Laughter Sparks Creativity

Perhaps you’ve noticed a theme emerging in my writing this month? I’ve been talking about creativity. I may or may not continue this through the month, but for now, I hope you’re enjoying this.

Today, I’m doing a short post on the connection between creativity and laughter.

Have you ever worked with a groups, at work or otherwise, on creative projects? Looking back, what was the most creative group you worked with? Were they all a bunch of morose people or did you all have fun together?

From my experience I can say that laughter sparks creativity.

I was lucky to be part of a group of people who worked on a variety of projects – training programmes, shows, music concerts etc. Barring a few meetings that were stressful, mostly because of some controlling types, I can recall how creative we were and how much we laughed.  Even to this day, some of these meetings stand out in my mind. We laughed while we brainstormed, the most ridiculous ideas were entertained, and we found creative solutions with our low budgets and limited resources.

In some of the others organisations I worked in too, I realize what an important role laughter played to make our work fun and effective.

There’s plenty of research and writing that goes to show my experiences are not unusual.

An organisation that conducted a survey of Vice Presidents and personnel directors of 100 of the largest corporations in America in the mid-80s, found that 84% of those with a sense of humour were more effective on the job than those with little or no humour (Source). They concluded:

“People with a sense of humor tend to be more creative, less rigid and more willing to consider and embrace new ideas and methods.”

A sense of humour seems to be something that Albert Einstein and the American physicist Richard Feynman had in common. Could their ability to laugh have sparked their creativity? Perhaps.

Here’s how Wikipedia described Feynman: “As well as being an inspirational lecturer, bongo player, notorious practical joker, and decipherer of Maya hieroglyphs, Richard Feynman was regarded as an eccentric and a free spirit. He liked to pursue multiple seemingly independent paths, such as biology, art, percussion, and lock picking.”

Remember how  Einstein simplified relativity? He said: “Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute. THAT’S relativity.”

And what about this picture of him posing for the Press?

 

Laughter can help people solve problems that demand creative solutions, by making it easier to think more broadly and associate ideas/relationships more freely. – Daniel Goleman, Emotional Intelligence

When you enter the world of laughter, you enter the world of fantasy and creativity.”
— Thomas Flindt, Happy Lemons: How Laughter Breeds Success (Your Best Self)

Remember this:

“If you lose the power to laugh, you lose the power to think.” – Clarence Darrow

Make sure you make plenty of time for laughter if you want to improve your creativity!

Day 4 of Darren Rowse’s 31 Days To Build A Better Blog calls for you to ‘Analyze a Top Blog in Your Niche’. Since my blog is really not a niche blog, I find it hard to do this. However, I will say that when he’s absolutely right in this statement. I’ve done this and learned a lot from others. : A blogger can learn a lot by spending time
on other blogs—particularly those that are doing well. You can pick up all manner of ideas, strategies, and tips.

 

Linking into Write or Die Wednesdays hosted by Mia of The Chronicles of Chaos and Vashelle of Shelly’s Cabaret a bi-monthly creative writing prompt.

Einstein image credit