Section 05 — Mapping the Mind

Course: LAB 101 – Creative Intelligence Lab I

Session Overview

Creativity is an internal ecosystem—made of attention, curiosity, ideas, and stories. This session invites you to observe and map your internal processes. We’ll draw on psychological insight and modern creativity practice to help you visualize and externalize how your mind unfolds in real time.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this session, you will:

• Encounter foundational ideas on creativity as flow, practice, and remix
• Observe how ideas form, connect, and evolve within your mind
• Create a visual map of your interests, questions, and creative sparks
• Produce a small creative artifact from a germ of your own thinking
• Reflect on where your ideas come from and how mapping reveals them

Session Flow

1. Set Intention

Start by breathing and centering your attention. Pay attention to any random ideas, images, words, or tunes that surface now or later in the session. These are not distractions—they’re signals.

2. Read

• Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Creativity (excerpt)
  Link: https://www.rochester.edu/warner/lida/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/creativity-by-mihaly-csikszentmihalyi.pdf

• Austin Kleon, Steal Like an Artist, Chapters 1–2
  Link: https://austinkleon.com/steal/

3. Watch

• Sir Ken Robinson – “Do Schools Kill Creativity?” (TED Talk, ~20 min)
  Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG9CE55wbtY

• RSA Animate – Outrospection
  Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9C_TsaLGVM

• Kurzgesagt – “The Intelligence of the Brain”
  Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nw7karEXh9A

4. Listen

• On Being – Elizabeth Gilbert: Choosing Curiosity Over Fear
  Link: https://onbeing.org/programs/elizabeth-gilbert-choosing-curiosity-over-fear/

5. Observe

Let your mind drift for a moment. Let images, ideas, or questions bubble up — without trying to judge or control them. Let them be. You are not distracted—you are collaborating with your subconscious.

Key Quote Box

Choose one phrase or line from today’s materials that struck you:

“_____________”

Practice Blocks

Mind Map

Create a visual “mind map” of your inner landscape. Show: - Your main interests, questions, curiosities
- Sparks: ideas, memories, contrasts
Use shapes, words, lines, doodles—this is for you, not neatness.

Creative Artifact

Pick one idea from your map. Turn it into a small artifact: - A tiny poem or lyric
- A sketch or graphic
- A short, made‑up dialogue or melody
Capture how abstract ideas can become concrete.

Reflection

Write briefly: - Where do my ideas come from?
- How did mapping help me see the shape of my mind differently?
- What shifts when you draw your mind instead of just thinking it?

Notes

• This session is open-ended—let it evolve naturally.
• If words don’t come, draw shapes, icons, photos, colors.
• This is a creative self‑portrait—not polished, just magnetic.