Sloppy Is Still Process
How Dream Theory, Learning Theory, and Sloppy Art All Meet in the Middle
While listening in on a conversation with some friends, I found myself doodling mandalas in my notebook. At a certain point in the conversation, I was tired of being so hyper-focused on the conversation in my ears while also trying to focus on precision on the page. I also, did not want to stop doodling and just let the strokes of my pen get a bit more erratic. It felt good to be lackadaisical. I could feel it settling my nervous system down. After a few nights of less than desirable sleep, it felt nice to notice my body relax. When I was done, I felt my brow furrow towards the earth even though I had enjoyed the process. Now that it was finished, I wanted to rip it out of my notebook and “try a better one.”
A Bias Towards Perfectionism and Intentionality
I love precise art. Chunky art. Intentional art. But when I see art that feels sloppy to me, I notice I have a tendency to say “what the hell, they didn’t even really try that hard.”
My own internal anchoring bias is that if someone throws something out into the universe in a messy way, they either didn’t care about it, or it is inherently not something that is valuable. I notice I feel this way towards the work people do, the conversations people have, and the relationships people keep.
If it is not intentional, what are people really even doing?
But then I remember how dreams work.
Particularly dreams where we are thought to be learning something complex.
Imperfect, In Process, and In-between are the Generative Forces of Expanding Our Creative Centers
This will over-simplify the science a bit, but there is good evidence to believe that when dream content is messier, more ambiguous, and has no precise conclusion—these are the dreams where we are doing our most creative thinking, our best problem solving, and also produce dream content that is more unique and novel. In laboratory settings, they often pair this type of dream research alongside learning tasks, and when these “sloppier”, more ambiguous problem-solving-type of dreams show up, the participants in these studies often outperform their peers on learning tasks the next day.
In the book Oracle of the Night, a book all about exploring the science of dreams. The author and dream researcher cites a very specific study looking at songbirds and the learning process around the formation of their own unique songs. The sound of each songbirds is bespoke, similar to a human fingerprint. The songbirds who have the “sloppiest” sounding songs for longer periods of time in their adolescents have distinctly more unique, and crisp-sounding song once their process solidifies and they enter into adulthood.
In other words, the birds that took the longest time to learn their own songs and had a messier, harder time making that happen when they are younger are the adult birds who have the most beautiful, unique, crisp songs later on.
When we create art, and prioritize the process of creating the art, rather than the precise outcome of what that art looks like—we are bound to come up with something new. While practicing precision in art-making is important to become masterful at a craft, it’s also important to remind ourselves that only focusing on precision in art-making can limit the expansiveness of our own creative, ever-evolving process.
It’s also important to note here that precision art making, and ‘sloppy,’ creative art making are probably using different versions of our nervous systems. When we are working diligently on precision, it’s probably activating the nervous system that also activates fight or flight area. Whereas when we let ourselves be expressive and messy, this is more likely to activate that rest and digest system.
Both are important for different purposes. One is not better than another.
Let Yourself Be Sloppy
As this new year slides underway, I’m noticing I have to be very precise in some areas of my life right now. I just want to give myself permission to be a little sloppy on the day-to-day, especially when I’m doodling. Especially in my free time. Perhaps you need that permission slip, too.
If you want to share your sloppiest art, you know that I’d love to catch it.
As per usual,
Thanks for being here, I cannot wait to see what you create.
In good ole sloppy fashion,
Dagny Rose
This sub-section of The Art of Rest, is all about—you guessed it—The Art!
Here we explore the creative practices in our lives. Whether we are creating for the pure joy of it, finding ways to have our art help make our lives better, or intentionally honing in on our creative practices, “The Art” is going to regularly touch into our creative pulse5.
Looking For A Personalized Way to Expand Your Creative Life?
My books are now open again for the hibernation season! I am looking forward to giving winter guidance around sleep health & nervous system regulation. While on one end of nervous system work we can focus on reducing stress—on the other end of the spectrum we can also focus on expanding creativity! I offer individualized 1:1 guidance for those who want to use dreams, mindfulness and self-compassion as a way to expand their creativity and curiosity. Shoot me an email at dagnyrose@theartofrest.me to inquire about getting started.