7 Acts of Randomness to Disturb and Enrage Buried Creativity

Posted by: David on: 3 December 2008

• In: creativity | playfulness
• 16 Comments

‘He was very inquisitive; always asking random questions about random things.’

Brett Bailey

If life feels the same everyday and you’re looking for something new, it’s time to add the spice of randomness into the mix of your life.

The Randomness Philosopher

Philosopher of randomness and precocious entrepreneur Ben Casnocha explains why moments of spontaneous randomness can end up being the most creative and productive of all:

‘The randomness philosophy is based on the difficulty of predicting which projects will ultimately be most successful. Sometimes it’s the random projects that turn out to be most important. We ought to expose ourselves to randomness. We should proactively generate opportunities that might seem random…because who knows?’

Unlocking Creativity; Confronting Fear

Being deliberately random opens your life up to new possibilities and opportunities; it opens up your soul to the creative energy submerged within you. Being creative is scary, so if being random seems frightening, it’s all the more reason to try it.

The 7 Acts of Randomness

1. Use a random pen
The new feel of the pen between your fingertips, the strangeness of different coloured ink, the sweep of the nib across the page – these could all be the thing to generate the creative spark you’re looking for.

2. Sign up to a random blog
Click through an inspriring comment on your favourite blog. At the new blog, find another comment you like, and click again. Then once more. With the luck of randomness, you’ll be on a blog that you’ve never read before. Sign up for a week or two, and spend time engaging with the different ideas fed direct to your RSS reader.

3. Write on a random piece of paper
This could be your used train ticket, the receipt from your groceries, the back of that holiday postcard for Grandma you never got round to sending. Fill it to bursting point with new and exciting ideas.

4. Generate a random word
And use it to write a sentence. About fish. Even though I’m vegetarian, I sometimes crave tunafish for tea. (To clarify, you don’t have to write about fish. My random word was fish. My second random word was clarify. Enough for one day, methinks).

5. If you’re a writer, paint a picture. If you’re a painter, write a story
If you’re neither of these, set aside a weekend to try both.

6. Read a random book completely outside your field of expertise
There’s a secret here: don’t choose an utterly random book. Find a book you like the look of, but on a subject you’ve never read before. If you’re a scientist, maybe try a historical biography. Artists, look at introductions to chaos theory or quantom physics. Business people, what about a book on political anarchism? Libraries are great for this experiment because they’re entirely cost free.

7. Speak to a random stranger
I’ve done this a few times in my life, and the wonderful thing is, most people love to have a good natter with someone they’ve never met before. Trains and buses are two of the best places for random conversations. (A word of warning: don’t try this with businessmen absorbed in a laptop, BlackBerry device, or sophisticated statistical report. They are entirely unappreciative).

And Now It’s Your Turn

Please share other useful and non-useful acts of randomness in the comments.

Tags: random, randomness