Essential: Combinatory Play

What do you do when you get stuck on something?  Do you buckle down and work through it?  Or, do you take a temporary break?

I recently learned about the term Albert Einstein coined as ‘Combinatory Play,’ where Einstein developed some of his best scientific ideas during his violin breaks.

Combinatory play is the act of opening up one mental channel by engaging in another.  This is taking unrelated ideas and putting them together to generate new ideas.  In Einstein’s case, he used his violin breaks as a form of combinatory play.  When Einstein was stuck, he would set aside his work and play the violin for a few hours.  It was during these times, while playing the violin, that he would suddenly get an idea(s) that would help him solve the problem he was working through.

Combinatory play includes everything from studying new subjects to playing instruments to engaging in physical activity, etc.  So, the next time you get stuck on something, set the task aside and focus on something that you enjoy doing and you will be amazed that you are able to solve the problem that you have painstakingly been working to solve.  While using the treadmill, I usually get some of my best ideas and answers to problems that I am working through.  Maybe you already engage in combinatory play and you didn’t even know it!

“Combinatory play seems to be the essential feature in productive thought.” — Albert Einstein

Inspirational Quotes: Finishing a Large Project

I have been working on my long-term photography project for what seems like forever.  However, I am making progress and the finish line is almost within sight!  Below are some inspirational quotes for those who are also working through a large endeavor!

“Whenever you find yourself doubting how far you can go, just remember how far you have come.  Remember everything you have faced, all the battles you have won, and all the fears you have overcome.” — Unknown

“Ten years from now, make sure you can say that you chose your life, you didn’t settle for it.” — Unknown

“Don’t let the fear of the time it will take to accomplish something stand in the way of your doing it.  The time will pass anyway; we might just as well put that passing time to the best possible use.” — Earl Nightingale

“Creativity is always a leap of faith.  You’re faced with a blank page, blank easel, or an empty stage.” — Julia Cameron

“Creativity takes courage.” — Henri Matisse

“Creativity is a habit, and the best creativity is the result of good work habits.” — Twyla Tharp

“Everything you ever wanted is on the other side of fear.” — George Addair”

“Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties. — Erich Fromm

“I live a creative life, and you can’t be creative without being vulnerable.  I believe that Creativity and Fear are basically conjoined twins; they share all the same major organs, and cannot be separated, one from the other, without killing them both.  And you don’t want to murder Creativity just to destroy Fear!  You must accept that Creativity cannot walk even on step forward except by marching side-by-side with its attached sibling of Fear.” — Elizabeth Gilbert

“You can’t wait for inspiration, you have to go after it with a club.” — Jack London

“Courage is the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can’t practice any other virtue consistently.”  — Maya Angelou

“Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.”  — Winston Churchill

“The best way out is always through.”  — Robert Frost

“The three great essentials to achieve anything worthwhile are, first, hard work; second, stick-to-itiveness; third, common sense.”  — Thomas A. Edison