Being Like Water: Exploring Openness, Intuition, and External Creative Tools as Parts of the Creative Process

Sammanfattning: How can openness, intuition and external creative tools be valuable assets to the creative process? In this thesis, I explore that question as it relates to three distinct perspectives: my reflections on my own approach, other artists’ thoughts on the subject and the composition of my orchestral piece "let me cry" (2022). My findings are that by integrating openness, intuition, and external creative tools into one’s creative practice, one can more easily overcome creative blocks, come up with material, and think of original ideas while saving time and energy that would otherwise be spent on considering various options or coming up with solutions to creative problems. I relate my findings to the Eastern philosophical concept of “being like water” — that is, accepting the ideas that arise without judgment and realising them with conviction while adapting to the creative situation as it changes.