Readers of Susan Cain's Quiet and Daniel Pink's When will
appreciate this passionate investigation into creativity and the human
brain--from the perspective of an author investigating her own brain
after a concussion.
Author and journalist Hilde Østby was cycling to work one day when she
crashed head-first into a stone bridge. At the hospital, she was
diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury and prescribed rest and
relaxation. But her brain was anything but restful: ideas for new
writing projects popped into her head at a frenzied pace. Never before
had she had so many 'aha' moments. But at the same time, simple tasks
like walking through an airport felt impossible. Had the concussion made
her--like the stereotype of the tortured artist--more creative but less
able to function in society? Or was there something else at play? What
makes a person creative, anyway?
In The Key to Creativity, Østby takes readers on a deep-dive into why
we are creative and what conditions must be present in order for us to
make our best work: whether that be a painting, a piece of writing, or
simply a good email. Using characters from Alice in Wonderlandfor
inspiration, Østby investigates why we have ideas that seemingly come
out of nowhere, like the Cheshire Cat, and how we can quiet our inner
critic, like the rule-obsessed Queen of Hearts. Along the way, she
speaks with artists of all stripes and interviews psychiatrists and
neurologists who specialize in understanding what happens in the brain
when we are at our most creative. She discovers that having a tortured
and lonely existence isn't necessarily conducive to producing great
art--and that being able to complete a task, on time, and according to
your and others' expectations, is as important as being able to think
outside the box.
Østby soon learns that she needs to make changes in her own life to
recover from her brain injury and to give structure and life to her
ideas. This engaging and groundbreaking book debunks the myth that you
need to be a genius in order to be an artist or inventor. All you need
is an idea and the tools to make your creative dream come true.
