Has this ever happened to you? You're out for a jog, completely relaxed, your mind a pleasant blank. Then all of a sudden the solution to a problem you've been mulling over for weeks pops into your head. You can't help but wonder why you didn't think of it before. In such moments you've made contact with the creative spirit, that elusive muse of good -- and sometimes great -- ideas. Yet it is more than an occasional insight. When the creative spirit stirs, it animates a style of being: a lifetime filled with the desire to innovate, to explore new ways of doing things, to bring dreams of reality. That flash of inspiration is the final moment of a process marked by distinctive stages -- the basic steps in creative problem-solving. This Psychology Today article offers an in-depth exploration.
