Interpretation is everything: sometimes a new translation of a term from a foreign language makes all the difference, reframing a previously inscrutable idea.
Such was the case for me several years ago, when I re-encountered the term wu-wei (woo-WAY), a phrase used frequently in texts related to Taoism. When I first read the Tao Te Ching in high school, wu-wei was translated as “acting without acting.” Hmm…that didn’t make any sense to my rather metaphorically brittle mind, so I decided that while I liked the book and Taoist concepts in general, that phrase seemed a little crazy to me.
Then, a year or two ago, I read another interpretation of the Tao Te Ching and in this edition wu-wei was translated as “effortless action.” Bingo! I got it! Instead of seeming to describe some sort of metaphysical magic act, the phrase now seemed to me to describe action that flows naturally from a person, rather than being forced or calculated.
In the 20 years that intervened between my first reading of the Tao Te Ching and my more recent encounter with the term wu-wei, I learned a lot about the importance of receptivity in the creative process. Every artist and creative person should be familiar with the power of “non-action” and appreciate its vital role in how we develop and execute organic, original ideas.
The Taoists describe wu-wei as a key principle in experiencing unity with one’s environment. The San Diego based Asian cultural journal Jade Dragon, in a 1998 article describing wu-weiwu-wei, noted,
“Wu-wei refers to behavior that arises from a sense of oneself as connected to others and to one's environment … It is action that is spontaneous and effortless. At the same time it is not to be considered inertia, laziness, or mere passivity. Rather, it is the experience of going with the grain or swimming with the current. Our contemporary expression, ‘going with the flow,’ is a direct expression of this fundamental Taoist principle, which in its most basic form refers to behavior occurring in response to the flow of the Tao.”
The mention of the word “flow” links us to research on an important Western concept by the same name, articulated masterfully by Claremont Graduate University psychology professor Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. Approaching our creative activities in a way that facilitates flow, which Csikszentmihalyi defines as the capacity for full engagement in an activity, can put us in a state of wu-wei, where our best efforts happen spontaneously and organically.
To catalyze flow, a task must offer an optimal skill/challenge ratio (not too easy, not too hard) and offer clear goals and feedback, yet also allow the participant to concentrate on the task, as well as lose any sense of self-consciousness or worry about losing control. In other words, it must be a task that can be managed and planned for, but also allows its practitioner to be absorbed in the activity, rather than focused entirely on the outcome.
My personal experience in cultivating flow and wu-wei has sharpened my sense of what constitutes productive “non-doing.” I am a champion of intentional creative incubation; forcing illumination before its time often results in half-baked ideas that come apart in mid-execution.
A vacation can be a dandy time for incubating ideas; however, the run-up to an such an incubation period can be quite busy. Here are a few techniques that can be used to prepare before leaving a project to simmer on the subconscious back burner…
- Plunge into the research/preparation phase by immersing yourself in concepts, data, images related to your project. Swim with the current of already existing work.
- Take time to look for patterns or notice your reactions to your research. Let yourself become fully engaged with your material—even if your ultimate artwork refutes what you see or hear.
- When you are mentally filling up with reactions, ideas and opinions—STOP. Go do something else. Go to the beach, organize your office or sock drawer, take a walk or a bike ride. This is especially helpful if you are feeling blocked or otherwise at emotional cross-purposes with your work.
- Spend some time enjoying your non-(overtly) creative life. Socialize with friends. Spend quality time with your spouse or family. Go hang out at your favorite coffee shop. But tuck a little notebook or sketchpad in your bag, devise a micro-sized mobile crafting kit or bring a camera or audio recorder along—anything that allows you to capture spontaneous ideas or play with a tidbit of inspiration that comes your way.
- When ideas inevitably bubble up, catch them with the tools described above! Enjoy the moment.
- Determine whether it’s appropriate to dive back into the execution phase of your work. I usually end up deciding its time for me to write when I can’t stand being unable to write down my ideas any longer, or when I’m continuously rehearsing the story in my head anyway.
Following the Artist’s wu-wei is simple, but not necessarily easy. But by allowing our ideas time to develop, and allowing them to come forth naturally, we access regions of our imagination that stay hidden when we insist they join us on a forced march.
