The Creative Catalyst

Teaching an Old Dog New Tricks

Sun, 11 Oct 2026 19:30:29 -0700

The next installment of the curated creativity posts series focuses on the topic of aging and how we can avoid cognitive decline. It also looks at what we can gain with age and the positives links to cognitive and mental health as we move into older age.

The good news is mental decline is not inevitable, with further evidence that some abilities can remain stable or even improve as we age. Research studies by psychologist Martin Seligman identified the cognitive factors maintained into older age including long-term memory retrieval, verbal and academic knowledge, reading ability, oral expression and listening comprehension. By preserving domain expertise and knowledge, these have been shown to compensate for overall mental decline, thus increasing the chances that creative ideas will emerge.

Maintaining Creativity As We Age

We need to undertake activities that help build cognitive reserve, the brain’s ability to operate effectively even when some function is disrupted. It also refers to the amount of damage the brain can sustain during aging, before changes in cognition become evident. We can build cognitive reserve through taking up activities that present mental or intellectual challenges.

We know that benefits can accrue when we undertake art based practices throughout life and continue these into our mature ageing years. Taking up mental challenges like knitting and crafts, writing, reading and discussion through book clubs, as well as physical activities combined with maintaining social connections and keeping an open mindset, are proven ways to stay cognitively alert as we age.

Check out the following posts to read how you can stay creative as you age.

To Sleep Perchance To Dream

Tue, 29 Sep 2026 20:28:44 -0700

The next installment of the curated creativity posts series focuses on the topic of sleep and creativity.There are literally thousands of books, consultants and business schools advocating how to increase productivity. While some still hold the view that they must put more hours in, the evidence is clear that if this means less sleep, this depletes our mental acuity and undermines our potential for sustained achievement.

The following posts explore how a good sleep routine is essential to our emotional, physical and cognitive health and how this can enhance your creativity and problem solving.

To start with consider the neuroscience of sleep and the brain state of theta. This state is the one that's best for problem solving and occurs when you are falling asleep, waking up, or drifting in that sweet spot between active alertness and deep dreaming. It explains how tasks become so automatic that your mind disengages, allowing free-flowing, uncensored ideation to take place.

It's why we get the best ideas in the shower or while shaving or brushing your hair. It’s a state where tasks become so automatic that you can mentally disengage from them. The ideation that can take place during the theta state is often free flow and occurs without censorship or guilt.

Sleep, Covid and Creativity and How Much Sleep is Enough?

There’s a growing body of research that shows the importance of sleep and the need to be fully rested for your brain to function at its optimum, ensuring longer term brain health and enabling connections to creative responses. The US Centre for Disease Control stipulate a minimum of seven hours...Read More

A Brain That Breathes

Tue, 29 Sep 2026 19:38:09 -0700

A Brain That Breathes: Essential habits for an overwhelming world, is the latest book from Jodi Wilson.

I’m in the process of researching for my next book and absorbing excellent authors like Jodi to get their take on modern life.

I’m interested in the intersections- of neuroscience, well-being, mental health and simpler ways of living and then how these can be intertwined with creativity and the life advantages this provides.

In her new book the author provides evidence based insights into the wellness industry, the digital obsession and overall contributors to burnout. She notes that while our external environments have advanced exponentially, our brains remain fundamentally unchanged from those of our ancestors 10,000 years ago.

To start with she outlines what we need to live well and captures this with

A calm nervous system
An uncluttered brain
A safe nourished body that moves and rests, and
Breathing space.

These touch on many areas I’ve written about before on exercising the brain to build new pathways and strengthen weak ones, moving /walking / deep breathing , getting outdoors, and where needed Green Social Prescribing by engaging in nature based activities, all proven to boost and benefit creativity.

She then provides practical, simple ideas and strategies to achieve this. While it may sound a bit repetitive at the core argument is a series of interventions that anyone can practice.

I particularly enjoyed the twelve distinct areas that build a strong argument for living with less, slowing down and practicing self-care. All of this to build a further link to our internal states assisting and fuelling a creative flow and problem solving abilities.

She points to a number of core principles that link to both biological and behavioural processes like:

Being aware of...Read More

The Benefits of Boredom

Thu, 17 Sep 2026 00:15:57 -0700

The next installment of the curated creativity posts series focuses on the theme of boredom. To help you explore this theme further I’ve curated these posts to assist you to review your approach to creativity as it intersects in all aspects of life. The posts cover what you can action today including practical tools in your pursuit of enhancing your creativity and problem solving skills.

Boredom is associated with negative consequences including poor work performance, job dissatisfaction, stress related health problems, even accidents from not being able to sustain attention. In education boredom has been linked to lower academic achievement and general school dissatisfaction.

But we also know that undertaking boring activities can put us into state of daydreaming. This suggests that boredom can lead us to search for variety, by shifting us into a state of internal focus. This could involve thinking about unrelated problems or at least more appealing thoughts than the boring task at hand.

The following posts explore how we can recognise boredom as a signal and a means to enable us to enter into a state of mind wandering, exploring seemingly illogical or unresolved ideas. Plus the links between boredom and daydreaming, explore how this could be assisting with creative problem solving.

Redefining creativity: is tech killing the imagination?

Critics say that technology is compromising our ability to be creative but, if used correctly, it could have the opposite outcome entirely. I'm intrigued by this question about whether new technology like smartphones is getting in the way of creativity. The detractors say that tech does this in different ways for example by keeping us 'entertained' by cat videos so we avoid the valuable...Read More

Practicing Simplicity

Wed, 16 Sep 2026 00:26:50 -0700

Practising Simplicity: Small steps and brave choices for a life less distracted is a memoir and guide by Jodi Wilson.

She writes about something maybe many of us have dreamed of doing, selling up, packing up and travelling in a caravan across Australia. I really loved this book as she gently shared her life philosophy discovered through this journey.

And while I’m not about to sell up and move into a van, I think the real insights of her writing are how we find ‘peace’ by turning off screens, being outdoors in nature, and exploring what we need to be happy.

I was attracted to her book after listening to her on a podcast where she talked about the physical act of decluttering to open up mental space. I’m seeking ways to understand and uncover how we can create space for a creative life.

There’s a strong resonance to the value of ‘free time’ or being bored which we know can propel us into states of deep thoughtfulness and creativity. Allowing the mind to wander while doing simple, manual tasks—like washing dishes, gardening, or in the shower—is often when ideas and solutions float to our consciousness.

I also resonated with her themes around creative thoughts coming from slowing down and paying attention to ordinary moments. That daily life is enhanced by the quiet contemplation of the in-between moments.

I also truly believe that how we deal with uncertainty is a key to adaptability and problem solving. So becoming comfortable with the discomfort of change intersects with learning to live with uncertainty.

As her family spent a lot of time outdoors and in nature, I’m struck by the association with Shinrin Yoku , forest bathing, and embracing the vulnerability of living so close too and with the natural elements.

The difference in observing the natural world and getting into the grit of it.

With over 300 posts on The Creative Catalyst website blog, it may seem a little daunting to know where to start to understand the intersection of creativity and science. These blog posts cover many of the themes explored in the Creative Advantage book series. I’ve also merged two separate blog sites into one for ease of access.

So to help you explore these further I’ve curated these posts into daily life themes to assist to review your approach to creativity as it intersects in all aspects of life. These posts will cover what you can action today including practical tools in your pursuit of enhancing your creativity and problem solving skills.

Happy Reading !

Let’s start with one of the key themes explored in The Creative Advantage on how we can build a creative practice through routine. The following posts assist in reflecting on how to establish creative routines to build your creative muscle.

This theme focuses on embedding creativity into your standard daily schedule to naturally boost cognitive flexibility through actively engaging in habit formation.

You’ve probably tried to establish a new habit, to start making the edits to your life that will give you a new perspective. At that time you felt motivated and the reason to change made perfect sense. But after a short time, you start to feel your will power declining, the slow multitasking has returned to just multitasking, the procrastination has turned into time wasting and then… the self admonishment for a lack of self control starts.

Here’s where we’re reminded that we humans are creatures of habit. It’s thought that ninety- five percent of our behaviour occurs out of habit, either consciously or unconsciously, or in reaction to external demands.

The posts also focus on detailing physical routines that spark thought, such as how daily walking alters brain chemistry to...Read More

Your Brain On Art: How the arts transforms us

Thu, 27 Aug 2026 22:21:47 -0700

What can reduce your cortisol, extend your life span by 10 years and has the healing potential to provide accessible solutions for mental and physical health, helping with loneliness, trauma, dementia, and physical rehabilitation?

Just finished reading Your Brain on Art: How the Arts Transform Us, written by Susan Magsamen, a neuroscientist, and Ivy Ross, a Google hardware designer.

I first became interested in the intersection of the arts and neuroscience when I was researching my book The Creative Advantage. The research was still developing at that time and this book updates on how far the evidence has come.

Through neuroarts, the transdisciplinary study of how the arts and aesthetic measurably change the body, brain and behaviour experiences, they detail how this knowledge is translated into specific practices that advance health and wellbeing.

It also introduced me to a new term - the field of neuroaesthetics- The study of how the arts and physical aesthetics alter our neurological and biological systems.

I really liked the methodical evidence based approach based on numerous case studies and the ease at which they are able to demonstrate how specific arts-based interventions are becoming integrated into medicine.

They stressed key health benefits:

Stress Reduction: Just 45 minutes of creative activity lowers levels of the stress hormone cortisol.
Neurotransmitter Release: Engaging with art triggers dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphins, to reduce anxiety and boost emotional well-being.
Neuroplasticity: Sensory interactions build new neural pathways that aid in memory, learning, and physical healing from trauma or chronic illness.

They point to numerous examples in the arts that have a direct healing...Read More

Max Dupain and Ansel Adams

Sat, 04 Jul 2026 21:38:45 -0700

I'm constantly impressed with the variety and depth of exhibitions offered from regional galleries and the current exhibition at the Bayside Gallery is no exception.
Max Dupain (Australia, 1911–1992) and Ansel Adams (USA, 1902–1984) shaped the visual imagination of their nations through the lens of modernist photography and this exhibition explores the parallels between these influential photographers.
Edited from Curators Notes:
Though working on opposite sides of the Pacific, they shared a profound commitment to formal clarity, tonal precision and the expressive potential of light.
Dupain established his career in 1930s developing a modernist language influenced by photographers from Europe and the US. Later his focused his attention on architectural photography and the pieces provide an exceptional incite into homes by Harry Seidler, the modernist architect.
Adams's photographs of the American West are among the most recognised images ever made, emblematic of a powerful but complicated story of pioneering ambition. He played an important role in the conservation movement and was recognised for his efforts to preserve wild and scenic areas.
Both sort to define national identity through image making, both committed to working in black and white and prioritising structure, balance and control.
Check out the exhibition at Bayside Gallery
Max Dupain and Ansel Adams: In search of perfection is a National Gallery Touring Exhibition presented as part of the Bowness Family Foundation Photography Touring Program.
Curator: Anne O'Hehir, Curator, Photography.
Read More

The Practice of Forest Bathing

Mon, 29 Jun 2026 22:11:25 -0700

Part 2- Doing it
The first blog aims to give you a sense of the science behind Forest Therapy, or Forest bathing. While many of the studies in Part 1 of this two part blog noted spending 3-4 days in nature, you can still experience the benefits of forest therapy if you're time poor.
Practicing forest therapy isn’t just about observing the natural world, it’s about getting gritty in it and basking in a forest ecosystem. There are profound benefits to be gained by bringing the mind and body into a state of relaxation while being fully aware of our surroundings and being able to experience the present moment with all our being.
So let’s explore how you can benefit from forest bathing as well as a guided forest therapy workshop.
It’s not about going for a walk while listening to a podcast or music, or being detached and thinking about your to do list.
Rather it about being intentional, enabling a sensory exploration. Begin by being open to specific sensory invitations rather than treating the walk like physical exercise. With all of these activities I encourage you to be guided by the rhythm of your movement and the curiosity that nature evokes.
Sit quietly in a spot and become aware of your surroundings, pay attention. Consider writing down or sketching what captures your attention.
Feel the trees and the textures of leaves, listen to the sounds of wind rustling through leaves, the birdsong and the crunching sound under foot. Experience the reality of ‘soft fascination’.
Breathe in. Research has shown that exposure to negative ions, like at the foot of a waterfall or in the mountains, can improve your physiological responses and affect the body’s circadian rhythm.
Smell organic compounds like phytoncides. These are molecules synthesised by plants and released into the air. They influence the surrounding plants and can impact the forest air....Read More

How Nature Unlocks Creativity

Mon, 22 Jun 2026 22:17:27 -0700

Part 1
The Science
The Creative Catalyst enables me to explore the latest research and tools that can enhance and enable our creativity. I’m currently undertaking study in Sylvotherapy, more commonly associated with Forest Therapy, Forest Bathing or Shinrin Yoku. ¹
I became interested in this topic when I was undertaking wide ranging research for The Creative Advantage book series. At that time I was reviewing evidence that supported restorative activities as a means to enhance creativity. I’ve returned to the science to explore what else has been discovered since my initial toe dip into the links between nature, via forest bathing and creativity.
Brain- Body Connection
There’s growing scientific consensus that an effective brain- body connection is integral to our higher order cognitive function and essential to maintain our ability to problem solve, stay motivated and explore more creative ways of being.
The research points to our capacity to undertake creative work being dependent on the key sources of energy that fuel us physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually and how we manage this energy flow.
Appreciating nature and including time outdoors into our daily approaches to brain health, is associated with a restorative activity, and there’s a body of research showing that our fatigued brains feel restored and our mental performance can improve through being in nature.
Author of The Nature Fix, Florence Williams, wrote that nature works for us by lowering stress. Measurements of stress hormones, respiration, heart rate and sweating, all suggest that short doses of nature can calm people down and sharpen their...Read More