Creative thinking just as you're falling asleep?

[BlightedArt]

Does anyone else out there feel that their thoughts are more malleable (like putty, can be re-shaped easier) when they're at that stage that they're just about to fall asleep when going to bed?

This is something I've noticed for the past while, I have an image of a cartoon character I've made up pop into my head, then just as I'm falling asleep I'm able to twist, pull, push and mould it's ligaments and proportions, colour etc to "mould a character in realtime"... it's a really weird thing, but I can only seem to do it as I'm falling asleep. I'm just sort of wondering if anyone else has had something similar, and found a way to bring it into their everyday lives (basically, so that I won't have to wait until I'm going to bed to accomplish this).

... Heh. Let the odd-talk begin. :P

[Visionspring]

I think that's called a hypnogogic state? Apparently lots of famous scientists/thinkers have come up with some amazing stuff during it

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnagogia

I keep a sketchbook by my bed for that very purpose, but alas no ground breaking ideas yet, hehe

Perhaps practicing meditation, or listening to different sound patterns/frequencies like this - http://gethighnow.com/theta-wave-brain-synchronization/

"Specific kinds of audio can induce a variety of mental moods or physiological responses. Binaural Beats, in which a different frequency comes out of the left and right speaker, cause the brain to become confused, and create its own auditory track, he said. And listening to the Theta Wave Brain Sync can lull the mind into a creative and vibrant state, similar to what people experience just before falling asleep. "

[BlightedArt]

Ohhhh interesting!!! Thanks for sharing haha. :D

[VirusArtist]

ARRRGHHH.. that theta wave sound just did the opposite of what it was designed for.. it got on my nerves and eliminated every thought other than "TURNTHATDAMNTHINGOFFTURNTHATDAMNTHINGOFFF"

my advice: listening to "just one fix" by ministry on an endless loop while you're working... always works for me to put me in a "work trance"..

[bennnnnbennnnn]

I think this is pretty common. I know that my thoughts when I'm falling to sleep are insane compared to thoughts upon being awake.

[LORD M]

I have started drawing in a sketchbook only for this purpouse since I frequently have strange hypnogogic states and dreams about creatures or people dressed in odd things in different settings. Once I had a really weird Jackie Chan like dream where I saw a guy dressed all in white (he had a white skimask aswell and a brown tie and a brown muffler) fighting off 1930's mafia mobsters in a room with baroque interior setting while he was equipped with a 3 meter long candle holder.

[Tonic]

I love hypnagogia. My ideas in this stage are far, far more wicked and interesting than when I'm awake :P Unfortunately, I don't remember what exactly are they - with exception of "whoa!" feeling. Perhaps it's about time to start using sketchbook like you?

[BlightedArt]

Some awesome responses here. I can't really set a sketchbook aside and draw at 3am due to my girlfriend trying to sleep haha.

[LuckyDevil]

I usually do this while awake and thinking of something to draw. Just close my eyes and think of something, I am able to shape it and even animated in my head (rescently found that if i im trying to figure out folds of clothing shapes just imagine it being put on and twisting the character to the desired position in your head to figure out what they are going to look like.)

But when i try to duplicated in paper the memories i just had with my eyes closed seem so blurry so i guess im trying to work how to get to see it clearer, but it helps me get a starting point. If you listen to bobby chiu's Videos and his interview he talks about this kind of thinking when starting to draw, really fascinating stuff.

But yeah when falling asleep they seem to get really crazy and more vivid to the point i just let them flow and not try to control it, and thats about the time i actually fall sleep and can't remember the next day i just know it was awesome.

[Frank Gressie]

haha, strange feeling it is! i always try to speak another language, french mostly. It sounds SO convincing during that time of Hypnagogia, so funny!

[Jazz]

I usually have stories in my head that play out when I'm closer to sleep or just relaxing times. It's because I can't play them much during school or whenever I'm heavily thinking. However, when I get closer to sleep, I do have crazy songs, comic-like sequences, cartoons, etc. that just get in my head. There is NO WAY I can get those things perfectly. I get especially mad with songs because if I have one I can only try recording a melody or a very short harmony, but not both together. >_<

[goldilockz]

That happens to me nearly every night. It also tends to happen while I'm driving.

[ShroudStar]

Goa trance tends to put me in a similar state. It has something to do with the beats and when I listen to it when trying to sleep, I actually hit that stage very fast.

[kab]

I usually experience hightened creativity when I am about to fall asleep. I attribute this to my tiredness causing an intermingling of my visual memory, that it is easier to create interesting combinations of ideas when the mind is relaxing and not fully aware.

I also sometimes experience extremely physical dreams, where it feels like I'm being thrown around by gravity, and I frequently see patterns that morph in what my mind percieves as more than three dimensions.

There is a lot of stuff going on in our subconsciousness =)

[Psychotime]

Oh, so it has a name! Cool!

[Dibujio:Guru]

Man i have so many of those dream's and image's it's crazy so many creative idea's when iam about to go to sleep.


I do need a sketchbook near me so i can write what i see done ...

[Daniel Andrews]

I drink Nyquil bedtime formula 24/7 for that very same state of mind.

[Irishdrunk]

Last time I sketched in bed, I drooled through my sketchbook.

[Krato]

interesting you bring that up, i have been having allot of great ideas while on the brink of sleep.. unfortunately either A: they are stupid when i think about them the next day or B: i forget them

[LuckyDevil]

Last time I sketched in bed, I drooled through my sketchbook.

Haha that happend to me once....not in bed though but in math class in high school :zzz:

[NanoBlack]

Coooool it has a totally awesome unpronouncable name!

I know this all too well. Should get a sketchbook for that like you guys have. I get the world's most weird, twisted things... like the rest of whatever i have to think about every day is allowed to float away, and i can truly allow my brain to drift in whatever direction it wants... I'm no longer restricted to the strange reptilian style creatures I currently draw, and yeah. It's totally awesome.

Must learn to pronounce that name!

[Mordus]

Hypnagogia is great. I find it can be induced reliably by Vangelis music, coca cola and drawing randomly shifting creatures composed of all my favourite monstrosities.
Hypnopompia is not great. I occasionally suffer from bouts of it. Its bloody terrifying, and usually means I dont sleep all night after an attack. It works like this: I wake up, am paralyzed and then suffer vivid and usually disturbing hallucinations. Look it up.

[Irishdrunk]

Mordus, I would blame your symptoms on your location. I would seriously consider moving.

[SavageGoldfish]

Hm. I get some of the oddest thoughts/images after I've pulled 20-24 hour days with my film group. Get up at 6a.m., work intensively for most of the day, hit your second wind about 8p.m., work some more, and then crash (because there is rarely a 3rd wind, but if there is, OH GOD when it wears off!), and in the crash, as I'm sitting and staring at wall utterly incompetant in that state of almost sleep before I get home, the weirdest things will drift through my head. It's like an altered state of consciousness, but I don't recommend regularly depriving yourself of sleep, it really messes with your ability to function...

Certain mind altering substances can also put you in a state like that, though for the most part they're all illegal, at least in the U.S.

I'm going to have to try some of those sound frequency things, a friend was telling me about those and they sound quite intreguing.

[Mordus]

Mordus, I would blame your symptoms on your location. I would seriously consider moving.
Occasionally I consider it, but.. you know. Place kinda grows on you. And lovely hot summers. And winters.

[Pigeonkill]

I heard that Salvador Dali would sit in a chair with a sketch pad in front of him and spoon in hand at his side. As he started to drift off to sleep he would drop the spoon waking himself back up. He would get a "vision" while drifting in and out of sleep and draw from that.

[Dizon]

Wow...I thought it was only me!

[jellyswirl]

I know this has happened to me. Then I have to get up and write or draw the idea down or I know I will totally forget it the next day.

[velderia]

I think that's called a hypnogogic state? Apparently lots of famous scientists/thinkers have come up with some amazing stuff during it

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnagogia

I keep a sketchbook by my bed for that very purpose, but alas no ground breaking ideas yet, hehe

Perhaps practicing meditation, or listening to different sound patterns/frequencies like this - http://gethighnow.com/theta-wave-brain-synchronization/

"Specific kinds of audio can induce a variety of mental moods or physiological responses. Binaural Beats, in which a different frequency comes out of the left and right speaker, cause the brain to become confused, and create its own auditory track, he said. And listening to the Theta Wave Brain Sync can lull the mind into a creative and vibrant state, similar to what people experience just before falling asleep. "

Oh wow, there's a section called the "Tetris Effect" in the Hypnagogia article and I get that kind of often. It usually happens after swimming or flying. It bothers me sometimes because I don't want to feel that when I'm trying to sleep. XD

Some of the most bizzare or fantastic ideas I get were at night, sometimes before bed, so that's... Interesting. :)

I drink Nyquil bedtime formula 24/7 for that very same state of mind.

Doesn't Nyquil have caffeine? Last time I checked it did.

That sounds unhealthy though, taking it when you don't need it.

[Asatira]

I get it all the time. I just attributed it to a time of the day when I'm the least distracted and better visualization because my eyes are closed. Usually results in a restlessness and no sleep for a while. I do need to better utilize it though.

*goes to read article fully*

[Jacob Kobryn]

It's happened to me occasionally and luckily I keep both a journal and tape recorder next to my bed (for dream research) so I've been able to jot down some stuff.

[Whitevillage]

Yup, I have that as well. I rarely draw something in my sketchbook at night since I just want to sleep before the morning starts. Getting creative and almost falling in sleep gives me a comfortable feeling to fall a sleep how ever.

I do have a lot of creative thinking as well when I'm doing boring tideous work.

[Mordus]

Since I just recovered, I suppose I can share a recent experience. I fell foul of some vile affliction, some flu-thing. In any case, lying in bed with a fever produces VIVID ideas. Unfortunately I was (and still am, really) far too whacked to draw any.

[Bloocat]

This happens to me a lot. The stuff in my head at the time is really great, I think of a near perfect image that I can't remember later. Makes me angry. Something tells me that a bit of it comes out later though, subconsciously.