“With an open mind, we gain insight into ideas and expressions that we may have overlooked or not noticed at all.”     
~ James Van Praagh

The day our grandsons leave after a visit always brings conflicting emotions. On the one hand, since we’re night owls and the little ones are always up by 6:30 a.m., by the time they go we’re usually anxious for a little R&R. On the other hand, we start missing them the moment we wave goodbye from the porch, knowing it may be months before we see them again.

We usually spend the day putting all the toddler equipment away and wiping fingerprints off all the surfaces they can reach. The other day, weeks after their last visit, I noticed some we’d missed. It was in the evening, and I had turned on a kitchen light I don’t typically use. There they were, multiple prints on our side-by-side stainless steel fridge. Our little guys have appetites the size of Texas, and often place one hand on the freezer side for leverage as they pull the fridge door open with their right hand so they can survey the snack and drink choices.

It was curious to us that the prints were only visible in certain lighting. Metaphorically, it made me think of the many times in life when something is right there in front of us, plain as day, but we don’t see it until the right circumstances arise or someone brings it to our attention. And then, suddenly, it comes into our awareness.

Oprah was famous for her “Aha!” moments when interviewing experts. I had always assumed she had coined the phrase for her lightbulb moments, but to my surprise, it goes back to the early 1900s, depending on what reference you consult. But she definitely popularized the expression, and because of her, it made it into the dictionary in 2012. Merriam-Webster defined it as “a moment of sudden realization, inspiration, insight, recognition, or comprehension.” She later explained it further as “a moment of insight into yourself—and one that hits on something that, on some level, you already understood.” The way she sees it, it’s “a resonating with what is somehow buried or suppressed."

In her article about what an Aha! moment really means to Oprah, Samantha Vicente explains that you can pave the way for a moment of insight by staying open to what you can learn from life's curveballs. Oprah had some devastating early setbacks in her career, but that one concept allowed her to move forward with greater clarity.

The Oprah Show is off the air now, but even on her Super Soul Sunday episodes, you can see it on her face when she has a eureka moment with someone she’s interviewing. She often stops abruptly to take it in. She asks the guest to repeat the morsel of wisdom, and then repeats it herself as if she is willing it to be planted into her memory. I think the use of this technique is one of the reasons her shows have been so powerful—by stopping and emphasizing the revelation, she allows us to have those Aha! moments right along with her.

The opportunity for sudden insights is one of the reasons I love reading nonfiction so much. When authors share their ideas and we “get” them, something just clicks. We’ve all had those rare moments when we can feel ourselves growing and stretching—spiritually, emotionally, or otherwise. We’re able to see something in an entirely new light, and it changes everything.

Similarly, in literature, we can learn from the times when a character realizes something or understands something that until that point he or she had not known. Without noticing it, we begin to mentally apply the concepts to our own lives.

“The good news is that these flashes of insight are not as random as they seem,” say David Rock and John Davis, co-authors of this article on creativity. They can be fostered under specific conditions. By taking certain steps, it’s possible to increase the number of epiphanies we have, which can be especially helpful when we’re trying to problem-solve. This eureka effect, as it is sometimes called, often occurs during times when we:

Allow ourselves to rest.
Give ourselves some downtime.
Create an upbeat mood.
Take a break.   

So the next time you feel stuck and are desperate for a breakthrough, rather than doggedly continuing to focus on the problem, exhausting yourself in the process, instead find a quiet place and allow yourself some solitude. Relax and zone out. Focus on your inner thoughts, but not on the problem itself. Or do something unrelated, particularly something that lifts your spirits. Maybe listen to some music. All of these strategies free up the conscious mind, which allows the unconscious mind to keep working on the problem to find the solution.

Aha! moments can be fostered in kids as well. I can’t wait until our toddlers get old enough so we can share these great tips with them.

Let me know how these suggestions work for you!

Affectionately,

Elaine