Creative Contemplation, Part II
Seated on a verandah in Northern Thailand, a pineapple farm lies behind me, a lily pond in front and sun has begun to warm me on a chilly day. In pausing to focus on the roots of how collage can impact individuals and teams, I realise that the single most helpful characteristic of “Creative Contemplation” is its ability to slow us down and bring clarity to whatever we place before us for consideration.
I am convinced by just reflecting on my own busyness and inner state, that many of us are not finding the sort of time needed for solving complex problems, thinking through carefully what we want for ourselves, society, or the environment, and doing creative work. Even if we are so lucky to be able to set that time aside, I can bet we do not readily have the ability (concentration, attention, focus, or will) to solve those problems or think creatively about the future.
“Creative Contemplation” is a way of solving problems or thinking that
a) is designed for slowing down, creating insight and integrating learning,
b) uses collage to create a state of concentration and the ability to express what is significant (the art product), and
c) invites a discussion on the lasting action required to make effective change or lay down plans for effective execution.
I can illustrate these outcomes with a recent experience.
I recently ran a session for a small group to experience a facilitated collage session on the topic of self-care. I also wanted to share my thinking on “Creative Contemplation” with them. I had prepared a PowerPoint presentation but something was bothering me about it and I ran it past some friends. One friend pointed out that using a laptop to present something around a large dining table might be tricky and another wondered if PowerPoint might be incongruous with our collage making activity.
Collage is Creative Contemplation
The solution slowly dawned on me. I would create a large collage poster, something like a vision board, to explain my thinking. Like a miracle, the collage became its own advertisement for "Creative Contemplation"! I spent focused hours over a few days literally integrating and communicating my learning in the last 6 months in a way that the PowerPoint refused to do. I now use the poster as a communication tool and it provides a blueprint for my work in the coming months. Collage-making is one of the most powerful processes I have experienced for learning integration.
Fundamentally I continue to express my belief in “Creative Contemplation” from personal experience. Yet, several books on a variety of topics have provided additional support for my thinking. Take for example the 2019 book Hustle and Float by Rahaf Harfoush in which she states, “Endless hustle is ruining our mental and physical health while subtracting from our creative performance.” You need only reflect on your own “endless hustle” to feel and know her point.
“Jo, though collage work / visual presencing, invited and created a rich space for exploration, witnessing together the reshaping of the images emerging in service of exploring the undertones of my understanding, a space that promoted the inward connectedness between me and my question at hand. Jo, in my experience, has formed a sense-making process, pivoting toward experimental learning design and relating my emotions and expressions, and offered deep listening, reflective thinking and intuitive seeing to co-create a developmental sensemaking journey that wasn’t accessible or even imaginable for me before we started to work.”
In summary, consider 3 thoughts:
1. Who this is for?
Creative Contemplation is a process that works for individuals and teams who would like to insert facilitated reflection time and focus into their thinking, ways of working or simply, their lives, resulting in insights and action.
2. Delivery
a. I create facilitated collage sessions for your specific needs as individuals or teams.
b. Sessions usually focus around team effectiveness, learning integration, or individual wellness.
c. Sessions can be inserted in existing programmes for intention setting, imagining the future, or for closing.
d. The process can also be incorporated into coaching.
3. Sustained support
Companies that embrace “Creative Contemplation” could create permanent spaces with collage materials for their employees and teams to have ready access to this insight-creating art form and reflective process. Imagine a small room dedicated to “Creative Contemplation” in every office! I can already picture it; a clean space, a table with magazines, glue, and scissors; plants, good lighting, and me there once a week!
If this all feels a step too far, remember, you can build your focus muscle in many ways from reading, to meditating, to walks, to ensuring you have time carved out in your schedule for regular one-to-ones and team reflection time. The primary aim is to slow down and insert time into your schedule. Using collage as a facilitated visualisation process can always follow.