🧠 Dancing with Chaos: Why Non-Linear Thinking Is Essential for Creativity

And how to train it as part of your mental landscape

“The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.” — Albert Einstein

THE INVISIBLE THREAD OF IMAGINATION

I am sure you had the experience of free and wild ideas that made no logical sense, disturbing your 'rational' (judgement alert!) thoughts, but felt right nevertheless? Or found yourself connecting two completely unrelated things, and suddenly, a new vision emerged, but (judgement alert again!) you shut it down as irrelevant or far-fetched? 

That’s not random. 

That’s your brain operating in its most brilliant, creative state: non-linear, free-associative, boundary-defying. Your brain on 'dancing' mode!

In a world obsessed with productivity, optimization, and timelines, non-linear thinking can feel inconvenient—even suspicious. But the truth is: it’s how our brains are wired to generate predictions of upcoming events. And creativity (not the skill everyone suddenly started talking about, but the state of being)—whether for innovation, healing, or self-growth—requires it.

In my creative coaching practice, BODYMIND Architecture, I meet many artists, change-makers, and visionaries who join the practice not to learn how to be creative but to keep practicing attunement to their WAYS of being creative. But over the years, I have spoken to people who feel blocked. The reason is rarely a lack of skill. It’s often the pressure to make sense too soon.

This article is an ode—and a map—to the often misunderstood but deeply generative terrain of non-linear thinking.

YOUR BRAIN WAS NEVER MEANT TO THINK IN STRAIGHT LINES

Contrary to popular belief, the human brain is not a machine that processes input into output in neat sequences. It’s a dynamic system, always operating in parallel, across different modes.

Two key networks are particularly relevant here (presented in a simplified form):

• The Default Mode Network (DMN) – active during rest, introspection, memory retrieval, and imagination.

• The Executive Control Network (ECN) – responsible for planning, logic, and decision-making.

According to researchers like Kalina Christoff (2016) and Roger Beaty (2014), creativity emerges when these two networks cooperate rather than compete. In other words, it’s not about choosing logic or imagination, but learning how to dance between the two.

THE PROBLEM WITH LINEARITY

Linear thinking is useful for communication, organizing, and execution. But when we rely on it exclusively:

• We shut down ambiguity before it reveals its potential.

• We suppress intuitive connections.

• We create rigid frames that exclude the unexpected.

Creativity doesn’t work on a timeline. It spirals, meanders, loops back, and sometimes seems to pause entirely—until it doesn’t. Innovation, whether in art or business, often comes from serendipitous, free-associative, irrational jumps that only make sense afterward.

As James Webb Young, author of A Technique for Producing Ideas, puts it:

“The habit of mind which leads to a search for relationships between facts becomes of the highest importance in the production of ideas.”

EVERY BRAIN IS A LANDSCAPE

We must also remember: not everyone navigates non-linear narratives in the same way. When we communicate in spirals, jumps, or poetic imagery, some people may feel lost—and that’s okay.

The important part is: understand your own body-brain. Learn how your creativity unfolds. Accept that it may not look like anyone else's. And respect that others may need time to walk with you through the garden of your associations.

LEFT/RIGHT BRAIN? TIME TO UPGRADE THE MAP

The old myth of “left brain = logic, right brain = creativity” has long been debunked. While lateralization exists, modern neuroscience (see Iain McGilchrist’s The Master and His Emissary) reveals a more nuanced truth:

• Both hemispheres are involved in most tasks.

• It’s the way they relate to context that matters.

• Creativity is about integration, not division.

McGilchrist describes the right hemisphere as seeing the whole, the unknown, the relational, and the possible. The left hemisphere breaks things down, categorizes, and acts on known information. We need both, but our culture has overdeveloped the latter, often at the cost of the former.

TRAINING YOUR CREATIVE FLUIDITY

This is where practice comes in. Like a muscle, your capacity to toggle between structure and chaos can be trained. Here are a few starting points:

1. Mind Mapping for Meaningless Things

Pick a random object (e.g., a toothbrush or a plate). A great example is to use the famous phrase by René Magritte's painting The Treachery of Images "This is not a pipe" (Ceci n'est pas une pipe). Map associations, stories, metaphors, memories—without trying to make sense. If nothing comes to you, say out loud, "This is NOT a plate, it is....." Surprise yourself with what words start rising effortlessly, and let your whole body respond to the experience. 

2. Stream-of-Consciousness Writing

Every morning, 5 minutes. No editing. Let your mind spill. Over time, patterns and insight will emerge. I was surprised by what information is stored in my body, and even more excited to start trusting some of it as inspiration for next steps. 

3. Creative Constraints

Paradoxically, adding structure can unlock your non-linear mind. Try setting absurd rules for your next creative task: “Only use triangles.” “No verbs allowed.” Let friction generate freedom. Give yourself a deadline, but be ready to be kind to yourself if you miss it. Draw with the left hand if you are right-handed or the opposite. Use a map to get lost!

4. Body-Based Thinking

Move. Dance. Walk. Let your body lead. Our brains reorganize when we move (see The Extended Mind by Annie Murphy Paul). They also get fixed when we train them to perform predictable, repetitive tasks. If you feel that your moves throughout your day are becoming predictable, add some interventions, and your mind will start dancing. 

FROM THOUGHT TO PRACTICE: JOIN THE JOURNEY

This September, I’m launching the START WHERE YOU ARE, an entry program to creative and embodied leadership. It’s part of my BODYMIND Architecture methodology for artists, visionaries, and especially for policy and change makers who are interested in how transformation can't happen through words but as an embodied meaning-making experience. For this, we need to build a creative state of mind from the inside out.

The session on non-linear thinking is one of the core pillars. You’ll learn how to:

• Embrace your brain’s natural rhythms.

• Navigate creative chaos without losing clarity.

• Communicate your non-linear process with others, without apologizing for it, but be ready to explain it if asked.

• Cultivate trust in your unique mind-body patterning.

• Listen with your whole body rather than listening to reply. We are not in a contest. 

🌀 This is not another coaching on how to be creative. It is a space to redefine how you relate to your thoughts, your creative potential, and the infinite landscapes of possibilities that lie within you, which opens up the ability to perceive others rather than simply relying on their words. 

Connect with me if this resonates with you, or register for the waiting list here, to receive updates and newsletters for the events. (in-person in LINZ, VIENNA, ATHENS, LEONIDIO, online).

"Let’s stop asking our creativity to walk a straight line—and start letting it dance." Eleni Danesi 

*I write my articles in collaboration with a wide web of knowledge, from books I have in my room, to scientific articles and paper publications, conversations I have with humans and with ChatGPT, but everything is filtered through my insights and my experiences as a researcher, movement practitioner, embodiment guide, and living, breathing being. This article contains my perspective and welcomes the possibilities of felt inaccuracy from your side.