When we perceive something in the world, an external stimulus produces a brain image for which we find a correlated mental state, thereby giving it meaning. When we use our imagination, we start with an intention and find a match for it in language or visual representations in the brain’s memory repertoire; eventually, we see a visual image even though there is no external object. Every once in a while, we fall into intuitive states of primary awareness, unleashing images or thoughts we’ve never considered before. Now, using the brain’s neuroplasticity, we can make new maps of these mental states. As a pundit once said, “Genius is the capacity to treat objects of the imagination as real and even to manipulate them as such.”

Now you can understand what Coleridge meant when he distinguished between fancy and imagination. Fancy a frivolous expression of the intellect is just, the playful doodling of the ego. But imagination, said Coleridge, springs “from elemental parts of the spirit shared by all.” In our ego mode, we make known images from our past experiences. But when we elude the ego, as we do in a dream state, we may more easily fall into primary awareness of the quantum self. Then we can explore truly creative imagery and manifest the unknown. When we dream, the otherwise vigilant ego relaxes, allowing us to dip into the unknown in ways that the conscious mind rarely permits. In dreams, the unconscious becomes the major player.

One of the major ideas, the importance of do-be-do-be-do in the creative process, came to me in a dream. I was observing a group of very active abstract figures, who were dancing, gambolling, and frolicking about. A voice in the background introduced them as the angels of doing. But soon these figures were replaced by other abstract figures—quieter, more relaxed ones. The voice proclaimed them angels of being. But then the angels of doing came back, only to be replaced again by the angels of being, and the two groups continued to alternate. When I woke up my mind sang, “do-be-do-be-do.”

In dealing with the wholeness of the act of creativity, we must note not only what is discontinuous and extraordinary (the quantum leaps) but also what seems to be continuous and mundane. Charles Darwin’s autobiography describes a creative moment of insight when, while reading Malthus’s “Essay on Population,” Darwin came to recognize the crucial role of fecundity in the theory of natural selection in biological evolution: The fact that species producing multiple offspring to replace themselves would quickly lead to an overpopulated planet were it not for limited resources, which means that individuals compete with each other for those limited resources. But according to creativity researcher Howard Gruber, a study of Darwin’s notebooks shows that, while this was the final moment of insight, it was part of a gradual process interspersed with many smaller insights. Of what does the entire creative process consist, then?

Researcher Graham Wallas was one of the first to suggest that creative acts involve four stages, a view that is now commonly accepted. To this we must add do-be-do-be-do, many repetitions of preparation and unconscious processing.

These four stages are: preparation; incubation; sudden insight; and manifestation. Let’s take a closer look at them now.

• Stage 1: Preparation.
  Gather facts and existing ideas about your problem and think, think, think. Talk with experts; attend workshops. Churn your ideas, looking at them in every way that comes to mind. Give your imagination free rein.
• Stage 2: Incubation.
  The problem is not going away, so while it’s percolating in your mind, you can play, sleep, and do things that relax you. (Include especially bath, bus, and apple tree—they have demonstrated relevance: Archimedes made his “Eureka” discovery while taking a bath; the mathematician Henri Poincaré had a major insight while boarding a bus; and Newton discovered gravity while sitting under an apple tree.)
• Stage 2a: Do-be-do-be-do.
  Alternative doing (preparation, imagination) and being (unconscious processing) in tandem many times until insight comes. History has not recorded this past of the process, but Archimedes, Poincare, and Newton, and indeed creatives generally use this step.
• Stage 3: Sudden insight.
  Eureka! Right when you least expect it, illumination dawns. The surprise of this moment is a hallmark of discontinuity.
• Stage 4: Manifestation.
  The fun is over—or is it just beginning? Verify, evaluate, and manifest what you’ve come up with. In other words, make a product of your insight.

As we journey through the stages of creativity, from preparation to the delightful dance of do-be-do-be-do, we begin to see that creativity isn’t merely a mechanical process of assembling ideas—it’s an intricate, almost mystical dance between the conscious and unconscious mind. But what fuels these leaps from ordinary to extraordinary, from known to unknown? How do we truly harness the power of the unconscious mind, tapping into the vast, unseen potentials that lie just beyond our conscious grasp?

To delve deeper into this intriguing landscape, we must turn our focus to the quantum underpinnings of creativity itself. In our next exploration, “Exploring Quantum Creativity and the Power of Unconscious Processing,” we’ll uncover how the unseen forces of the mind—like a bolt of lightning—strike to reveal profound insights, and how the unconscious mind plays a pivotal role in shaping these sudden, transformative moments of genius. Let’s continue our journey into the heart of creativity, where the mysterious meets the miraculous.