33 Ways to Stay Creative: Be Otherworldly

Yep, that’s what they call it.

First of all, what the hell does “be otherworldly” mean anyway? This is going to be the real challenge for most people - trying to figure out what you need to do to be “otherworldly.” So, let’s start with some definitions.

Merriam-Webster defines “otherworldly” (I promise, the last time I’ll put it in quotes) as:

1  a: of, relating to, or resembling that of a world other than the actual world
    b: devoted to preparing for a world to come
and
2: devoted to intellectual or imaginative pursuits

Dictionary.com has this definition:
     relating to an imaginary or spiritual world.

Going further down the rabbit hole, the Merriam-Webster Thesaurus has the following synonyms for otherworldly:
     metaphysical, paranormal, preternatural, supernatural, transcendent, transcendental, unearthly

Taken all together, I’m going to say being otherworldly is something like being in that focused state where the world around you fades away and all you “see” (damn, more quotation marks) is whatever you are focused on. I like the idea of being “devoted to imaginative or intellectual pursuits” as in the second M-W definition. That seems to fit in with the idea of a hyper-focused state. But how would this help you be more creative.

Well, maybe being hyper-focused allows you to see possibilities that might not be apparent otherwise. Your increased focus makes the impossible seem possible, as some might say. I have been working with a friend on an idea regarding multi-creative individuals and the concepts of “fixed imager” and “changing imager.” It’s too much to go into here (and we aren’t ready to roll it out yet anyway), but suffice to say one challenge creatives have is focusing on one thing to its end. Being otherworldly might be a way to bring that focus into play, at least long enough to complete one creative idea.

Obviously, the biggest drawback to this technique is figuring out what otherworldly means for you. Are you focused and devoted to some intellectual pursuit? Are you preparing for the world to end? (In that case, you have other things to worry about than creativity.) What about some imaginary or spiritual world? Whatever you finally determine is your otherworldly, let it bring your creativity to the forefront. Just don’t forget to come home when your trip is over.