where you just want to lay down and sleep the night away; no need to worry about falling asleep during this moment: just lay there and have a go at day dreaming, thinking about your art if your the artist type? or perhaps the story you've been writing? your current musical composition? what ever you want and see if it flows easier for you too. I can only speak from experience so this may not work for everyone but have a go just in case as it's an opportunity one shouldn't miss, you might be pleasantly surprised. Just remember to leave a notepad with writing equipment nearby or your ideas might keep you up all night.

Ironically it comes at the most inappropriate time, go figure.

Thanks for reading,
Ashton.