When are people most likely to express their creativity?

A source of inspiration every Sunday morning is the blog BrainPickings by Maria Popova.

Today’s find is the article, The Science of Our Optimism Bias and the Life Cycle of Happiness, on the subject of Tali Sharot’s research presented at TED.

“Optimism starts with what may be the most extraordinary of human talents: mental time travel. That is, the ability to move back and forth through time and space in one’s mind. To think positively about our prospects, it helps to be able to imagine ourselves in the future. Although most of us take this ability for granted, our capacity to envision a different time and place is critical for our survival. It allows us to plan ahead, to save food and resources for times of scarcity, and to endure hard work in anticipation of a future reward.

While mental time travel has clear survival advantages, conscious foresight came to humans at an enormous price — the understanding that somewhere in the future, death awaits. This knowledge that old age, sickness, decline of mental power, and oblivion are somewhere around the corner, can be devastating.”

Here’s an idea – what if you viewed the Ted talk, read the blog post and post your response to the opening question: When do you think or feel people are most likely to express their creativity?

Ciao for now…

Marci Segal, MS, Creativity and Change Leadership: Freeing leaders’ thinking so they can create new futures.