There’s no doubt creativity flourishes in adversity. Make things too comfortable and the creative juices stop flowing. We can all imagine the poor, starving artist working relentlessly in their attic studio, painting away until they drop. And while I’m not suggesting starving yourself is the best spur to great thinking, I do believe one discomfort is worthwhile:
Bad weather.
Why?
Because bad weather is generally great for ideas.
Now I’ve got nothing against sunny locales. Sydney, for instance, is one of my favorite cities. But it’s not, in my view, a creative center.
The problem with Sydney is its weather. It’s just too good. If you’re working in Sydney and struggling with a creative problem, all you have to do is look out the window, see the sun shining, and soon enough you’ll hear the beckoning call of a couple of ice-cold beers waiting for you at that beachside bar down the street.
And what are you doing to do?
I think we all know the answer to that.
Great weather is probably why Hollywood turns out some truly awful movies. Who wants to labor over a cliché-ridden script in an effort to turn it into an Oscar-winner when you could be down by the pool at the Sunset Marquis? Sunny weather is great for shooting films but not so wonderful for writing them.
In comparison, London always ranks as one of the world’s great creative centers.
Why? Because the weather is shit.
Rain is London’s creative trump card. Want to go for a barbecue? Forget it. Every summer thousands of barbecues are sold and every year they rust away unused, ending up as landfill.
So wherever you’re working, check the forecast. If you’re getting too much sunshine and not enough rainfall, move somewhere where the weather is bad. Really bad.
It’s amazing what it will do to get your creative juices going.